Archive for August, 2008

UEFA Champions League 2008-09 – Group Stage DRAW

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

The draw for the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League 2008-09 took place in Monaco today, at 18:00 CET. (I LIVEBLOGGED the event over at Soccerlens by the way, for anyone interested)

Inter Milan got the best draw of the lot, Juventus and Roma will be facing tough opponents such as Real Madrid and Chelsea (respectively), while the one having it toughest is without a doubt Fiorentina (with Lyon, Bayern Munich, and Steaua Bucharest).

I’ll make a more elaborate analysis later on, but for now here are the draw results.

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Group A
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Group B
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Chelsea
Chelsea
Inter Milan
Inter Milan
AS Roma
Roma
Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen
Girondins de Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
CFR Cluj
CFR Cluj
Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Anorthosis

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Group C
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Group D
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Barcelona
Barcelona
Liverpool
Liverpool
Sporting Lisbon
Sporting Lisbon
PSV Eindhoven
PSV Eindhoven
FC Basel
Basel
Marseille
Marseille
Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk
Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid

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Group E
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Group F
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Manchester United
Man Utd
Olympique Lyonnais
Lyon
Villareal
Villareal
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich
Celtic
Celtic
Steaua Bucharest
Steaua Bucharest
Aalborg BK
Aalborg
Fiorentina
Fiorentina

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Group G
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Group H
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Arsenal
Arsenal
Real Madrid
Real Madrid
FC Porto
Porto
Juventus
Juventus
Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce
Zenit St. Petersburg
Zenit
Dynamo Kiev
Dynamo Kiev
FC Bate Borisov
Bate Borisov

Slavia Prague 0-0 Fiorentina: Clean Sheet = Champions League for La Viola (UCL Preliminary Round)

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Ladies & gentlemen, Serie A has four out of four this year!!!! After Juventus on Tuesday, Fiorentina cleared the UEFA Champions League Preliminary Round as well, joining Inter Milan and AS Roma in the “Fantastic 4 Quartet” -something which Italian clubs had not achieved since the 2005-06 season (Chievo and Lazio failing to clear the preliminaries).

As far as Wednesday night’s match vs. Slavia Prague was concerned, La Viola had one good foot into the group stage after their 2-0 home win at Artemio Franchi. However playing away games is never an easy thing, especially against experienced European competitors like the Czech, who were forced to push forward in order to score goals. Unfortunately for neutral spectators, goals didn’t come and this despite the many many (many!) chances obtained. Cesare Prandelli was undoubtedly satisfied with the final outcome however, because tonight was simply the culmination of all of last year’s efforts: as they would say in the Old Boot, La Fiorentina è nell’Europa che conta.

(From Gazzetta): PRAGUE (Czech Republic), 27 August 2008 – Mission accomplished for Fiorentina? Yes, at 99%. Cesare Prandelli wanted to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, and that duly happened with the 0-0 draw to Slavia Praha in the second leg of the third qualifying round. However, La Viola’s coach also wanted the icing on the cake: a goal and a victory. Fiorentina fans will have to wait till the group stage for that, a bit of a shame given the plethora of missed chances Wednesday night…

BUSINESS CARD – As in any good business venture, La Viola (the visiting team today) presented their credentials to their opponents: “we play football, we move the ball around nicely, and we like hanging out around your penalty box”. And never mind if, afer a few minutes, the Czechs also started to come out of their shells… the message to Slavia was clear: “showing yourselves is dangerous“. An explicit message indeed because when the Czechs forgot about it, scoring chances immediately popped up for Fiorentina who, unfortunately, were unable to take advantage of them.

The first came just before the 20th minute mark, when Alberto Gilardino made a good run calling for the through ball, but took his shot a fraction too late (giving the defender the chance to deflect it wide). On the subsequent play, Fiorentina’s corner-kick set up Mario Santana with golden opportunity in front of goal, but once again the shot was a little too slow in coming, giving goalkeeper Martin Vaniak time to position himself for the save. Finally after half an hour, it was Felipe Melo‘s turn to test the reflexes of the veteran goalkeeper: shot tipped onto the crossbar, and rebound blasted onto the defensive wall. Fiorentina were kicking themselves: qualification to the next round was virtually inches away from being locked in the freezer.

