In the lead-up to the second match opposing Manchester United and Inter Milan, Jose Mourinho openly boasted the fact that in his five visits at Old Trafford, he had only lost once. After a 0-0 draw at the San Siro, a 1-1 score would have been enough for the Nerazurri to go through. Unfortunately for them, Van der Sar's posts answered the call while his forwards put two goals past Julio Cesar in crucial moments to put the game beyond doubt.
United didn't waste time getting on the scoresheet with Vidic's header ending in the back of the net after only three minutes of play. On the set-piece, Patrick Vieira's coverage of the defender was simply pitiful as he could stop and stare at Vidic rising up to meet the ball. The home side was much looser after that, leading to some sloppy plays quickly picked up by Inter's midfielders. At the 28th minute, Ibrahimovic's header hit the crossbar while Stankovic's shot at the 36th was tipped away by Van der Sar. Inch by inch, Milan slowly started to control the game, and their mobility made passing a lot more easier than at the beginning of the game. Ibrahimovic, who was well covered by Ferdinand and Vidic, decided to move a lot more, measuring himself to both O'Shea and Evra in order to gain some advantage.
Since Inter mostly used the flanks to construct their attacks, Ferguson switched up Rooney and Giggs, putting the English striker on the left wing and leaving the veteran as a free-roaming player. The plan worked as Rooney's pace made Evra's job a lot more easier by tracking back and his crossing ability on the attack was used to the max. It was one of his crosses that led to United's second goal as Cristiano Ronaldo headed the beautifully weighted ball past Cesar.
When all is said and done, United weren't at their best on Wednesday but they still managed to come up with a win. Inter's mistake to me was to play both Cambiasso and Stankovic way too low in the opening stages of the game. Ibrahimovic had almost no support in the opening fifteen minutes and that's where the game was played. Ryan Giggs was hands down the best player on the field. Inter was so pre-occupied with shutting Ronaldo out that they didn't realize that the Portuguese winger spent the entire game on one side of the pitch (as opposed to his usual mobility) while Giggs darted in and out of Inter's midfield line showing off superb ball control and composure. United's stalwart was at the origin of both goals - he was the one who kicked the corner right on Vidic's head, and he was the one who found Rooney to set up Ronaldo. A great game for the veteran who still has the legs to perform at the highest level.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronado, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes (Anderson, 69th), Ryan Giggs; Wayne Rooney (Park Ji-Sung, 84th), Dimitar Berbatov.
If you follow the three “big” leagues in Europe like I do, you would know that Real Madrid have been simply stunning in La Liga as the Champions League's round of 16 drew closer. They had reduced the gap between them and Barcelona to four points (now six); an amazing feat considering the fact that Barça were 18 points ahead of the Meringues at some point. Now explain to me how the same team can get so thoroughly humiliated on the big stage against Liverpool?
Yes, Rafael Benitez seems to be a Champions League guru, always getting the Reds to the semifinals - at least - but a 4-0 beating? Were Madrid that bad or is the Premiership's “Big Four” too good for the rest of Europe? We can only speculate but unless Barcelona meets one of those teams and goes through, we must concede that “maybe” they're that good.
Madrid probably expected Liverpool to sit back and hold tight, protecting their away-goal while their opponents could try to break through. Instead, the Reds didn't give their visitors one inch of space until the score was 3-0 Liverpool. The Whites simply weren't prepared. By the third minute of play, Iker Casillas had to make two amazing saves almost back-to-back: one on Fernando Torres, the other on Javier Mascherano. Torres and Steven Gerrard were simply on fire toying with Madrid's defense as if it was child's play. And when Madrid tried to catch up to them, Ryan Babel was thrown into the mix with runs to the middle to confuse the defense even more. Torres opened the score at the 15th minute and five minutes later, Casillas was forced into another great save. As the Spaniard made save after save, Madrid had no control whatsoever on the game. Making two consecutive passes was a hassle and the pressure from Liverpool's forwards prevented them from building anything from the back.
Heinze's foul inside the penalty box at the 27th minute was the end of the game for me. The call was borderline at best. If it had happened in a Manchester United game, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't get called (the refs at Old Trafford missed much worse). But it did, and Gerrard put his team 2-0 up, 3-0 on aggregate.
Reina was finally tested at the 41st minute with surprise-shot by Sneijder but the goalkeeper reacted just in time to put the ball out for a corner. The half ended on that note, and Juande Ramos used the break to make some much needed changes.
Ramos replaced the shockingly invisible Arjen Robben by Marcelo on the left-wing, but the impact wasn't immediate as the Reds scored their third goal of the match via Gerrard one minute after the kick-off. The hosts cooled down after that, and Marcelo's presence proved to be a definite upgrade over Robben as the young Brazilian did exactly what Babel was doing on the other side of the pitch for Liverpool. Unfortunately for Madrid, Liverpool's back-four was solid and the visitors rarely ventured inside Reina's box. The introduction of Van der Vaart and Guti didn't influence the end result as Liverpool scored a fourth goal in the dying minutes of the game, twisting the knife in Real's gut.
In the end, Real Madrid were surprised by Liverpool's quick tempo and didn't react quick enough. Juande Ramos' inexperience on the European was probably a big factor in how Benitez created his gameplan, but there's no excuse for the disappearance of both Robben and Higuain who deserted their teammates when they needed them the most. Casillas has nothing to reproach himself of (why do I feel like I just murdered English grammar with that sentence?), but the rest of the team should take a long look at themselves in the mirror and figure out where it all went wrong.
Highlights video below...
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fabio Cannavaro (Rafael Van der Vaart, 63rd), Gabriel Heinze; Arjen Robben, Fernando Gago (Guti, 76th), Lassana Diarra, Wesley Sneijder; Gonzalo Higuain, Raul.
