Posts Tagged ‘UEFA Champions League’

Inter Milan 1-1 Werder Bremen: José Gets First San Siro Boos, Nerazzurri Tied at Home (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

The love-story between Mourinho and Inter has hit its first hurdle. Losing the Milan derby was already a big no-no moment this week-end, but Wednesday’s home draw to Werder Bremen really did not sit well with some Nerazzurri supporters, who did not hide their discontent in the San Siro stands.

And with good reason. Much like their match against Milan, Inter only “woke up” in the final 15 minutes of the match, exhibiting severe deficiencies in terms of character the rest of the time. The “José plan” evidently, still needs to be fully absorbed by some Nerazzurri elements, while the three-pure-strikers attacking formation (with Adriano, Ibrahimovic, and Balotelli) still requires quite a bit of fine-tuning. After UCL’s matchday 2 draw, Inter are left sharing the Group B lead with the surprising Cypriot team of Anorthosis.

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Bordeaux 1-3 AS Roma: Julio Baptista Time, With Birthdays and Sh** (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Would you believe it if I told you both Roma goalscorers (Vucinic & Julio Baptista) celebrated their birthday today? Seriously, no lie! And what better gift to themselves (and Spalletti), than to carry their team to victory on Bordeaux soil after trailing by one in the first half? You just can’t make that sh** up… talk about a perfect day huh?

The Giallorossi party shouldn’t go on for too long though. Getting the first three UCL points of the season was important today, but there’s still a looooot of work to be done by Luciano Spalletti: there’s just something missing from this team (as today’s first 60 minutes demonstrated). And yes, it may be as simple as getting capitan Totti back…

If there were such things as “Man of the Half” awards, Yoann Gourcuff would get it today. The ex-Milan player, who for over a year played the inconvenient role of underachiever in Italy, seems to have been transformed since his arrival in Gironde. Manager Laurent Blanc (who knows Italian teams well, having played at Napoli and Inter Milan) essentially elected the French youngster as key playmaker today (alongside another ex-Serie A player, Fernando Menegazzo, and in support of lone striker Marouane Chamakh), and the Bordeaux midfielder executed the boss’s orders to perfection.

Present virtually everywhere on the field (including the defensive zone), Gourcuff started dishing out passes, crosses, and shots left & right. The first goal of the game in particular, was a well-executed 20m effort that caught the Roma defense unprepared and with their pants down. The kind Rossoneri supporters would like to have seen earlier last season, but which Gourcuff patiently waited until now to display. 1-0 Bordeaux.

With 30 minutes left to play in the first half, you would have thought the goal would have a kick-in-the-pants effect for Roma. Alas… not really. The only notable Giallorossi highlight in fact, was a Jon Arne Riise long-range piledriver on set pieces, that the Norwegian wing-back put narrowly wide of the Bordeaux goal. Not enough to scare the home team.

No, in fact all the “scary” stuff was left to referee Alberto Mallenco, who in minute 36 decided to send off Bordeaux’s Carlos Henrique for a elbow on Simone Perrotta. Replays showed that although the center back’s arm was directed toward Perrotta, there seemingly was no contact between the two players. Ironically though, Bordeaux came very close to increasing their lead to 2-0 and this despite their one-man disadvantage, Geraldo Wendel narrowly heading wide another good delivery by Gourcuff. 1-0 at the half.

In the second period, Spalletti sounded the charge in the changing room & on the field, replacing Ménez and Aquilani with Julio Baptista and Stefano Okaka. Roma needed to catch a break, which promptly arrived in minute 64. Anticipating both the keeper and his marker, Mirko Vucinic’s header connected with a DDR corner-kick to send the ball into the back of the Bordeaux net. 1-1, with a net shift if the match’s momentum.

Indeed, just over 5 minutes after the equalizer, Roma grabbed the lead for the first time thanks to a marvelous free-kick execution of Julio Baptista: 20m, curling shot over the wall and into the top-right corner. Totti-esque. 2-1 Roma.

Later still, the ex-Real Madrid and Arsenal player repeated himself, finalizing a beautiful Vucinic-Taddei combination and deflecting the latter’s cross into the open goal. Just minutes earlier, Okaka had blown another good opportunity in front of Valverde to make it three. 3-1 Roma.

