Group A: Bordeaux took the group lead thanks to a 2-1 home win over Bayern Munich. The match was an ugly one as the German Giants were on the board first do to an own goal by Michael Ciani early. Ciani then redeemed himself in the 29th with a strike for Bordeaux to even the score at 1-1. Marc Planus scored in the 40th minute, after a Bayern defender kicked the ball off him, and deflected into the net. With the win Bordeaux moved into first in the group with 7 points. Then Juventus kept their undefeated record with a 1-0 home victory of Maccabi Haifia. Giorgio Chiellini scored the game's only goal in the 47th to give the Italian club the win. Bordeaux hold the group lead with 7 points, with Juventus in second with 5 points, Bayern has four points and Haifia looks to be out of the running, as the Israeli Champions are still pointless.
Group B: CSKA Moscow gave all Manchester United could handle in Russia, but the Red Devils finally broke through in the 86th minute to give the English Champions the win on the road. Antonio Valencia scored to give Manchester United the win in a match where United out shot Moscow 17-7, but could not find the three points till late in the match. In the other match, Turkish Champions Besiktas got their first point of the competition with a scoreless draw in Wolfsburg. The German Champions played even with Besiktas, a club that usually struggles on the road. Manchester United now control the group with a perfect 3-0 record. Wolfsburg sit in second with 4 points, and Moscow has 3. Besiktas is now on the board with a point. However it looks like the real race will be between Wolfsburg and Moscow for second position.
Group C: Who would of thought that this would be one of the more closer groups in the competition at the halfway point. However, that is the case after AC Milan came from behind to win 3-2 at Madrid. Raul struck first for Real Madrid in the 19th minute, after poor goalkeeping. Then Milan scored two goals in rapid succession from Andrea Pirlo and Pato in the 62nd and 66th minute. The Spanish powerhouse would not go away as Royston Drenthe equalized in the 76th minute. However Pato ended the goal fest in the 88th minute to give AC Milan the 3-2 road victory, amidst a game of controversy in the Spanish Capital. In the other match. French side Marseille finally got points in the competition with a 1-0 win at Zurich. Gabriel Heinze scored in the 69th minute to give Marseille the win over the Swiss Champions. Despite the loss Real Madrid still hold onto the group lead over AC Milan thanks to goal differential. Marseille and Zurich are still in the hunt, as both clubs have 3 points, and only trail by three. Much is still
to be determined in this group, despite the two giants who looked to dominate the group.
Group D: Chelsea kept a perfect record as the rolled over Atletico Madrid 4-0. The English Powerhouse embarrassed the Spanish side with goals from Salomon Kalou in the 41st and 52nd minute. Frank Lampard scored in the 69th, and an own goal by Atletico was how Madrid ended an overall brutal night. Petr Cech made 5 saves for the Blues to give Chelsea the shut out. In the other match Porto's Alvaro Pereiera scored an own goal in the 21st to give Apoel Nicosia the 1-0 lead. However Hulk scored in the 33rd and 48th minute to give Porto the 2-1 home win of the Cyprus club. With the results, Chelsea only needs a draw to advance, and Porto is in second with 6 points. Meanwhile, Apoel and Atletico are struggling with a point a piece.
Group E: The season is going from bad to worse for Liverpool. They are off to not a great start in the EPL, and they lost at home to Lyon. Yossi Benayoun scored in the 41st to put the Reds up 1-0. But the English club could not hold the lead as Lyon came roaring back. Maxime Gonalons equalized in the 72nd minute, and a stoppage time goal by Cesar Delgado broke the hearts of the Anfield faithful. The other match was a goal fest as Fiorentina edged Debrecen 4-3. The Hungarian club got off to flying start with a goal in the 2nd minute. However Fiorentina scored three in a row to put the Italian club up 3-1. Gergely Rudolf scored 28th minute to pull the host within one. Then a 37th minute strike by Mario Santana put the game out of reach for Debrecen, despite a late goal. Fiorentina pulls off the 4-3 road win and is in position to advance. Lyon is in the driver's seat with 9 points, and Fiorentina is only 3 points back. Liverpool has work to do as they only have 3 points, and Debrecen are the basement dwellers with a 0-3 record.
Group F: In what has to be the ultimate surprise of the group, all teams are deadlocked halfway through the group stage. Dynamo Kiev went to Milan and drew with Inter 2-2. Taras Mikhalik put Dynamo up 1-0, the Dejan Stankovic put the Italians on level terms in the 35th minute. The an own goal in the 40th by Ferreira Lucio put the Ukrainians in the lead 2-1. Walter Samuel ended the night with a 47th minute strike to give Inter Milan the 2-2 draw at home. The ultimate upset of the tournament happened in Barcelona on Tuesday as Rubin Kazan defeated the defending champions 2-1 in Spain. The Russian side went up early in the 2nd thanks to a goal by Aleksander Ryazantsev, Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalized in the 48th for the Spanish Champions Karadeniz Gokdeniz gave Kazan the 2-1 win with a 73rd minute goal. Barclona still hold the lead in the group with mere 4 points, Kiev and Kazan both have 3 points, and Inter Milan only have one point.
Group G: Sevilla kept their perfect record with a 3-1 win at Stuttgart. Sebastien Squillaci opened the scoring in the 23rd minute for the Spanish side. Gonzalez Jesus Navas scored in the 55th to double the lead, and Squillaci put it away in the 72nd for the win in Germany. The other match saw the Cinderella of the group stages Unirea Urziceni embarrass Rangers 4-1. Ricardo Gomes Vilana scored an own goal to give the Scottish Champions the early lead. Then Unirea came roaring back with a goal by Marius Bilasco in the 32nd evened the match. Two own goals in a row conceded by Rangers put the Romanian club up 3-1, and then Pablo Brandan finished off Rangers in the 65th. Sevilla's 3-0 record is in first, a win away from advancement. The race for second is still tight, Unirea has four points, but Stuttgart and Rangers are still in contention despite underachieving through the first 3 matches.
Group H: Arsenal was seconds away from going 3-0 in the group. Then an injury time strike from AZ Alkmaar's David Mendez Da Silva saved a point for the Dutch host. Cesc Fabregas scored in the 36th minute to give the Gunners the 1-0 lead. In the other match Greek Champions Olympiakos sent Belgian Champions Standard Liegue packing with a 2-1 victory. Igor De Camargo scored in the 37th minute to give Standard the 1-0 lead. Then Konstantinos Mitroglou equalized two minutes before the half for the Olympiakos. Then in stoppage time Ieroklis Stoltidis gave the host a valuable three points. Arsenal has the group lead with 7 points, one ahead of Olympiakos. AZ Alkmaar trail with only 2 points, and Standard Liege is struggling with only one point.
Only half of the group stage script is written, and plenty of more drama and excitement is in store. The next set of matches will answer big questions. Will the superpowers hold on to their status? Can the smaller clubs overthrow the giants of the Continent? Will early success lead to just more heartbreak latter? And the most important question. Who will advance to the knock-out stages to the road to Madrid.
No comments:
Post a Comment