Wednesday was a little less exciting than Tuesday, but it did feature the first appearance of Cristiano Ronaldo. Say what you will(and people will), but that boy was born to play football(soccer).Man U 0- Villareal 0: A strange game from the start. Ronaldo, Berbatov, Vidic, Santi Cazorla and Senna were all missing at the start through injury or tactic. Man U dominated the majority of the game, but a back heel from Franco nearly stole the game for the Yellow Submarine. When these two sides play again, I would look for a different score line.
Bayern Munich 1 - Steaua Bucaresti 0: The Germans did well to win this game away from home. That being said, after seeing Bremen's performance yesterday, the Bundesliga does not seem to be performing particularly well in Europe. Lets see if they prove me wrong(I'm never wrong).
Lyon 2 - Fiorentina 2: Lyon have to be the biggest disappointment in Europe. They win Ligue 1 every year, but can't seem to go anywhere in Europe. They did well to come back and get a point, and in this group every point matters.
FC Porto 3 - Fenerbahce 1: Porto have a number of offensive weapons and they unleashed them in this game. Guiza scored for Fenerbahce, but Aragones will have trouble with this group. The Portuguese side could be a dark horse in the tournament and watch out for them.
Arsenal 1 - Dynamo Kiev 1: Arsenal was lucky to walk away with a point, and they will be challenged away from home by physical play. Walcott was the subject of a number of hard fouls, but supplied the cross that Gallas headed home for the point.
Real Madrid 2 - BATE Borisov 0: A rather disappointing for Real, but at least they kept a clean sheet and got the win. The Belarusian side are overmatched in this tournament, but their baptism wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Juventus 1 - Zenit St. Petersburg 0: Juve scored a big win in front of a small crowd. Del Piero was the hero in a typical Italian game. They will be looking to make a statement now that they are clean(for an Italian side) and have the squad to progress. This will be another group that should come down to the final day.
Celtic 0 - AaB 0: No that is not a collection of letters, but a Danish side. This was a poor result for Celtic at home, and with Man U and Villareal in their group they will need some more miracles if they want to make it out of the group stage.
UEFA CUP Update: Aston Villa won 3-1 over Lovetch, with a Gareth Barry penalty the winner. Man City beat Omonia Nicosia 2-1 thanks to a brace from Jo. Portsmouth beat Guimares 2-0 with a brace from Defoe that would have been a hat trick if not for a miss from the spot. Tottenham beat Wisla Krakow 2-1 with Bent and Bentley providing the goals.
One Liners
- Wenger says that Kiev tried to destroy Walcott, Wenger considers launching pre-emptive strike before next game
- Gago out for a month with injury, Real will just have to subsitute one of their 100 other players
- Wilkins named new assistant at Chelsea, bald head and big belly show his belief in fitness
- Fergie deciding whether to play Brown or Evans, wants Neville in the side so he can feel young
