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UEFA Champions League 2011/12 – Match Day 6 Round Up – Thursday

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The UEFA Champions League Group Stages came to a close this morning and what a morning it was! The City of Manchester is reeling at the moment with both clubs being knocked out in quite dramatic circumstances.

Courtesy of ESPNSoccernet

Phil Jones’ last-gasp goal was not enough to save Manchester United as they crashed out of the Champions League, defeated 2-1 by FC Basel. A draw would have been enough for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who had qualified for the knock-out stages every year since 2005.

A disappointing night for United was compounded for fans in Manchester as City were also knocked out despite beating an understrength Bayern Munich side 2-0 .

While City had their fate out of their hands, United had the advantage of knowing at least a single point from their trip to Basel would have sent them through, they were unable to find a way back into the game though after Marco Streller’s goal early on gave the hosts the lead.

United dominated possession and continually peppered Yann Sommer’s goal, who was outstanding on the night, but were left to rue a mass of missed chances, most notably Rooney missing the goal from 2 yards out, had he have scored it may have been controversial as replays showed him as offside.

To compound Sir Alex Ferguson’s woe, Nemanja Vidic was stretchered off in the first half after falling awkwardly on his knee. As United pushed forward in search of an all-important equaliser, they left themselves exposed at the back, and when the impressive Shaqiri ‘s cross found Alex Frei, who stooped to nod the ball home from three yards out.

Jones set up a nervous finish at St Jakob Park, when his effort snuck over the line after Federico Macheda hit the crossbar, but they were unable to find a critical equaliser.

Courtesy of The Guardian

Meanwhile, Premier League leaders Manchester City had little to celebrate despite a convincing 2-0 win over Bayern Munich. With the German giants already through to the last-16, Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes could afford to leave many of his first-choice players on the bench.

City had the ball in the back of the net after quarter-of-an-hour, but Joleon Lescott was deemed to have impeded keeper Hans-Jorg Butt after David Silva’s free-kick from the right found its way into the top corner.

Silva broke the deadlock after 36 minutes, collecting Edin Dzeko’s flick on the edge of the area, and showing superb technique to swivel and drill a low shot past Butt. And having enjoyed much of the possession, City were rewarded with a second goal when Yaya Toue slide home from Dzeko’s cross.

But it was all in vain as Napoli progressed at City’s expense after the Italian side enjoyed a 2-0 win over Villarreal in Spain.

Over in Italy, Inter Milan crashed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of CSKA Moscow in Group B which remarkably sent them into the last 16 of the Champions League as Lille failed to put a goal past a stubborn Trabzonspor defence. A goal to Lille would have seen them go through with the same points and goal difference as CSKA but they had a better head to head record.

Trabzonspor drop down to the Europa League and Lille drop out of Europe all together after that 0-0 draw. It will be interesting to see what happens with Eden Hazard in January now as he no longer has European football to keep him at the club and will no doubt have plenty of suitors with Arsenal and Real Madrid rumoured to be interested.

In Group D, the night just got more and more remarkable as the matches went on. Lyon needed to beat Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 and hope that Real Madrid did the business over Ajax by at least 3-0 for the French side to progress.

Real Madrid beat Ajax 3-0 to keep to their side of the bargain, and Lyon managed to put 7 goals past Dinamo to advance to the knock-out stages in dramatic fashion. Bafetimbi Gomes did most of the damage with 4 goals. supplemented by goals to Lisandro Lopex, Jimmy Briand and Maxime Gonalons. Unbelievable stuff and it really couldn’t have been scripted any better.

So in the end we saw both Manchester clubs get knocked out, Lyon go through in stunning fashion at the expense of Ajax, and CSKA book their place in the knock-out stages with a 2-1 win victory over a struggling Inter Milan side.

The 16 clubs through to the knockout stages are Bayern Munich, Napoli, Inter Milan, CSKA, Benfica, Basel, Real Madrid, Lyon, Chelsea, Leverkusen, Arsenal, Marseille, Zenit, APOEL, Barcelona and AC Milan.

