Last week’s UEFA Champions League action provided us with plenty of cheer for the British sides, as they produced five victories out of five competitive games. There was also a remarkable 13 penalties in the midweek sixteen encounters.
After throwing away a two-goal lead in Bremen a fortnight earlier, Tottenham Hotspur embraced Champions League football for the first time at White Hart Lane, with a thrilling match against Dutch champions FC Twente. Spurs won 4-1, although the final scoreline does not tell the full story of a pulsating and unpredictable encounter. It was a mixed night for the new hero in North London, Rafael van der Vaart. Van der Vaart had a first-half penalty brilliantly saved by Nicolay Milihayov, then scored a splendid opener early in the second half. Less than ten minutes later, he was heading for an early shower after two daft challenges left him with a red card. For such an experienced player as van der Vaart, it was a costly and unnecessary dismissal which rules him out of Tottenham’s trip to the San Siro in three weeks time. Experienced Norwegian ref Terje Hauge, who has once refereed a Champions League final had an awful night too, giving Spurs three penalties, of which two were very debatable indeed. Van der Vaart may have had his spot kick saved, but Roman Pavyluchenko coolly dispatched the other two without any fuss. Gareth Bale put the seal on the result and with Werder Bremen being ripped apart by Inter Milan, losing 4-0 to Rafa Benitez’s defending champions, thanks to a Samuel Eto’o hat-trick, Tottenham will feel in a strong position to qualify from Group A.
Whereas Tottenham’s match was a joy to watch, Manchester United’s display in the Mestalla was content and professional, if very tedious to endure. Their 1-0 win over Valencia, the current La Liga leaders has put them in total command of Group C. With Rio Ferdinand back from injury, United looked far more solid at the back, and restricted Valencia to very little sights on goal. With five minutes left, Nani counter-attacked, fed in Federico Macheda, who set-up fellow substitute Javier Hernandez. Hernandez’s finish was clinical, and with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs missing, this result could be the pivotal one in the group for Sir Alex Ferguson’s campaigners.
After six successive home UEFA Champions League losses, Rangers stopped the rot in United’s group, recording a 1-0 win over Turkish rookies Buraspor. Buraspor may have done extremely well to beat the likes of Besiktas and Fenerbache to win the Turkish championship, but they looked far out-of-their depth in Scotland, and had it been a more clinical side, could have received a tonking. As it was only Rangers, the scoreline consequently looked far more respectable on them. Rangers only goal came on 18 minutes, scored by the very dangerous Steven Naismith, diving in bravely to beat the goalkeeper to Kirk Broadfoot’s header.
Following an embarrassing Premiership slip-up at home to West Brom the previous Saturday, Arsenal couldn’t afford any errors in Serbia and there weren’t any, with a 3-1 win against Partizan Belgrade in a challenging environment doing the power of good for Arsene Wenger’s young-guns. Andrei Arshavin buried the Gunners infront early on, set-up by a cute backheel from the impressive teenager Jack Wiltshire. Partizan levelled before half-time, when Denilson handled in the penalty area and the resulting penalty was dispatched. On the hour mark, defender Jovanovic was dismissed for hauling down Marouane Chamakh when the Moroccan was clear in on goal. However, Arshavin spurned the chance, by having his penalty saved. Luckily for the Russian, headers in the last twenty minutes from Chamakh and centre-back Sebastian Squillaci saw Arsenal home, and there was even time for Lukasz Fabianski to save a second Partizan penalty. All in all, this was a very satisfying night for the red half of North London.
Chelsea had little trouble in easily dispensing the French champions Marseille, cruising to a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Slack marking from the visitors allowed John Terry to ghost in at the near post and strike the Blues ahead after only seven minutes. Nicolas Anelka dispatched a second from the penalty spot on the half hour mark and Carlo Ancelotti’s men took their foot off the gas in the second half, with Arsenal around the corner in the Premiership. Despite that, both Alex and Michael Essien (twice!) struck the woodwork in the second half. For Didier Deschamps, the coach of Marseille, it was a meek display to watch and a very unhappy return to the club which he played for in the 1999/2000 Champions League campaign, Chelsea’s inaugural attempt at winning Europe’s premier club competition.
Elsewhere in Europe, Bayern Munich left it very late in Group E to win 2-1 in Switzerland against FC Basle. Two goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, the second in the 89th minute sealing the victory and with Louis van Gaal about to sign a contract extension, things are looking up for last season’s runners-up. In Group C, Barcelona escaped from Russia with a very fortuitous 1-1 draw against FC Rubin Kazan, who took four points off Pep Guardiola’s team last season. The main positive for the bookies favourites is the return of Lionel Messi from injury, far quicker than anyone anticipated. Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama scored from the penalty spot, but couldn’t prevent Hapoel Tel-Aviv from losing 3-1 at home to Lyon in Group B, who have made a shocking start to the French domestic season that has them in the bottom three, whilst substitute Angel di Maria scored the only goal in Real Madrid’s scrappy 1-0 Group G win in Auxerre. The battle lines have been well and truly drawn, only after the next matchday can we start beginning to separate the contenders from the stragglers.
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