THREE OUT OF THREE IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

 

 

CSKA Moscow were founded in 1911. They used to be one of the major players in the old Soviet league and more recently, have won the Russian Premiership three times in the last ten years and even won the old UEFA Cup in '05. Still, United have no prior history with them. We do have plenty of prior history with Russian sides though it generally isn't positive. In the '08 European Super Cup we were done in 1-0 by Zenit St Petersburg at the Stade Louis II. In fact we have never beaten a Russian side in European competition and never played one in the Champions League. We never got to face a team from the old Soviet Union either so now we were going into uncartered territory.

Luckilly we went out there in pretty good shape. Two wins out of two so that we could afford a slip up. It also allowed Fergie to be cautious, they'd put artificial turf on the Luziniki Stadium for this Champions League Group B match and the gaffer was worried about injuries. In the meantime, his opposite number was Juande Ramos, former Spurs and Real Madrid boss and his side were in decent if not awesome form. Fergie wound up going 4-5-1 with van de Saar making his first Champions League appearance this season. Neville right back and captain, Fabio left back, O'Shea, Scholes and Anderson centre mid, Nani left mid, Berbatov up front.

Well the early stages of the game didn't exactly suggest a classic. United are rarely on top form with just one up front and CSKA were certainly the better of the two sides. We weren't completely useless though and had the odd chance but the home side wound up looking particularly dangerous when Milos Krasic took advantage of some nervy defending. United then started to get more of the ball but the pace was still slow and there was little liklihood of a goal from either side. Sure enough, it remained goalless at half time and the Sky Sports analysts were largely blaming the pitch. Me, I wasn't going to complain too much, this was probably our toughest game in the group.

The second half started out a bit more lively with United having the opening chance and CSKA's response was pretty weak. A later effort of their seemed to be much more effective though, hitting the net before being ruled out for offside. Having dodged that bullet, Fergie threw on some fresh legs for United and though that got us a few extra chances, we couldn't put any of them away. When the dust settled though, United were still the team left standing, Berbatov heading the ball to Valencia in the 85th minute for the midfielder's first Champions League goal. It wasn't our smoothest performance but it was still job done and you can't argue with a 100% record at this stage of a European campaign.

Elsewhere, Vfl Wolfsburg faced Besiktas at the Volkswagen Arena. The home side certainly had the edge in the first half but had clearly left their shooting boots in the dressing room, allowing the Turkish side to come in at haf time with a clean sheet. Things didn't get much better for the Bundesliga team in the second half, particularly not with Grafite getting red carded. They continued to have the better game but overall this was not the best advertisement for Champions League football. It does however leave United top of Group B, five points ahead of 2nd place Wolfsburg and six points ahead of CSKA Moscow and the drop into the Europa League.

In Group E, Liverpool faced Lyon at Anfield. The Scousers were injury hit and didn't exactly look awesome early on but still Yossi Bennayoun was able to open the scoring for them despite his teammates' lack of confidence. Lyon certainly didn't lack confidence though and when Maxime Gonalons equalised, Rafa Benitez just got more nervous and attempted a "what we have we hold" strategy. It failed. Cesar Delgado hit a late winner for the Ligue 1 side. That leaves Liverpool stuck at 3rd in the group and on course for getting dumped into the Europa League. They lie three points behind Fiorentina and qualification but three points ahead of Debrecen and going out of Europe altogether.

In Group D, Chelsea faced Athletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. Well none of the big La Liga sides are mugs but what the Blues came up with was pretty impressive. Saloman Kalou opened the scoring before half time and then got himself a second goal not long after half time. Frank Lampard then grabbed a third goal for the Premiership side that pretty much finished the game off and then Luis Perea had the last word with a ball into his own net. That leaves Chelsea top of the group, three points ahead of Porto in 2nd place and eight points ahead of Apeol Nicosia and getting dropped into the Europa League. Nice work Signor Ancelotti.

In Group H, Arsenal faced AZ Alkmaar at the Almaardehout. Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring for the Gunners in a first half where Arsene Wenger's crew were running the show - it took ages for the home side to have a shot of note. The second half was a lot more even but the Premiership side still had the edge. Arsenal decided to take their foot off the gas late on though and that proved to be a mistake. David Mendes da Silva grabbed a late equaliser allowing the home fans to go home relatively happy. That leaves Arsenal top of the group, one point ahead of 2nd placed Olympiakos and five points ahead of AZ Alkmaar and dropping into the Europa League.

In Group G, Rangers faced Unirea Urziceni at Ibrox and the result was an absolute nightmare for Gers fans. OK, they benefitted from a Ricardo Gomes Vilano og early on but after that it was all downhill! Marius Bilasco equalised before half time, Kyle Lafferty and Lee MacCulloch both put the ball into their own nets early on in the second half and Pablo Brandan finished the SPL side off! It has to be one of the most humiliating results in the club's history. That leaves Rangers bottom of the group and on course for going out of Europe altogether. They lie one point behind Stuttgart and the parachute into the Europa League and are lucky the the bottom of the group is still relatively tight.

Going down a level, the Uropa League group stage continued. In Group I, Everton were hammered 5-0 by Benefica at the Estadio da Luz(Everton dropped to 2nd in the group as a result). In Group E, Fulham drew 1-1 with Roma at Craven Cottage with the Serie A side only equalising in the last seconds(putting Fulham 2nd in the group). In Group C, Celtic were beaten 1-0 by Hamburg at Celtic Park(leaving Celtic bottom of the group). Overall, it wasn't the best of weeks for English clubs in Europe with one Premiership side looking to bite the dust in the Champions League and the SPL teams staring a complete wipeout in the face. Three rounds of matches to go though.

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