It was the liberating goal for the Giallorossi, who could now breathe a sign of relief and enjoy their first points of the 2008-09 UCL campaign. Baptista’s and Vucinic’s night’s gonna be a long one…

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 FC Girondins de Bordeaux
BORDEAUX-ROMA
1-3
[Match Highlights]
A.S. Roma
GOALSCORERS: 18’ Gourcuff (B), 64’ Vucinic (R), 71’, 83’ J.Baptista (R).
BORDEAUX (4-1-4-1): Valverde – Chalmé, Henrique, Diawara, Jurietti (78’ Gouffran) – A.Diarra – Menegazzo, Obertan (40′ Planus), Gourcuff, Jussie (37′ Wendel); Chamakh. (bench: Olimpia, Ducasse, Cavenaghi, Bellion). Coach. Blanc.
ROMA (4-1-4-1): Doni – Cicinho, Mexès, Panucci, Riise – De Rossi – Taddei, Aquilani (63’ Okaka), Perrotta, Ménez (52’ J.Baptista) – Vucinic (85’ Brighi). (bench: Artur, Loria, Filipe, Montella). Coach: Spalletti.

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Bate Borisov 2-2 Juventus: Bianconeri Saved by Iaquinta, Close Shave in Minsk (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

After Catania and Sampdoria in Serie A, Juventus obtained their third consecutive draw in less than a week, this time in the UEFA Champions League. And don’t be fooled by the name: if drawing against Bate Borisov (a Belarusian team at its European top competition debut) might seem like a bad result on paper, the Bianconeri can actually be quite thankful for the point they obtained in Minsk today.

Indeed, his team’s apocalyptic initial 30 minutes (Juve were down by two goals in the 23th) could have very well cost Claudio Ranieri his first defeat of the season, but fortunately Juventus’s reputation as the “team that never gives up” isn’t for nothing. Grabbing the match by the gonads, the Bianconeri held their head up high and managed to grab the equalizer before half-time, courtesy of two tallies by Vincenzo Iaquinta. Scary times in Minsk these days… must be the cold.

Juventus started this match, quite litterally, “horror-style“. Claudio Ranieri had decided to make a last-minute change to his “two-defensive-mids-wing-attack” formation, and inserted Sebastian Giovinco in lieu of Mauro Camoranesi (who moved to central midfield) on the right wing. What may seemingly have been a good move in terms of optimizing playmaking, actually turned out to be a logistics error of colossal proportions. The Bianconeri were spread too widely on the field, always outnumbered by their Bate opponents during ball possession, and without a defensive mid partner to aid him in the center, Momo Sissoko’s recuperation duties heavily suffered.

FC Bate on the other hand, exhibiting a dynamic 4-5-1 formation (with active & motivated players on the wings), immediately took advantage of Juve’s tactical problems. The first goal, arriving partly because of a Chiellini offside trap error and partly because of Legrottaglie’s injury (he’d have to be replaced by Dario Knezevic), was just the tip of the iceberg-disaster yet to come. exploiting a Dmitri Likhtarovich through ball, Bate’s nº10 Sergey Krivets escaped through on goal, dribbled past Manninger and deposited the ball into the empty net. 1-0 Bate. Juve supporters pinched themselves… were they dreaming?

Just 5 minutes later, the (bad) dream turned into a (horrible) nightmare, because the home team made it two. Cue assist nº2 for Likhtarovich, delivering a long cross from the left towards Igor Stasevich on the opposite post. Nedved (what was he doing defending?) missed the interception, and the Belarusian midfielder powered an accurate header towards the far post. Manninger didn’t even move. 2-0 Bate.

At this point, the psychological blow would have been too hard for an ordinary team to overcome. Not for Juve: it was time to put the “grinta” (fighting spirit) factor into the equation. Alex Del Piero sounded the charge (good free-kick attempt below the bar, saved by Veremko), shortly followed by Giovinco and Iaquinta: Super-Seba provided the passing, Vincenzo the finishing. First, a good cross by the Bianconeri youngster (receiving full marks for his first European performance tonight) found the header of the ex-Udinese striker. 2-1.

Fifteen minutes later, and in the last minute of stoppage time, Vincenzo made it two. Another good run and pass by Giovinco was well-finalized by Iaquinta, sending the ball between the keeper’s legs to tie the game. 2-2. Juve supporters now breathing again.

At the restart, Ranieri fixed the central midfield leak by replacing Camoranesi with Claudio Marchisio. Juventus turned to their usual wing-attack formation, coupled with the odd percussion of Sissoko (more and more reminiscent of Patrick Vieira) down the center, but it was still Bate giving Manninger scares. Such as in minute 55, when Aleksandr Volodko was litterally given a “rolling penalty-kick” opportunity, but incredibly ballooned his shot over the bar.

It was however the last scare of the night for the Bianconeri, who picked up the pace and took control of the proceedings. Del Piero‘s contribution growed exponentially, with the Juve captain coming close to the left (chipped acrobatic shot over the goalkeeper) and then the right post (diagonal left-footed effort after a 1-2 pass with Giovinco, wide). It was essentially the last highlight of the game, which even saw the appearance of Amauri (on for Iaquinta) in the final minutes.

