AC Milan v Celtic

The final group stage match sees Celtic and Milan separated by a mere point. Unfortunately, the game is in Milan and Celtic have never won an away Champions League match. Nonetheless, Celtic come into the match prepared to play for a draw and thus qualify to the round of sixteen. The first half saw lots of attacking play from Milan but Celtic's defense has stood strong, allowing few shots on goal and closing down scoring chances. Kaka did get free for a shot around the edge of the box but his shot sailed high and wide; I doubt Kaka will miss that chance again. If Celtic are to score, they'll probably need to do it off a set-piece of some sort, as they aren't bringing forward enough players in support to attack Milan's impenetrable defense. Celtic need to continue to defend well and play possession football in order to pull out a draw. A win would take first place in the group while Celtic can still qualify if they lose. On the one hand, I want to see some goals, on the other, if Celtic score it will probably pull Milan out of its funk and bounce back to score a couple goals, making Celtic's status unsure.
Milan continued their strong attack, finally forcing Celtic to concede a Filipo Inzaghi goal in the 70th minute. Boruc had some great saves for Celtic and the late subsitution of Jan Venegoor of Hesselink looked like Celtic could pull even with the defending champions but Milan stood tough. Thankfully, the other result ended in a 2-1 victory for Benfica and Celtic supporters in Italy began to celebrate the club's second consecutive year advancing in the Champions League to the knockout round of sixteen.

Manchester United v Fulham

The return of Rooney prompted my attention for this match, a nice way to get the afternoon off to a pleasant start on Monday. The reunion of Tevez and Rooney took a back seat to Cristiano Ronaldo, recently the runner-up for France's Ballon D'Or, the award for European Footballer of the Year, which, somewhat predictably, went to AC Milan's Kaka. Ronaldo, perhaps feeling a bit snubbed, showed great attacking pace on the right. United looked strong as usual on the wings, attacking well and putting shots on goal early. Rooney looked good alongside Tevez and both players created some havoc in the Fulham backfield, leading to Ronaldo's first goal in the 10th minute. On a defended cross, Ronaldo somehow found the ball at his feet and crushed a volley across the face of goal, past a helpless keeper. The United attack continued, but as the half drew near, Fulham missed a great chance to equalize on a cross, sending the header wide. In the second half, United continued their attack, leading to a beautiful cross from the right, a beautiful cross from John O'Shea which led Ronaldo over his defender to crush his header into the lower right. United continued to press forward, as Ronaldo sought his first hat-trick for Man U. A wonderful ball froward from Giggs put Ronaldo one-on-one with the keeper but he was carded for diving, which the replay could not confirm or deny. It sure must have been tempting for the Portuguese winger to try to complete his hat-trick from the spot but I'm not sure of the call. Nevertheless, a good performance from Manchester as they pulled to second place in the standings.

Champions League Matchday 4

Besiktas vs Liverpool
Following their defeat two weeks ago in Istanbul, Liverpool sit with 1 point from three games in the Champions League.  They got off to a great start, missing Fernando Torres, as their attack split wide down the flanks.  Voronin got the first scoring attack started, running down the left and playing the ball into Peter Crouch, who benefited from defensive lack of concentration  before cracking a shot at the Besiktas keeper, who made a good save only to have Crouch gather he rebound and strike it past the keeper's outstretched fingers.  Liverpool continued to attack and Besiktas had some strong play of their own but Liverpool really took control of their destiny in the 32nd minute as Voronin played a beautiful cross to Benayoun open in the box.  The Israeli settled the ball and then volleyed it into the lower-left corner, under the diving keeper.  Liverpool had a great half and will probably slow the play in the second half and play their traditional, conservative brand of football with a lead like this.

The Second Half
Going contrary to my opinion, Liverpool opened the half attacking fiercely, on their way to Champions League history, scoring six goals in the second half to set a new record for goal difference in a CL match, surpassing Arsenal (Oct 2007) and Juventus (2003), who both won their games 7-0. Benayoun scored his second of the match off the rebound of a strong Riise shot from just inside the box, which the keeper parried but was unable to control. Just two minutes later, Gerrard struck a free kick low and hard as Benayoun again got on the end of the rebound to one-touch it home. The attack continued, with Gerrard scoring in the 69th minute off a 1-2 exchange between himself and Voronin, ending with Gerrard one on one with the keeper, blasting the ball into the opposite side of the net with his considerable power. In the 78th minute, Ryan Babel scored the goal of the match, delicately back-heeling a low cross by Benayoun into the left side-netting. Just three minutes later, Reina destroyed a goal kick which the first defender could not clear and fell to the second, one on one with Babel. The defender tried to clear the bouncing ball but Babel's speed was too much, as he turned and the ball struck his back, lobbing the onrushing keeper into the net. Babel crushed a cross into the crossbar a couple minutes later, barely missing the hat-trick. In the 89th minute, Benayoun provided another beautiful ball into the center of the box and Crouch, unguarded by either of the center backs, headed the ball home. A great game from Voronin, Riise, Gerrard, Benayoun, Crouch and Babel saw Liverpool capitalize on all of their talent and put on a real show for the home fans. Man of the match: Benayoun with 3 goals and 2 assists. 