SECOND HALF – Slavia began the second half with two substitutions, changes which had the biggest repercussions on the left side especially: every time substitute Dusan Svento had the ball he created problems for the Viola defense (otherwise well-guarded by Zauri and Dainelli). On the other hand, it seemed as if every Viola counterattack could produce the liberating goal they so desperately needed, but which was still eluding them perhaps due to lack of concentration. Above all, it was a period highlighting the aerial skills of Felipe Melo, and during which there were also a few lapses too many to the Czechs’ benefit.

So eventually, Prandelli added some fuel to the fire by inserting Marco Donadel, inevitably another brick in the always effective Viola defensive wall. But the Fiorentina manager was not satisfied, he wanted more and he asked the classy Stevan Jovetic to provide it (note: expect great things from this guy in the near future). The lad did not shy away from responsibilities and as soon as he could, he created the first chance from a lovely solo effort, then produced an assist for Vargas that almost resulted in a goal.

By the last quarter of the game, Slavia (who overall struggled to read the game well) had understood that their fate was sealed: the match dragged on until the final whistle, but effectively despite the 0-0 draw this was a one-team triumph. 8 years after their last appearance, put your hands together for UCL-Fiorentina!

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SK Slavia Praha (Slavia Prague) SLAVIA PRAGUE-FIORENTINA
0-0
[Match Highlights]
 ACF Fiorentina
GOALSCORERS: /
SLAVIA PRAGUE (4-1-3-2): Vaniak – Krajcik, Brabec, Suchy, Siklic, Tavares – Cerny (71’ M.Jarolim), Belaid, Janda (46’ Svento) – Tolesky (46’ Senkerik), Necid. (bench: Divis, Hubacek, Am.Cissé, Litteri). Coach: K.Jarolim.
FIORENTINA (4-3-3): Frey – Zauri, Gamberini, Dainelli, Vargas – Kuzmanovic (63’ Donadel), Felipe, Gobbi – Santana, Gilardino (89’ Pazzini), Osvaldo (74’ Jovetic). (bench: Storari, Kroldrup, Almirón, Semioli). Coach: Prandelli.

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Artmedia 1-1 Juventus – Champions League Says “Welcome Back Old Lady!” (UCL Preliminary Round)

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Artmedia 1-1 Juventus. Two years after the dark clouds of Calciopoli and Serie B tainted their glorious European history, the Bianconeri are back into the club elite of the world, ready once again to contend the “Cup with the big ears”. Or in other words “Champions League, here we come” might be saying Claudio Ranieri’s boys, after tonight’s preliminary round return leg in Bratislava, Slovakia (merely a formality, after the 4-0 victory obtained in Turin two weeks prior).

The biggest suspense for Juventus will now be coming from the drawing lots of UEFA headquarters, where their opponents for the Group Stage round will be revealed Thursday. The Bianconeri are currently third seed, but depending on Wednesday’s results may be upgraded to the second seed group. Until then, Ranieri can enjoy the positive notes gleaned from Tuesday night’s match.

And speaking of positive notes, here they are.  

  1. Amauri. The ex-Palermo striker scored one, and gave an impressive display on aerial balls: his jumping abilities permitted him to virtually get to every header first, and while David Trezeguet still remains the likely starting striker (the fact that Ranieri rested him tonight -alongside Del Piero- strongly suggests he was thinking ahead to the Serie A season opener vs. Fiorentina), the Italian-Brazilian makes for a perfect super-sub on fire.
  2. Marchisio. With Cristiano Zanetti likely still sidelined for a while (injury problems), the young U-21 midifielder is the elected alternative of choice to Poulsen and Sissoko. Tonight, he demonstrated quality and personality, and may very well be the long-awaited midfield recruit Juventus was searching for. Sure he’s no Aquilani or Xabi Alonso, but he’s solid, reads the game well, and knows how to time his runs. With Sissoko suspended, expect to see him get the start on Sunday against Fiorentina.
  3. The usual suspects: Camoranesi, Nedved, and Buffon. No introductions needed really. With Camo and Pavel still the irreplaceable play-creating dynamos, and Gigi the always-ready-to-pounce nº1 (even in matches like this one), Ranieri will not be losing sleep any time soon.
  4. Mellberg & Legrottaglie. With Giorgio Chiellini out for a month, these two become the de-facto starters in the center backline. With limited playing time together it’s still pretty early to make an assessment, but one word comes to mind so far: SOLIDITY.