In the end, as the Bate supporters celebrated their first point in the UEFA Champions League, Ranieri can be moderately satisfied with the outcome. Sure, Real Madrid went to beat FC Zenit 2-1 in the other game (and now count 6 points over Juve’s 4 in the group), but there’s still plenty of matches left in Group H. Huh? Just four you say?

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 FC BATE Borisov
BATE-JUVENTUS
2-2
[Match Highlights]
Juventus F.C.
GOALSCORERS: 17’ Kryvets (B), 23’ Stasevich (B), 29’, 45’ Iaquinta (J).
BATE BORISOV (4-5-1): Veremko – Kazantsev, Sosnovski, Rzhevski, Yurevich – Likhtarovich (70’ Sivakov), Volodko, Kryvets, Stasevich, Nekhaychik (86’ Mirchev) – Rodionov (92’ Pecha). (bench: Gutor, Bliznyuk, Skavysh, Sakharov). Coach: Goncharenko.
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Manninger – Grygera, Legrottaglie (18′ Knezevic), Chiellini, De Ceglie – Giovinco, Camoranesi (46’ Marchisio), Sissoko, Nedved – Del Piero, Iaquinta (81’ Amauri). (bench: Chimenti, Salihamidzic, Molinaro, Marchionni). Coach: Ranieri.

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Fiorentina 0-0 Steaua Bucharest: Viola Hit A Romanian Wall (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Second consecutive draw for Fiorentina in the UEFA Champions League. The Viola could not do better than a 0-0 result on Tuesday, blocked by a tough & well-organized Steaua Bucharest side, surprising not only in their disciplined defensive organization but also with their fair share of technical players (above all, António Semedo, Banel Nicolita, and Dayro Moreno).

And so, not even the free-kicks of Adrian Mutu and the pouncing shots of Alberto Gilardino were enough, as Cesare Prandelli’s boys had to settle for a draw. In light of the other match’s result from group F however (Bayern 1-1 Lyon), grabbing a point shouldn’t be considered all that bad. In other words, the glass is half full for Fiorentina… for now.

(From KwSport): Prandelli’s main plan for tonight, relied on the experience of Alessandro Gamberini and Juan Manuel Vargas at the back, the creativity of Sergio Almiron & Mario Santana in midfield, and the finishing of Mutu / Gilardino up front. On the other end however, Steaua manager Marius Lacatus (who even spent a season in Tuscany back in 1990-91) had installed a very thick & effective central dam, populated by the likes of Mirel Radoi & Florin Lovin in midfield and completed by the tall & powerful Dorin Goian and Sorin Ghionea at the back. In addition, the Viola coach soon had to find a solution to the Antonio Semedo problem on the right wing. Indeed, the Portuguese winger very rapidly became Martin Jorgensen’s nightmare, constantly beating the Danish wing-back on the run and creating all sorts of problems to the Viola backline.

Thus with the path down the middle being thoroughly guarded, and the wings not being much effective either, Fiorentina were forced to operate on speed coupled with the long-ball tactic. Not exactly the home special in Casa Viola: except for a few shots (very wide) by Mutu, the first half ended without major excitement. 0-0 HT.

In the second period, Prandelli patched up his right side by inserting Luciano Zauri for Jorgensen, which had its effects almost immediately. Semedo was neutralized, remained the creativity problem. And in that area unfortunately, the Steaua iron defense continued to get the upper hand, and this despite the increasingly greater Viola ball possession. Thus, remained the long-range solution, at which point Adrian Mutu‘s ballistic skills were called into action. His 66th minute free-kick on the outside part of the post was essentially the biggest chance of the night, even though Mutu repeated himself 10 minutes later and headed the side netting, after a good Kuzmanovic cross.

Definitely not enough to deserve three points today, especially if one considers the series of super-saves Sebastien Frey had to provide, on the several Steaua counter-attacks that landed inside the Fiorentina box. His 78th and 79th minute saves on Semedo (low short-range effort) and Szekely (long-range blast) were nothing short of miraculous, as the entire Artemio Franchi held their breath at the possible hold-up goal.

Bottom line: there are still 4 matches left and today’s draw can’t be considered all that bad, but Fiorentina’s job in group F just got a little harder. The next double header vs. Bayern Munich (currently top of the group with 4 points) will undoubtedly be decisive for La Viola’s fate in the UCL.