I for one can’t wait for the knock-out stages to begin in February and as an Arsenal fan it’s been a great morning watching the two Manchester clubs get knocked out of the tournament. Thursdays are Manchester days as now and the Europa League will definitely have a bit more of an audience thanks to the failure of both clubs!

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UEFA Champions League 2011/12 – Match Day 6 Round Up – Wednesday

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Chelsea booked their place in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League in style after a 3-0 crushing of Valencia, while Arsenal’s campaign ended with a 3-1 loss to Olympiakos, albeit with a massively understrength team.

Group E
Chelsea 3 Valencia 0
Genk 1 Bayer Leverkusen 1

Group F
Dortmund 2 Marseille 3
Olympiakos 3 Arsenal 1

Group G
APOEL 0 Shakhtar 2
Porto 0 Zenit St Petersburg 0

Group H
Barcelona 4 BATE Borisov 0
Viktoria Plzen 2 AC Milan 2

Image Courtesy of Sky Sports

The Blues smashed Valencia 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to finish the night as winners of Group E, just a few hours earlier there were fears that they could drop out of the UCL entirely. Bayer Leverkusen could only draw away to Genk, with the Germans slipping down into second spot.

There was talk of a crisis as Andre Villas-Boas was within a whisker of bowing out of Europes premier competition, Roman Abramovich has made no secret of his desire to win the Champions League and an early exit would not have been good for the new Chelsea manager.

Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the dream start they were after when he combined with Juan Mata after just 3 minutes, some very dodgy defending did not help matters for Valencia.

Valencia threatened to hit back but fell further behind in the 22nd minute when Drogba was the architect this time. He made a great run forward and played a beautiful pass to Ramires who slotted home after Victor Ruiz allowed the midfielder to get away from him far too easily.

Drogba grabbed a deserved second 14 minutes from time following Mata’s pass once again, Drogba really looks to be hitting some form again and that can only be a good thing for Chelsea with Torres not living up to his price tag yet.

Bayer Leverkusen’s shock failure to beat Genk, where Jelle Vossen’s opener was cancelled out by Eren Derdiyok, meant that the Blues clombed to the top of the group, with the German side slipping to second and Valencia heading into the Europa League. Genk eliminated altogether but with the group they were in there are no surprises there.

In Group F, a heavily altered Arsenal side went down 3-1 to Olympiakos, their first defeat in this years competition. Olympiakos looked set to join the Gunners in the last 16 as Borussia Dortmund led Marseille 2-0 at home only for Marseille to produce a stunning late fightback to win 3-2.

Arsene Wenger’s decision to field an almost reserve Arsenal side away to Olympiakos back-fired though, as the Greek side triumphed but were unable to join the Gunners in qualifying from Group F.

Arsenal caused their own downfall to be honest, a defensive mix-up  between Djourou and Squilacci giving Djebbour a simple chance which he easily converted, Lukasz Fabianski was carried off with a knee injury not long after as he dived to save a shot.

Vito Mannone replaced Fabianski and then produced a one of the most spectacular goalkeeping blunders, racing off his line to head clear before electing to attempt an overhead kick to Fuster’s effort when he could have caught the ball, completely missing his kick to leave the Gunners 2-0 down with little hope of getting back into the match.

Yossi Benayoun produced a quality strike to bring Wenger’s side back into the contest after 57 minutes but Olympiakos added a late third through Modesto, only for their celebrations to turn to despair as news of the other result filtered in.

Marseille were just minutes away from slipping down to the Europa League, however they produced a quite stunning late come back, coming from 2-0 down to defeat Borussia Dortmund 3-2. Even more remarkable is the fact that Marseille were playing in Dortmund.

Jakub Blaszczykowski opened the scoring for Dortmund in the 23rd minute before a Mats Hummels’ penalty doubled their lead.