Champions League: Matchday 3

Barcelona v Rangers
First off, I hate Rangers. Second, I love Barca. Obviously, I watch this game with some extreme bias. I'll try to check it at the door.
The first half has seen Barca dominate possession, creating a number of chances on goal while executing their passes with the expected precision. With that said, Rangers have done an admirable job defending, cutting off the incisive passes from midfield that make Barca so hard to defend. Rangers have clogged the box, marked Henry and Messi with serious determination and emerged from the first half with a 0-0 tie. However, Barca will likely continue to grind the defense into the ground, with overlaps and their constant attack-and-possession style of play. One example of this in the first half was the attacking play of Puyol on the right, something I have rarely seen. Thankfully Victor Valdes has looked solid in goal but Rangers have had some uncomfortably strong attacking play in the first half. The absence of Deco, the coagulating agent of midfield, has been felt, as Xavi and Iniesta have struggled somewhat. In particular, Iniesta and Xavi will need to contain Rangers counterattacks while supporting the play of Gudjohnsen, Henry, Messi and Ronaldinho. It should be an excellent second half.

The Second Half
Barcelona continued to press forward while Rangers held Henry and Ronaldinho in check, double-teaming and fouling the two stars. Meanwhile, Messi was kept silent on the right flank, with few touches in the second half and none of his typically straightforward brilliance in attack. It has been said before, and it'll be said again: Deco makes Barca run. Without his pinpoint passing and control of the game from central midfield, all the rotating parts of Barcelona have no axle to turn, no node to connect to. Almost every time Henry or Roni touched the ball, they were hacked. And when Barca won free kicks, Ronaldinho sky-ed the first one and hit the crossbar on the second. Otherwise, Rangers continued to clog the top of the box and defended admirably on the wing. Barcelona's offense never quite got into high gear and the fouls and deep counter-attacks kept the Blaugrana from getting into any sort of cogent rhythm. In order to win the group, Barca will have to play better, with or without Deco. As a fan, this match was a bit of a disappointment.

Fernando Torres is the man

He scored a hat trick yesterday against a Reading side determined to play physical.  Catch the highlights at footytube.com.

Champions Lague Matchday 1: Barcelona v Lyon

First things first: Lyon is a damn good team and showed it for 80 minutes against what could well be the most talented team in Europe. They gave up an own goal off a Messi shot in the 21st minute and did a strong job of blocking the middle while not permitting Barca to attack easily down the flanks. That said, their excellent defense broke down for the final ten minutes and allowed Barcelona the space to create, leading to the two cushioning goals, by Messi in the 82nd minute and Henry in the 90th. Interestingly, Barca looked their best without Ronaldinho, who was removed in favor of Andres Iniesta in the 64th minute. For the most part, Henry and Messi were held in check by the Lyon defense, through hard tackling and offside traps. Henry looked sluggish and unable to control the ball or work well in the post. Messi continues to develop as one of the world's most exciting players and created space for himself and his teammates. In this game, he occassionally looked like he was trying to do too much, but in the end he created two goals and led his team to success. Messi has to be considered the man of the match in this game.

In the Manchester United v Sporting Lisbon match, again the underdog did a strong job defending goal and the box, forcing United to look wide for their chances. In the end, Cristiano Ronaldo was the difference as he scored the decisive goal against his former club. Ronaldo looked great with the ball at his feet but Rooney apparently wasnt ready for the game. Additionally, it was good to see Vidic and Ferdinand together at center-back. Van der Sar saved an almost-certain goal in the 79th minute with a fingertip save. United will have to improve their form if they expect to perform as they did last year in this tournament.

The Return of Owen

England finally came together as EPL fans know they should, winning 3-0 today over a strong Russian team. With Emile Heskey acting as a decoy, Michael Owen was able to work around him, flitting off on the edges and attacking the middle of the pitch, keeping the Russian defence guessing. The first goal came in the 4th minute, as Owen controlled a cross from Gareth Barry from the right flank and quickly dispatched the ball into the right side-netting. England looked the side to beat today, herding the Russian strikers into the center of the field and dispossessing them, with Ferdinand and Terry both living up to their reputations. Sean Wright-Phillips looked good on the right flank while Joe Cole was unfortunately denied by the Russian keeper on a good strike from just outside the box. England's long passing game looked great, as their timely counterattacks kept the Russians from sending more than one or two men forward at a time. In the 30th minute, Michael Owen scored again, this time striking a volley across the goal, just beyond the reach of Malafeev. The half ended just as England could have wished, up 2-0 and looking the strong favorites to take the points.
The second half began with more of the same, as long balls were played into Heskey, who did well to direct them into the paths of oncoming attackers like Owen, Cole and Wright-Phillips. Russia looked anemic and ineffective throughout the game, but showed a bit more panache at the beginning of the second half; England's mastery of the pitch proved too much though, as they continued to attack. Finally, in the 84th minute, England took a corner short, playing the ball into Owen at the edge of the 18, who froze the two defenders in front of him and threaded a short pass in to Rio Ferdinand (A short aside: Rio Ferdinand is one of the best defenders in the world, whose pace can match that of nearly any striker, who has one of the coolest heads in soccer and communicates superbly with his goalie. Additionally, he's good in the air and has a strong scoring record for a defender.) who pulled the ball back then burst past his defender before smashing the ball under the diving Malafeev. Owen had to be the man of the match and looked as good as he has in years. Here's to a successful campaign for Newcastle United and England. Good to have you back, Michael.