UNITED HAVE EDGE - DONS DREAM DESTROYED

 

 

Last time round, United faced Lille in the first knockout round of the Champions League. That turned out to be an interesting tie even though the opposition weren't up to much on the pitch. United won the first leg at the French club's temporary home of the Stade Felix-Bollaert 1-0 despite their gamesmanship and then finished the job at Old Trafford. Not exactly a classic United European tie but the bottom line looked good enough - the classic stuff came later in the campaign!

This time round we face another French side, Lyon. The last time we faced them was in Group D in 04/05 and Ruud van Nistelrooy hit the winner in a 2-1 with at Old Trafford after a 2-2 draw at the Stade Gerland. Other than that, United have no history with them whatsoever) though other Premiership sides have crossed swords with them in recent years) let alone in the latter stages of any competition though they are the form side in France, having won most of the Ligue 1 titles this side of the Millenium.

In other words, they weren't our ideal Champions League 1st knockout round opponents. And a trip to the Stade Gerland was no garuntee of a win, even if United had rediscovered their form. The French side have quality players of their own and have no reason to fear the cream of the Premiership. United fieled a 4-1-2-2-1 with Hargreves as link man, Scholes and Anderson centre midfield, Ronaldo and Giggsy on the flanks with Rooney up front.

Lyon had the early chances with United slow to start though we were running after a bit. Still, Lyon were happilly giving us a match and though we were solid, the Reds weren't exactly awesome. Lyon came close to taking the lead one time through a defensive blunder only for United to pick up the pace but still, we certainly weren't in top gear and looked overcautious in a game that in theory looked very winnable. We ended the half on the attack but the game was still anyone's.

United started the second half on the attack and seemingly had set up camp in the Lyon half but then Jeremy Toulalon set up Karim Benzeema and the rising French assasin made his make by turning and sticking the ball through the United defence and into the net. United got back on the attack and Tevez replaced Scoles with the objective of getting an away goal and though we still had to dodge some bullets we looked strong late on and in the 87th minute the ball fell to Tevez and we scrambled in an equaliser. Lyon have shot their load. At OT it'll be our turn!

Elsewhere, Chelsea faced Olympiakos at the Karaisaki Stadium. The Blues fielded a fairly weak side but still had the edge with the Greek side having only the occassional shot on goal though they did give their Premiership opposition the occasional headache. Both sides were blowing chances though with Michael Ballack heading a free kick wide being the symbol of the match. Still, Arvan Grant can't complain too much, it'll probably be a different story at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool faced Inter at Anfield. After recent form, the Scousers had no option but to go in all guns blazing, Rafael Benitez's position was starting to look very iffy indeed. Well Inter helped matters when they got a defender red carded. Still, the Serie A side survived till half time and opted for a sterotypical catanacio with the Reds bringing out the battering rams! Untill late on it looked like they were going to be unsucsessful but then Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard scored to secure not only the game but possibly the tie as well. That'll keep their fans happy for a while!

Arsenal faced AC Milan at the Emirates Stadium. The match started well enough with the Serie A side having the first shot but the Gunners then reminded the defending champions whose house they were in and did most of the attacking. Emmanual Adebayor even put the ball in the net early on in the second half but it was ruled out for offside and after that, the Milan defence stood firm. The Gunners are unlikely to get a second chance in the San Siro.

Celtic faced Barcelona at Celtic Park and this was a real quality rumble. The SPL side looked to cause a shock with Jan Venegoor of Hesselink opening the scoring only for Leo Messi to quickly equalise but the Barry Robson restored the Celts before half time. However, Gordon Strachen's crew were given a reality check in the second half. Thierry Henry levelled the match and Messi hit the winner to turn the Celt dreams to dust for another year!

Well it was the biggest tie in Aberdeen's history for as long as I can remember and for the Dons players, despite having lost the away goals advantage, a UEFA Cup 1st knockout round second leg match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena was surely going to be one of those cliched "one to tell the grandkids" moments. The Dons lineup was unchanged from the first leg and red shirted fans were surely praying for a miracle.

Well Bayern made sure that the underdogs had their backs against the wall from the start and soon got themselves a 12th minute free kick which Lucio sent in and even that was the beginning of the end. The Dons didn't get a shot on goal till mid half and that was only a brief respite. Then it was the Bayern show once again with Toni Kroos firing in a free kick for Daniel van Buyten to head into the net in the 36th minute. The Dons were lucky not to be 3-0 down before half time and were now really just in damage limitation mode.

Well the Dons didn't just look promising in terms of damage limitation but they looked to try and give Bayern a match, hitting the net early on only for the goal to be dissallowed as offside. Bayern soon were back in business though and in the 71st minute Lucas Podolski put in Miraslav Klose's rebound before Bayern made it four in the 77th minute when Poldolski headed in a Bastien Schweinsteiger corner. Lovell came on for Aluko to head in a Nicholson free kick in the 83rd minute which at least gave the Dons some pride but after Klose set up Mark van Bommel in the 85th minute, Bayern made it five and for the third time this season the Dons learned the hard way just how small they are in the European scene. It's had it's moments but this show is over!

Elsewhere, Spurs drew 1-1 with Slavia Prague at White Hart Lane(with the 2-1 win in the 1st leg allowing them to go through 3-2 on aggregate). Everton beat SK Brann 6-1 at Goodison Park in what must have been one of the easiest European tie in recent memory. Bolton drew 0-0 with Athletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon stadium(an absolutely amazing result, allowing Wanders to go through to the next round off the back of their 1-0 first leg win) and Rangers drew 1-1 with Panathinaikos at the Apostalos Nikolaidis Stadium(the Gers go through on the away goals rule).

The draw for the UEFA Cup 2nd knockout round has been made and here's what the UK sides face: Spurs face PSV Eindhoven with the 1st leg at White Hart Lane(Spurs to lose unless they get their act together). Everton face Fiorentina with the first leg at the Artemio Franchi(Everton shouldn't count their chickens). Bolton face Sporting Lisbon with the 1st leg at the Reebok Stadium(anything could happen). Rangers face Werder Bremen with the 1st leg at Ibrox(too close to call).

And it's it's back to the Premiership on the weekend.

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