Day 1 : AC Milan v Man U.. Becks playin agnst his former club.. I call up Panda just before the match..he's simply excited like a little child who's got his Christmas present!!! I predict a 1-1 draw with Man U scoring first.. but both predictions turn out to be wrong!! Milan score first..a ddeflection..but Rafael's mistake..Milan played the betta football in the first half.. fell asleep after that..cudnt see the second half..but Man U's first goal was a laugh!!! :D Scholes trying to hit with his right and scoring with his left!!! :D However the next two goals were typical Man U goals ...something they've practised a number of times .. Alex dadu has admonished them into perfecting them!!! I mean..the third goal..dunno how many times Fletcher has put in such a ball onto Rooney's head during practice!! and especially with no one charging down Fletcher till late..no chance..btw Rooney was in my fantasy team!! Alex dadu has some calibre..give him one player..and a team..and he can win u matches..but still..Man U are nowhere near winning any league or cup..Chelsea have played much betta football all season!!!
The other match featured Lyon v Real Madrid.. again i saw only 1 half of football..thr were no goals..the goal came just after the restart..in summary Lyon come to the Bernabeau with quite an advantage..having conceded no home goals..all they need is 1 away goal and Real have to score 3 at least..have not seen too many matches of Madrid this..actually havent seen any barring the Champions league ones and El Classico..i dont they have played any such incisive football..maybe its their lack of goal scorers-Higuain,Raul and Benzema..we might see the team which brought in Kaka and Ronaldo going out at the same stage they did last season..unless they pull off a stunner at home..but letus have a look at the Lyon team.Pjancic is quite a Fantasy team favourite...and they have some nice players in Govou,their new signing from Porto-Lisandro and holding medio Cris and a fantastic goalkeeper in Lloris!!! So if they were to go thru to the next stage..it wudnt be really adn upset!!!
Day 2: Both my favourite teams played on this matchday..Arsenal and Bayern..both matches had the same result.. 2-1 to the home team namely Porto and Bayern..looking from either point of view..this is the perfect score to take home as well as a fighting score to go and win away..Bayern got their second goal quite late from an unlikely source this season..Miroslav Klose..and from a blatant offside position :P ..yet obvsly Bayern were the betta team thru out the match..and I hope they shall show their dominance when they visit Fiorentina.. with Robben and Ribery playing together on the flanks, I dont think anyone can stop Bayern at the moment.. also to be remembered is Bayern's thrashing of Juventus in the last group match..so if anyone argues it's tough to win away at Italy,they are very much mistaken!!!
Arsenal came in a weakened side..missing Almunia, Arshavin, Diaby among others...and what was worse than Fabianski's performance was Hilario's performance in the EPL match agnst Man City!!! :P Two howlers and two goals conceded..whats important was Sol Campbell scored a goal in his 200th match in an Arsenal shirt!!! one observation abt Campbell is that he played wonderfully in the weekend match agnst Stoke City..which just goes to prove that he will come off a sitting duck agnst teams like Man Utd and others with a lot of pace..but he can hold his own and provide Arsenal the much needed HEIGHT factor agnst teams like Stoke and Birmingham!!!
Day 3: The holders took the field agnst a German club..everyone thot they will steamroll Stuttgart over..but the in frm German club held their own agnst Barca..and if any1 saw the match..STuttgart played the betta football!!! Barca had their full strength team except Daniel Alves..and Henry came on in the second half..realistically the score shud have been abt 4-2 in favour of Stuttgart..they both sides were denied penalties off handballs..though Ibrahamovic controlled the ball from the corner with his hand before shooting.. Cacau was in top form and Hleb had a score to settle with his former club whr he was essentially a benchwarmer!!! Stuttgart played wonderful man-to-man football..covering angles properly and preventing any runs from the wing!!! I know it's a tough proposition and winning away at Barca(or drawing after scoring)..yet i feel thr is hope for the team!!!
The other match was a lesser affair and i didnt even see the match..but one point to be noted is that Bordeaux were expected to win..sorta..and they have conceded just 2 goasl in the tournament so far..1 agnst Bayern and 1 agnst Juventus..and are unbeaten..maybe they might crumble agnst stronger opposition..but they are in quite good form...
Day 4: Inter v Chelsea..Mourinho v Ancellotti..the most significant point of the match is Cech's injury..which shall come back to haunt Chelsea thru out the rest of the season!!! Inter played their typical football..Chelsea were fluid thru out the match after conceding the first goal quite early..quite a good goal from Milito..obvsly Terry's mistake..he shudnt have moved out..he shud have stayed in..luring Milito away from the goal..and then if MIlito had indeed taken a shot it wud have been his left foot..and also..the angle wud have been narrower!!! The next two goals were sorta freak goals..Julio Cesar missing on a routine save probably..he didnt have his goal covered too well..and Cambiasso's perseverence paying off..boom boom..goal!!! :D
The other match was an early start..Sevilla taking a draw and an away goal agnst Sevilla..even without Fabiano..
Well..the nex matchday is really gonna be interesting...!!!! coz only 1 match has been decided so as to speak..(Panda may disagree!!!)...the Man Utd -Milan affair..we may also include the Bordeaux match to have been decided..but even that might turn around thru a heroic performance away by Olympiacos..all other matches are on the edge..there are three 2-1 results in favour of the home team..and the teams visiting this next matchday are capable enough to win away!!! all these three matches are an interesting watch for the next day!!! two matches stuck at 1-1..the team with the away goal advantage is supposed to go thru..but they other team wont surely go down withour a fight!!! and one match between Lyon and Madrid with Lyon having a fair advantage over Madrid..but its Madrid..u never know!!!!
My predictions.. Man Utd, Lyon, Bayern, Arsenal, Barca, Bordeaux, Sevilla, Chelsea go thru..though i wish Stuttgart pulls it off!!!! point to be noted..the possibility is of : 3 english teams..two french teams..2 spanish teams..and 1 German team!!
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I also agree with Panda that Utd-Milan is not over yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd I want Madrid to go through. Because I want an El Clasico final. With Barca winning at the Bernebau. A week after they win La Liga.
Oh, that would be so perfect. Not even Perez can recover from it. :P