They may be hitting speed bumps in England, but Arsenal is flying high in Europe. Arsenal defeated Fenerbahce 5-2 in Turkey, in which they scored four goals(one of them a Silvestre own goal) in the opening 21 minutes. The goals came from Adebayor, Walcott, Diaby, Song and uber-youngster Aaron Ramsey. If they beat Fenerbahce at home in their next game, they should have the group wrapped up. Arsenal is much more suited to playing in Europe. There are no Boltons(though the Italian sides might come close) in Europe, rather each team is trying to play the best football(soccer) possible. This suits Arsenal, since they are better at pure football(soccer) than most other teams, and if their back line holds up they should go far in Europe. Elsewhere, in the Battle of Britain, Man U defeated Celtic 3-0 thanks to a couple dodgy goals from Dimitar Berbatov and are top of Group E on goal differential. Rooney continued his scoring streak by grabbing the third, but this wasn't much of a shock. Celtic are no match for their rivals from the South, and have only won once away in Europe. They will need maximum points from their remaining home games if they want the parachute place in the UEFA Cup.
The big result of the day was Juventus defeating Real Madrid 2-1. Claudio Rainieri has been under pressure after five games without a win in all competitions. Their talisman(leader) Alessandro Del Piero grabbed the opener after four minutes, while red hot Amauri scored the winner. The win puts Juve in the lead of Group H, as Zenit St. Petersburg tied BATE Borisov 1-1. Zenit are having a very disappointing campaign after winning the UEFA Cup this year, and will need some results if they are to move out of last place. Bayern Munich defeated Fiorentina 3-0, and are now top of Group F. Klose scored in the fourth minute, with Schweinsteiger and Ze Roberto netting the other goals. Lyon defeated Steaua Bucharest 5-3 to remain in second place. Bucharest were up 2-0, and then 3-2, before braces from Fred and Benzema put the game away for Lyon. Villareal defeated AaB 6-3, as second-half substitute Joseba Llorente netted a hat trick. Villareal and Man U both have seven points, but the Devils lead Group E thanks to goal differential. This makes their game at El Madrigal(The Madrigal) in a month very interesting. Dynamo Kiev upset FC Porto 1-0 in Portugal, to grab their first Champions League victory in four years. Dynamo now sit in second place in Group G, and a result at home against Porto would all but ensure them a place in the knockout stages.One Liners
- Mourinho calls Drogba a diver, so much for signing the Ivorian for Inter
- Thaksin convicted of corruption in Thailand, all the more reason to stay in Manchester
- Toure out for a month with shoulder injury, Wenger expects to replace him with a 12 year old
- Scolari promises beautiful football(soccer) against Roma, hopes to look as good as Cluj did