Getting back to the game itself, the first half practically lasted till minute 25, when Juventus tied the game. Yeah, because Artmedia had actually managed to take the lead in this one, and it was by no means a lucky goal: in minute 13, captain Kozak had delivered a perfect cross to the center, and while Legrottaglie and Mellberg were having tea Branislav Fodrek had armed a spectacular bicycle kick, leaving Buffon to pick up the ball from the net. 1-0 Artmedia.

Fortunately for Juve, 10 minutes later a great cross from Pavel Nedved (permitted by Molinaro’s great off-the-ball left-wing run) found the noggin of Amauri, whose powerful header slammed the bottom part of the crossbar before crossing the line. 1-1, and game over for the Slovaks (who now had to score another 5 goals to qualify).

Ya, I say game over because essentially that was the last goal of the game, despite the many chances obtained by the visiting team in the first (Nedved, Amauri -post- and Iaquinta’s efforts come to mind) or the second half (Nedved, Amauri, Marchisio). Despite clearly suffering the Bianconeri’s ball possession, Artmedia themselves got a late chance for the prestige win (an 88th minute on-the-run shot by Halenar, on which Gigi had the chance to display his superb reflexes), however the scoreline remained unchanged.

There was time to see Sissoko and Giovinco come on for Nedved and Camoranesi, but the game had become a boring excuse for a kickabout at this point, and even the young “Formica Atomica” was being a bit imprecise with his passes. No matter. The biggest news of the day of course, was that Juve were back in the UEFA Champions League. Not just the preliminary round. For real this time.

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FC Artmedia Petržalka ARTMEDIA- JUVENTUS
1-1
[Match Highlights]
Juventus F.C.
GOALSCORERS: 13’ Fodrek (A), 25’ Amauri (J).
ARTMEDIA BRATISLAVIA (4-2-3-1): Kamenar – Cisovsky, Salata, Farkas, Burak – Anderson (83’ Halenar), Velicky – Obzera (65’ Piroska), Kozak, Fodrek – Pospech (80’ Cleber). (bench: Hyll, Mraz, Hasek, Oravec). Coach: Weiss.
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon – Grygera, Legrottaglie (83’ Ariaudo), Mellberg, Molinaro – Camoranesi (70’ Sissoko), Poulsen, Marchisio, Nedved (70’ Giovinco) – Amauri, Iaquinta. (bench: Manninger, Salihamidzic, Del Piero, Trezeguet). Coach: Ranieri.

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The New Face of Inter Milan (Gazzetta)

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

In today’s Gazzetta dello Sport, there’s a great article by Antonino Morici that makes a preliminary analysis on José’s Inter, at least based on their first-competitive-match performance in Sunday’s Supercoppa.

It’s still early for season assessments, but given that Gazzetta are generally experts in all things Inter and AC Milan, this one’s a pretty good read:

Gazzetta dello Sport website logo

MILAN, 25 August 2008 – It’s very tempting to give in to the charisma of a boss like Mourinho. Unlike his stints in Portugal and England, José continues to have everyone on his side and deservedly so, because pre-season fixtures and the first “real” match of the year (against an opponent well within Inters’s calibre) have proven him right so far. Even if we are still on the starting blocks, and the competition (beginning with Roma) is very tough, the Italian Super Cup offered the possibility to assess how the “Special One” has been able to get under the skin of Inter Milan, a team that before his term had won 2 league titles, 2 Italian Cups and 2 Super Cups in three years’ time.

MENTALITY - In four years of Roberto Mancini, only in very few occasions did we ever see 3 attacking players on the pitch at the same time. Apart from differences in the line-up however, the main discrepancy seems to be philosophical: Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to be the main reference point, but unlike before when Inter based their strength on physical superiority, eagerly searching for depth with two attackers or trying a vertical play with a trequartista (Stankovic, Jiménez or Figo), the Nerazzurri have now found their centre of gravity on the wings, continuously changing fronts and going deep with their “ball on the ground” style. Against Roma for instance, Inter paid particular attention to seemingly trivial play situations: for example, Figo (not exactly a rookie) would rush along the wing to hinder Riise’s powerful throw-in, giving the impression this was part of a perfectly thought-out plan.

