Tuesday and Wednesday brought us the absolute best in world club football! There is nothing like the Champions League. Tuesday's fixtures provided some real heavy weight match-ups while Wednesday's fixtures were just as enjoyable...
Let's get into a few of the matches that mattered (no offense to Viktoria Plzen supporter Diane Walsh)
Group E
Chelsea 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen -- Stamford Bridge
Michael Ballack made his return to The Bridge. He was given an award before the game and was given a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 66th minute
Non-goal scorer, Fernando Torres set up both goals for Chelsea. David Luiz (surprise, surprise, he's hurt again) and Juan Mata both showed El Nino what a goal looks like. Torres had several chances to score himself but gladly the drought continues... hahahahaha
Chelsea Manager and JC Penny shirt model Andre Villas-Boas, left John Terry and Frank Lampard on the bench to start the game. Clearly AVB is already thinking of this weekend's match up with United.
Group F
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Arsenal, Signal Iduna Park
This match is what the Champions League is all about. Two great clubs. World class coaches and players and most importantly, an Amazing venue. The Westfalenstadion was absolutely electric. For those of you still not watching the Bundesliga you are really missing out.
Dortmund signaled to the rest of Europe that they will have to be reckoned with this tournament. They peppered Arsenal with 23 shots, 6 of which Wojciech Szczęsny had to save.
Robin Van Persie's goal was classy but the highlight of the night belonged to Ivan Perisic. His game tying volley was absolutely out of this world! Check it out:
Oh, and Mario Gotze lived up to his billing for sure! If you didn't get to see him, he can best be described as a German Jack Wilshere. He's 19, he's a midfielder and he can play some breathtaking football.
Young players like Mario Gotze (Dortmund), Thomas Mueller (FC Bayern), Tony Kroos (FC Bayern) and Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) practically guarantee the German National team will be successful for the next decade! They will give the Spaniards all they can handle next summer in Euro 2012. In fact, I'll be the first to say it. Germany will win Euro 2012. Mark it dude.
Group G
FC Porto 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk, Estadio do Dragao
In a stadium that must have been named for the bad guy in Rocky IV this game delivered some heavy hitting. Donetsk landed the first uppercut of the night when the Porto keeper made a mess of a long range shot and Adriano was there to knock it in.
Then, who else but the Brazilian HULK smashed in a 35 yard thunderbolt of a free kick. Seriously, Roberto Carlos eat your heart out. Hulk Smash! Donetsk had two men sent off and Porto ended up getting a tap in goal from some dude named Kleber.
Group H
Barcelona 2-2 AC Milan, Camp Nou
If you are a Barca fan this one was a little tough to stomach. Barca were ahead most of the game only to lose their lead in the dying seconds.
Pato (The Duck) did his best Carl Lewis impersonation as he sliced through Barca's makeshift defense to score the opener. Barcelona of course did not panic. They took control of the game playing their signature tic-a-tak football. Messi created for Pedro and Villa scored a stunner.
But then Barca did something they shouldn't have. They took their foot off the gas. Instead of going for 4 or 5 goals they were content to knock it around. And they Paid the price. On the last kick of the game Thiago Silva knocked in Clarence (the 5th Beatle) Seedorf's corner kick. Awesome night for AC Milan and a wake up call for Pep Guardiola's men.
Group A
Manchester City 1-1 Napoli, The Eastlands
OK... So I really thought that Napoli was going to get hammered Wednesday. The form that City have showed us lately really had me believing that an ass kicking was coming to Napoli.
When City's starting lineup was announced I commented on ESPN.com's Matchday Live. Of the thousands of soccer junkies logged in the moderator thought it was good enough to post. Check it out:
But Napoli played great! The three headed striking monster of Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani proved more than formidable to the City defense. Cavani opened the scoring for the visitors on some excellent counter attacking football. Koralov levelled for City with a magnificent free kick. Check it all out
Both teams hit the woodwork multiple times and a draw was definetely the fair result.
Villarreal 0-2 Bayern Munich, El Madrigal
Manueal Nuer played great between the sticks for Munich. Tony Kroos and Rafinha had excellent goals for Munich as they won comfortably
Group B
Inter 0-1 Trabzonspor, Giuseppe Meazza
Anyone that is keeping an eye on Inter could see this one coming. Inter fell apart in week one of the Serie A, losing late to Palermo. Their lineup is lacking in youth and excitement and the players appear not be playing hard for new manager Gian Piero Gasperini. Now it wasn't all bad for Inter. They certainly were not outplayed by the Turks. Trabzonspor keeper Tolga Zengin was brilliant! I commented on this match as well and the moderator on ESPN thought well enough again to post it:
Group C
Benfica 1-1 Manchester United, Estadio da Luz
When Benfica's chief punk Oscar Cordoza scored for Benfica I was ecstatic. I thought United were actually going to be involved in a real match. The group they landed in is absolutely laughable and this was their only true test. Away to Benfica. When Benfica comes to Old Trafford they will be handed an Arsenal style beat down (sorry again Ryan).
SAF rolled out a second string side and managed a point. Exactly what the Old Scot wanted, no question about it. Ryan Giggs... he's been tearing England and Europe apart since 1991. he delived again with a classic goal.
Mark it down. Right here, right now. The only United player that will ever get this treatment from me. Giggs is a legend. He deserves this:
Thank you for indulging me this evening. I hope you enjoyed the games as much as I did. Feel free to leave your own comment on any topic you like.
YNWA
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