Similarly to the game opposing Manchester United and Inter Milan, the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid was a story of halves with each team dominating a part of the game.
Like Inter, Liverpool were unable to build anything from the midfield due to the tenacious work of Diarra and Gago. However, the Reds did a great job in containing Madrid's attack by preventing Robben from cutting to the inside where he is the most dangerous. Every time Robben started his run down the wing, a defender would follow him while a midfielder hovered near by so that the Dutch winger couldn't come back to the middle. With this simple adjustment, the visitors considerably reduced the threat of Madrid's offense. I think that Raul was trying too hard to go for headers in every set-piece situation. Sometimes, a chest control and a good first touch could be a lot more effective than diving in an impossible angle.
At the other end, with Gerrard on the bench, Liverpool relied too much on Fernando Torres, hoping that the striker would make some sort of magical move that would give them a goal. Unfortunately, in Madrid's back-four, Pepe was probably playing his best game of the season with well-timed tackles and a good sense of anticipation.
With Robben isolated from the action by Liverpool, Juande Ramos decided to replace Marcelo by Guti in order to have a playmaker on the field instead of relying too much on attacks from the flanks. Ramos also brought an adjustment to Robben's situation. When he had the ball, Sergio Ramos slipped past behind him to either draw a defender or cross the ball himself. Still, the substitution threw Madrid's offense off-the-kilter for awhile. Indeed, from the start of the second half, they really had only one 'functional' wing. The absence of Marcelo's speed on the left side provided a gaping hole for Yossi Benayoun who could easily use his pace to get by Heinze.
It was that same Benayoun who silenced the Santiago Bernabeu with a powerful header at the 81st minute on a free-kick. Casillas had already started his exit when the ball was struck, but Benayoun somehow found himself free in the players' movement inside the box, and crucified the goalkeeper.
Out of all of this year's fixtures in the round of 16, Manchester United against Inter Milan is probably considered the biggest and most newsworthy of them all. Although the first leg ended in a 0-0 draw, then enthralling match that took place is only an appetizer for things to come in the second leg.
The game was a story of two halves – one for each team on the pitch. The first 45 minutes were dominated by Manchester United who, if it wasn't for Julio Cesar, could have ended the half leading by at least two goals. The goalkeeper made his biggest save just five minutes into the game, stopping Ronaldo's powerful header after a corner-kick. United got several free-kicks around Milan's 18-yard box, but they were either inches wide or stopped by Cesar. At the other end, Edwin Van der Sar wasn't really worried. His defense made an excellent job of preventing Inter's strikers to make space and turn towards the net to take an effective shot. But most of United's excellent work came in midfield. The pressure sustained by Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, and most importantly “Energizer Bunny” Park made the home team look like a bunch of amateurs. Inter's midfielders were unable to string more than two passes together without having a red shirt or two circling in. With an ineffective midfield, Inter spent most of their time kicking the ball over the top from defense to attack only to have United regain possession
The Champions League's first knock-out stage is upon us, and there are already several match-ups that can make any fan drool with anticipation. Here's how things look up this year.
On Wednesday, the two must-see games will probably be Chelsea against Juventus and Real Madrid against Liverpool
The Champions League's first knock-out stage is upon us, and there are already several match-ups that can make any fan drool with anticipation. Here's how things look up this year.
First, the confrontation between Manchester United and Inter Milan reunites old nemeses Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Both teams are currently sitting at the top of their respective leagues and have been making headlines recently for their impeccable defensive play. United's Edwin Van der Sar has broken the British record for consecutive clean sheets in a season while it takes a great deal of resiliency to break through Milan's disciplined back-four. Both teams are also solid in midfield with Esteban Cambiasso, and Dejan Stankovic orchestrating the play for Milan. United have the veteran Paul Scholes whose knack for jumping late on a play often disturbs the opposition defenders, and Michael Carrick – a shutdown midfielder-type with a great vision of the field. Ryan Giggs can also come in and make an impact in center midfield for the Red Devils
Chelsea – CFR Cluj: 2-1
The return of Joe Cole and Didier Drogba proved to be instrumental in Chelsea's qualification for the next round as Droga scored the winning goal after coming on as a substitute
Bordeaux – Chelsea: 1-1
What is going with the Blues lately? Not only they are slowing down in the Premiership, their Champions League latest performances are leaving a lot to be desired. After convincingly defeating Bordeaux 4-0 in Matchday 1, they could only get a draw in the return match. Are they simply exhausted or are other teams figuring them out? Thanks to this draw, Bordeaux still have a chance to qualify. They'll have to defeat Roma on Matchday 6 to get through
Chelsea – CFR Cluj: 0-0
Cluj are continuing to impress everyone on the European stage. After defeating Roma 2-1 on Day 1, they held Chelsea to a scoreless draw which keeps them in second place. Granted, Chelsea didn't play very well. Without Joe Cole on the wing, they lacked the mobility necessary to stretch Cluj's compact defense. The Blues started with a 4-3-3 formation but suprisingly looked better with a 4-4-2 once Anelka came on in the second half. However, Drogba's injury before the hour-mark erased all the momentum they had at the start of the second period while Cluj gained in confidence as time went on. The Romanian even tested Cech late in the game but everyone could tell that they were equally satisfied with a draw
The group of death has fans and analysts alike foaming at the mouth with excitement. Real Madrid, Juventus, and new sensation Zenit St. Petersburg all bundled together. Could you ask for more?
If I had to give a name to this group, I would call it the Boys Club. All four teams have a strong contigent of young players who haven't won anything on the international stage (though Arsenal and Fenerbahce have some Euro winners among their ranks). Here are the teams.
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