INTENSITY – During the first half, the pace and quality of the nerazzurri were impressive. “We had decided to put pressure on Roma in their first phase (i.e. the start-up) because we knew that it was one of their main strengths” said Mourinho yesterday evening. In fact, Spalletti got very little out of his wingers, who were limited to stay “low” thanks to Figo and especially Mancini (who more than once kept close guard on Cassetti, all the way down to the end line). In the center, two midfield dams: the first formed by Sulley Muntari and Javier Zanetti, the other by Dejan Stankovic (reborn in the role of “back” playmaker in front of the defence, and very accurate with his passes). With the spaces closed, Inter could highlight the individual skills of their players: the right-wing line (Maicon-Figo) worked very efficiently with Ibrahimovic (creating three scoring chances in the first 30 mins), much to the delight of the ex-Barcelona and Real Madrid player, finally back to his natural winger position.

BALOTELLI – Finally, extra time simply highlighted what can be expected of someone like Balotelli over the next few years. At 18 years of age and with a serious possibility of playing many matches in José’s attacking trio, Mario has shown to be fully deserving of the trust placed into him by Mourinho, exhibiting quality with free-kicks, moving passes through the lines (which led to the 2-1 goal), the personality shown when facing opponents like Mexès and Juan, or his cool finishing inside the box. We get the strong feeling we are about to see a real phenomenon in action, one who (assuming he resists the instinct of giving in to nerves) might make his Azzurro dream come true much earlier than anticipated.

SUPERCOPPA ITALIANA 2008: Penalty Kicks Give INTER & JOSÉ First Trophy of the Season

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Ladies & gentlemen, the new Serie A season has been launched! Yes, Day 1 only begins on August 31 “officially”, but Sunday night’s Supercoppa appetizer provided enough excitement and entertainment, it almost looks like we’re in it already.

Indeed, the traditional pre-season clash between Scudetto champions and Coppa Italia winners resulted in 4 goals and 120 minutes of very intense battling, where the psychological boost from a win is every bit as important as the silverware. In the end, Inter triumphed over Roma on penalty kicks, the determining shots being made by the two team captains: where Francesco Totti had failed Javier Zanetti succeeded, giving the Nerazzurri the fourth Supercoppa title of their history.

(From Gazzetta): Compared to “ancient” history, the two Serie A dominators of the past 3 years are looking a lot more alike. Tactics-wise firstly (with two wingers dropping back all the way to the goal line, if necessary), and also because of that midfield “pivot” dynamo (Pizarro on one side, Stankovic on the other). Inter however are the team who experienced the biggest changes, at least concerning the playing mentality, and in that sense appeared more motivated. The only two Summer transfers, Sulley Muntari and Amantino Mancini, were immediately fielded in the starting eleven, while veteran Esteban Cambiasso was forced in an increasingly more-frequent center-back role, in order to patch up the missing links of the Inter roster (this seemed like an explicit message to Nelson Rivas, kinda like José’s saying: “sorry, but you’re second choice buddy”).

On the other end, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti preferred Mirko Vucinic (over new signing Julio Baptista) as the lone striker, reverting “The Beast” on the outside wing instead. The ex-Real Madrid player was virtually absent from the match’s first half, but made important progress in the second (especially after the entrance of Francesco Totti, kept on the bench as a precautionary measure).

Much like “The Beast” however, Roma midfield anchors Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Aquilani were having a tough time in the first 45 minutes, pushed back by the Mourinho-dictated Nerazzurri plan (dividing the field in sections, and attacking first on one side then on the other). Dejan Stankovic notably, seemed a shadow of his former past-two-years self (and that’s a good thing!), providing with a certain Luis Figo (finally back to his true winger role) the main passing/crossing service for Inter, supported as always by the genius of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In minute 18 the Inter battleship sank its first target, courtesy of Sulley Muntari: the ex-Udinese and Portsmouth midfielder initiated a beautiful one-touch Nerazzurri play (leading to a powerful Maicon shot deflected onto the crossbar by Mexès) and gave his team the lead with a rippling left-footed effort. 1-0 Inter, a scoreline which was left unchanged all the way to the half.

