UEFA Champions League
There was action aplenty and goals galore as all the big clubs Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and Inter Milan picked up 3 points on Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League while FC Basel’s thumping of AS Roma being the only surprise.
Real Madrid beat AC Milan in what was billed to be a clash of the giants. Cristiano Ronaldo netted in a trademark freekick before setting up setting up Germany’s World Cup star Ozil as Real raced away to a 2-0 lead. With the Milan frontline looking out of sorts, Real made it 9 points from 3 games while AC Milan stayed second with 4 points along with Ajax who beat Auxerre 2-1.
Chelsea exorcised the ghosts of Moscow as they put on a brilliant display of football to beat Spartak Moscow on the ground they lost the final to Manchester United a couple of years back. A stunning strike by the Russian Yuri Zhirkov and a second from Anelka ensured that Chelsea maintained their 100% record in the Champions League this season. French outfit Marseille beat MSK Zilina 1-0 as they kept alive their hopes of qualifying from Group F.
Five players scored for Arsenal as they took their tally to 13 goals in 3 games as they thumped Shakhtar Donetsk by five goals to one. Alexander Song opened the scoring and Nasri made it two for the Gunners before the break. Fabregas converted a penalty while Wilshere and Chamakh piled on the misery for the visitors. The former Arsenal boy Eduardo scored a late consolation goal as the Ukranian side slumped to their heaviest defeat in Europe.
In Group E, Cadu’s strike gave FC Cluj the lead against Bayern Munich. But a few minutes later he headed in the back of his own net and another own goal by Panin put the last year’s runners up in the driving seat. A 77th minute strike by Mario Gomez gave them breathing space. Cilio pulled a goal back but it was too little too late for the visitors. Swiss club FC Basel pulled off a surprising 3-1 victory over AS Roma to move to 3 points on par with FC Cluj and Roma.
Manchester United weren’t to be distracted by the Rooney saga as they beat the Turkish Champions Bursapore at Old Trafford. Nani’s early long range strike gave them a second consecutive win in Group C while Rangers moved to second after a 1-1 draw against Valencia.
Lionel Messi’s double strike gave Barcelona a 2-0 victory over Danish side FC Copenhagen. He slotted home a pass from Iniesta and scored again in injury time as he took his tally to 29 goals in 47 Champions League games. Meanwhile in Group B, the all time leading goal scorer in Europe, Raul, took his tally to 70 goals with his double strike sinking Israel’s Tel Aviv as Schalke consolidated their second position. Lyon remain on top of the group with 9 points after a 2-0 victory over Benefica.
In Group A, FC Twente and Bremen played out a 1-1 draw as they remain rooted at the bottom of the group. In what was undoubtedly the game of the week, Inter Milan beat Tottenham 4-3 but not before Rafael Benitez was given a few jittery moments. Tottenham got off to the worst possible start with Inter scoring 3 times in the first 14 minutes which also saw the Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes sent off. Tottenham’s fate appeared to be sealed when Stankovic scored Inter’s fourth before the break. Gareth Bale’s individual effort pulled one back for the English side. With 90 minutes played, Bale scored again in what looked like a carbon copy of his first goal. Bale scored again in injury time to complete his hat-trick. This wasn’t enough to prevent Inter from bagging the three points but Tottenham will carry forward some heart when the two teams meet for the return leg in London in a couple of weeks time.
Tags: Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Champions League, Chelsea, Football, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Real Madrid, UEFA Champions League