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 ACF Fiorentina
FIORENTINA-STEAUA
0-0
[Match Highlights]
 FC Steaua Bucureşti
GOALSCORERS: 1′, 42′ Gilardino (F), 73’ Piquionne (L), 86’ Benzema (L).
FIORENTINA (4-3-3): Frey – Jorgensen (46’ Zauri), Gamberini , Dainelli, Vargas – Montolivo (81’ Pazzini), Felipe Melo, Almirón (74’ Kuzmanovic) – Santana, Mutu, Gilardino. (bench: Storari, Kroldrup, Donadel, Osvaldo). Coach: Prandelli.
STEAUA BUCHAREST (4-4-1-1): Zapata – Ogararu, Goian, Ghionea, Marin – Nicolita, Radoi, Lovin, Semedo (93’ Kapetanos) – Moreno (93’ Tiago Gomes) – Stancu (77’ Szekely). (Cernea, Baciu, Golanski, Toja). Coach: Lacatus.

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Lyon 2-2 Fiorentina: Alberto Gilardino Strikes Twice… But the French Get Back (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Fiorentina had the French “Lion” almost tamed. In their nth rendez-vous with top European football (since the 2001-02 season, OL have won 7 consecutive Ligue 1 championships), Lyon started the match at ferocious pace, but after a couple whip-cracks by Alberto Gilardino (coupled with an almost flawless Viola defence) the beast had stopped roaring.

However, thanks in no small part to Swedish referee Peter Frojdfelt, the French team got the helping hand they needed to draw level. A shame, because this was probably the best version of La Viola since the season’s start.

(From Gazzetta): Lyon’s start was frightening. The French lauched themselves forward with full of use of their offensive weapons: Fred, Govou, Juninho and most of all Karim Benzema. Remarkably however it was Mathieu Bodmer, a defender, who fired the overhead shot hitting the crossbar and making the Viola fans shiver.

But then in minute 11, La Viola found the way to flip the game inside out: Montolivo recovered the ball, Felipe Melo switched the play to the right to Luciano Zauri, whose cross found the noggin of Alberto Gilardino. Violin-man’s lovely diving header opened the scoring, and Prandelli was ecstatic. 1-0 Fiorentina.

A goal which really did the trick for the visitors, pumping gas into the Viola’s game and morale. Of course, the French responded with venom, mainly through Benzema who was driving Zauri mad on the left flank (but Frey always kept close guard right behind him). Then there were the Fiorentina counter-attacks, with Sergio Almiron hitting the top corner with a shot for the highlights reel, and Adrian Mutu who (thanks to Boumsong’s mistakes) forced goalkeeper Hugo Lloris into a miraculous save. Also, there was La Viola’s second goal: a textbook maneuver that sent Mutu down the right flank to provide the pinpoint cross for Il Gila. ‘Nother header, and 2-0 Fiorentina.

Lyon began the second half in the same manner as the first, pounding away through the drive of Benzema and Juninho. On occasion the French pressure was incessant, but the Viola were organised in defence and Frey continued to be exceptional. French coach Claude Puel tried some substitutions, shortly imitated by Cesare Prandelli (ready to play the Alberto Santana card).

Then however came the episode that opened the match up for Lyon, something which will much talked about in the week to come. With Zauri writhing in pain on the ground (he later had to be stretchered off and substituted) Lyon calmy manufactured their goal via a Benzema-Piquionne combination, amid protests from the Viola to kick the ball out and the complete indifference of the referee (the same referee which had allowed Van Nistelrooy’s goal vs. Italy to stand during Euro 2008). 2-1.

From that moment the game changed, and the French, aided by the psychological blow to their opponents, found the equaliser five minutes from the end. From 30 yards out, everyone expected Juninho Pernambucano to deliver one of his famous free-kicks, but instead the Brazilian midfielder faked the shot and rolled the ball towards Benzema on the right. The French youngster, devoid of marking, then simply had to slam a hard shot towards the first post, surprising Frey. 2-2.

Just as not all teams are like the Viola, not all teams are famous for their fair play.

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Olympique Lyonnais
LYON-FIORENTINA
2-2
[Match Highlights]
 ACF Fiorentina
GOALSCORERS: 1′, 42′ Gilardino (F), 73’ Piquionne (L), 86’ Benzema (L).
LYON (4-3-2-1): Lloris – Reveillere, Boumsong, Bodmer, Kallstroem – Makoun (60’ Ederson), Toulalan, Juninho – Govou (89’ Mounier), Benzema – Fred (65’ Piquionne). (bench: Vercoutre, Cris, Gassama, Mensah, Pjanic). Coach: Puel.
FIORENTINA (4-3-1-2): Frey – Zauri (76’ Jorgensen), Kroldrup, Dainelli, Vargas – Almirón, Felipe Melo, Montolivo – Kuzmanovic (64’ Santana) – Gilardino (81’ PazzinI), Mutu. (bench: Storari, Gobbi, Donadel, Jovetic). Coach: Prandelli.

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