Loic Remy hit back for Marseille right on the stroke of half-time, the second half looked to be heading towards a Dortmund win or at best a draw for Marseille but with five minutes left Andre Ayew levelled the scores. You would think that would have been the end of it but Marseille had other ideas when Mathieu Valbuena struck three minutes from time to secure second spot and leave Olympiakos in third place and heading down to the Europa League.

APOEL suffered a surprise home defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk, but it mattered little in the end as APOEL had already qualified in Group G and as FC Porto and Zenit had a 0-0 draw it was enough to leave them as group winners.

Luiz Adriano put Shakhtar, who finished bottom of the group despite the win, in front in the 62nd minute before substitute Yevgen Seleznev added a second with just 12 minutes to go.

Zenit St Petersburg joined APOEL in progressing to the knockout stage as they claimed the solitary point they needed away to Porto. Porto go back to the Europa League and now have a chance to defend the trophy they picked up last year.

There was little to play for in Group H as we know with Barcelona already guaranteed of top spot and AC Milan through in second ahead before match day 6 had even had a ball kicked.

Pep Guardiola understandably rested pretty much all of his key men ahead of this weekends El Clasico meeting with Real Madrid, but they were still too strong for BATE Borisov winning 4-0.

Sergi Roberto opened the scoring before the interval with Martin Montoya and Pedro’s brace making the game safe in the second period.

AC Milan threw away a 2-0 lead away to Viktoria Plzen after late goals from David Bystron and Michal Duris gave Plzen a 2-2 draw and entry to the Europa League at the expense of BATE.

A quick-fire brace early in the second half from Alexandre Pato and Robinho put the Serie A giants in charge, only for a late lapse to see the victory slip out of their grasp. It mattered little but that lapse in concentration will surely be looked at going forward.

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UEFA Champions League – Matchday 6 Preview

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GROUP A

Group A’s second spot is still up for grabs however Bayern Munich have already qualified as group winners. The battle for second place is between Napoli and Manchester City, with the Italians a point better off and they also have a favourable record in the head-to-head battles. 

City have to beat Bayern Munich at Eastlands and hope Napoli fail to win away to Villarreal, who have lost all five matches and scored just 2 goals in those five matches. Manchester City lost their last clash 2-0 but will hope that the home ground advantage gets them through here. Any other result will send Napoli through in second and condemn City to the Europa League final 32. I can’t see Napoli being beaten by Villareal as they are fighting for that second spot and will no doubt give it their all to qualify.

I think Napoli will go through and Manchester City will be condemned to the Europa League with Villareal crashing out of Europe altogether.

GROUP B

Inter Milan have already qualified for the first knockout round as group winners, but with Trabzonspor, Lille and CSKA Moscow separated by just a single point, it promises to be a dramatic final match day.

For Trabzonspor, the task is simple, if they win against Lille they will be through. A draw in Lille and they would be relying on CSKA not winning in the San Siro to keep second place. As CSKA go to Inter and are little chance of winning, Trabzonspor may feel a draw will be enough. A draw for Trabzonspor guarantees Europa League football at worst. If they lose to Lille, CSKA can take the Europa League place, on head-to-head, with a draw in Italy.

Lille’s requirements are just as straightforward, they must win at home or face elimination, and if they win they are guaranteed to finish second due to their head-to-head record with CSKA. If CSKA better Lille’s result then the French side will be eliminated from Europe completely.

CSKA have things out of their hands, as with Lille and Trabzonspor facing off the only way the Russian side can qualify is if they win at Inter and the other match ends in a draw. They will definitely be in the Europa League with a draw coupled with a positive result over in Lille.

I can see Lille beating Trabzonspor at home despite their poor form so far this season, I can also see CSKA getting a draw against Inter with the Italians already through and this would see Trabzonspor exit Europe with Lille into the knock-out rounds of the UCL and CSKA into the Europa League.