After the break, it seemed that Mourinho’s boys could easily control the proceedings until the full-time whistle: Javier Zanetti stung the fingers of Doni from long-range, while based on the quality of his touches/passing, Ibrahimovic’s knee problems seemed a thing of the past. However, and much against the run of play, 2007-Supercoppa-main-man Daniele De Rossi decided to crash the Nerazzurri party: his swerving 25m effort overpowered Julio Cesar, and finally put the teams level. 1-1.

After the equalizer, it seemed as if the game had turned on its head. It was now the Giallorossi attacking and pushing Inter back, something that a guy named José was not enjoying one tiny bit: replacing Figo and Mancini with Balotelli and Jiménez, Mourinho decided to bring balance back to his midfield line, and it worked. The young Italo-Ghanain striker notably (playing his first official match as an Italian citizen) was being pins & needles in the Roma defense, forcing first Cassetti then Doni to two important clearances close to goal (the provider for those two chances? Ibrahimovic, who else). In minute 83 however there was little the Roma keeper could do, when TurboMario got in behind the Giallorossi defense (Mexès a bit at fault here) and beat Doni with a chipped effort inside the left post. 2-1 Inter.

Game over? Not in the least, especially with a team as determined as Roma. In minute 90, a David Pizarro corner was deflected by Mirko Vucinic, bouncing on its way to the top-left corner off Stankovic and Zlatan. Little Julio Cesar could do, 2-2, and match forced into overtime.

Meanwhile, Francesco Totti and Stefano Okaka had replaced Perrotta and Aquilani, while Nelson Rivas had come on for the injured Nicolas Burdisso (just before the Roma equalizer in fact), so needless to say that with the “fresh meat” a different kind of match began here. The Roma captain notably gave glimpses of his genius, with one-time long-range through balls (one of which was shamelessly wasted by Okaka), but it became rapidly obvious that Totti was still miles away from optimum form. Much unlike a certain Mario Balotelli, who in two separate free-kick occasions (a venemous curling long-range effort with a very tight angle notably) sent shivers down the spine of Roma supporters.

Just before the inevitable shoot-out lottery, the Giallorossi had one final chance to score through Okaka, but Julio Cesar deftly neutralized the through-on-goal Roma youngster. It was then time for the Totti-drama, as the Roma captain (who had the chance to win the game, after Stankovic’s mistake) sent his shot onto the crossbar, giving rival captain Javier Zanetti the opportunity to strike back. Indeed, after Julio Cesar had saved Juan’s kick, the Argentine midfielder sent an angled shot past Doni, allowing José Mourinho to grab the first official trophy of his Inter career.

Whoever said Italian football wasn’t exciting? :mrgreen:

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F.C. Internazionale Milano INTER-ROMA
2-2 (8-7 p.s.o.)
[Match Highlights]
A.S. Roma
GOALSCORERS: 18’ Muntari (I), 59’ De Rossi (R), 83’ Balotelli (I), 90’ Vucinic (R)
PENALTY SHOOTOUT: Vucinic (R) goal, Ibrahimovic (I) goal, J.Baptista (R) goal, Balotelli (I) goal, Cassetti (R) goal, Stankovic (I) crossbar, De Rossi (R) goal, Maxwell (R) goal, Totti (R) crossbar, Cambiasso (I) goal, D.Pizarro (R) goal, Jiménez (I) goal, Juan (R) saved, J.Zanetti (I) goal.
INTER (4-3-3): Julio Cesar – Maicon, Burdisso (90’ Rivas), Cambiasso, Maxwell – J.Zanetti, Stankovic, Muntari – Figo (66’ Balotelli), Ibrahimovic, Mançini (70’ Jiménez). (bench: Toldo, Pelé, Crespo, Cruz). Coach: Mourinho.
ROMA (4-3-2-1): Doni – Cassetti, Mexès, Juan, Riise (78’ Tonetto) – De Rossi, D.Pizarro, Aquilani (90’ Okaka) – Perrotta (85’ Totti), J.Baptista – Vucinic. (bench: Artur, Panucci, Loria, Brighi). Coach: Spalletti.

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