GROUP C

Benfica have qualified and currently in top spot, level on points with Manchester United on nine points with FC Basel on eight. As United and Basel play each other Benfica cannot finish outside the top two and are guaranteed a spot in the knock-out stage.

Benfica are firm favourites to win the group, being at home to Otelul Galati, who have lost every match so far. Victory guarantees them top spot in the group and they will also finish first with a draw if the other match also finishes level. If Benfica lose they will definitely finish second.

Manchester United travel to Switzerland knowing they need a point to go through, and can top the group by bettering Benfica’s result. FC Basel can only qualify with a win, any other result for them means Europa League football.

As much as I hate to say it I think Manchester United will qualify despite their poor form recently, they should have enough for a customary 1-0 over FC Basel. I can’t see Otelul Galati getting any kind of result against Benfica so it would Benfica & Man Utd going through to the knock-out stages and Basel relegated to the Europa League.

GROUP D

Real Madrid have secured top spot with 5 wins and have scored 16 goals in the process, while Ajax have a three-point cushion over Lyon. As both matches between these two sides finished goalless, the head-to-head record is level, so only overall goal difference will matter. Lyon need a seven-goal swing at least to overhaul Ajax, and with the Dutch side facing Real and Lyon playing Dinamo Zagreb it is possible although not likely.

If the two sides finish with identical records, including goals for and against, then it goes to combined club and country coefficient – on which Lyon have a considerable lead. There would need to be some serious luck for this to happen as only Real Madrid beating Ajax 3-0 and Lyon beating Dinamo 4-0 would allow this to occur. I don’t think Real would settle for 3 goals with the form they are in at the moment.

Dinamo have lost every game so are out of the picture and have already been eliminated from European competition.

I think Real Madrid will beat Ajax quite comfortably but I don’t think Lyon will beat Dinamo by enough to go through to the knock-out stages, they will have to settle for the Europa League.

GROUP E 

Bayer Leverkusen are through to the knock-out stages due to Chelsea and Valencia meeting on match-day 6, but top spot still remains up for grabs. Leverkusen can take top spot by winning away to Genk. However if they do not beat Genk then the winner in the other tie would finish first with the Leverkusen runners-up.

A 0-0 draw will not guarantee Chelsea qualify despite many beliveing this is the case. If Leverkusen lose in Belgium to Genk then Chelsea would be eliminated with any draw, including a 0-0. When three teams are level on points a mini-league is then created withoutany of the games involving Genk. Leverkusen would finish in top spot having secured one more point than their rivals in this league. Valencia would finish above Chelsea as they would have scored one more goal than the London club, both would have five points and a goal difference of +1.

Chelsea can only finish second with a 0-0 draw if Bayer Leverkusen pick up some points from their match with Genk. A 1-1 draw would put Valencia through on goal difference and any other draw would put Valencia in the knock-out rounds on head-to-head having scored more away goals.

Either Chelsea or Valencia can guarantee qualification with a victory, and will finish top if Leverkusen also fail to win. The loser at Stamford Bridge would enter the Europa League and Genk eliminated altogether.

I think Valencia will get a point against Chelsea but it won’t end up 0-0. Leverkusen will beat Genk which would see Leverkusen top the group and Valencia finish second either on goal difference or on scoring more away goals.

 

GROUP F

Arsenal are guaranteed of topping group F with a four-point buffer over Marseille, but there are several possibilities for second place and for the Europa League berth.

Marseille will guarantee a place in the knock-out stages with a victory away at Borussia Dortmund. However, if they fail to pick up maximum points it could let in Olympiakos, who would move up to second with a home win over Arsenal, unlikely as that may seem considering Arsenal’s current form.

For Dortmund, the outlook is quite bleak. As they lost 3-0 away to Marseille and because of their inferior goal difference, they must win by four goals to overhaul the Ligue 1 side. A win by any smaller margin would send them to the Europa League – but only if Olympiakos lose to Arsenal, otherwise Olympiakos will take 3rd spot.

This is another group where all three teams can finish level on points, which will happen should Olympiakos draw and Dortmund win – all sides would then be level on six points in the mini-league with Arsenal removed from calculations so it comes down to goal difference between the three.

There are several permutations should all three sides end up level on points. If Dortmund win by one goal, Marseille will finish second, Olympiakos third and Dortmund fourth. If Dortmund win by two or three goals then Olympiakos will be second, Marseille third and Dortmund fourth. If Dortmund win by four goals it will be Olympiakos second, Dortmund third and Marseille fourth. Dortmund can only qualify for the knockout rounds via the three-team mini-league if they beat Marseille by five goals or more, which would push Olympiakos into the Europa League.

I can’t see Arsenal not beating Olympiakos so it will come down to whether Dortmund can beat Marseille by enough goals to qualify. I think Marseille will get at least a draw despite being away from home, with Olympiakos  taking third spot and going into the Europa League.

GROUP G

Apoel Nicosia are guaranteed to be in the knockout stages as the teams in second and third, Zenit and FC Porto, face each other, however any of the three sides can still finish top of the table.

Apoel are at home to Shakhtar Donetsk who have nothing to play for, knowing victory will guarantee top spot as will a draw between Zenit and Porto. Apoel have the better head-to-head against Zenit so will be top if level on points with the Russian side.

Zenit have to travel to FC Porto in search of the draw, which would secure second place. Porto have to win to send them through and put Zenit in the Europa League. Zenit can top the group if they win and Apoel do not. Porto can only top the group if they win and Apoel lose.

This is probably the most open group in terms of which order the top three will finish in, I think Apoel will get at least a draw at home against Shaktar Donetsk, and I think FC Porto could quite possibly top the group here with a win

GROUP H

This group is pretty much done and dusted with Barcelona already winning the group and AC Milan in second. Viktoria Plzen and BATE Borisov are both in with a chance of a Europa League place though, with Plzen having a two-point advantage. BATE can only stay in Europe by winning away at Barcelona coupled with a Plzen defeat at home to Milan. Not likely it would seem, which would see Plzen going through to the Europa League and BATE eliminated from Eurpoe altogether.

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UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Wednesday Round Up – Match Day 5

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Despite what was an extremely poor start to the season, Arsenal have managed to be the first English team to qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League with a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates. 

This is the 12th consecutive season that Arsene Wenger has managed to achieve this and they have got one up on their English counterparts in Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City, all of which need to wait until the final match to try and qualify. In Manchester City’s case, their destiny is out of their hands as if Napoli beat Villareal it won’t matter what their result is against Bayern Munich.

So once again it looks as though ‘Arsene knows’ as his team goes from strength to strength and defies all of the critics that have slated them this season. 

Match Day 5 – Wednesday Round Up

After a goalless first half Arsenal broke the deadlock with Robin van Persie again finding the net. Alex Song showed some superb skill to weave his way past three Dortmund defenders before crossing for van Persie to head home at the far post past Roman Weidenfeller. 

Van Persie was at the double late in the match when Arteta sent over a corner for Vermaelen to flick on at the near post, van Persie obliged and smashed the ball home to continue a remarkable year. Kagawa pulled a goal back for Dortmund in the dying seconds, but it was too little too late as Arsenal secured their place in the last 16.

In the other game in Group F Olympiakos boosted their hopes of reaching the last 16 after picking up an impressive 1-0 win over Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

Ioannis Fetfatzidis was the hero for Olympiakos as he hit the winner eight minutes from time to move the Greek side into third spot in the group.

Chelsea face a nervy final matchday after they threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Bayer Leverkusen in the BayArena. Chelsea made the breakthrough three minutes into the second half when Drogba collected Daniel Sturridge’s pass and twisted and turned his way in the box before firing low into the bottom corner.

However, Chelsea’s defensive problems were again highlighted 17 minutes from time when they were caught napping as substitute Eren Derdiyok headed home with almost his first touch after coming on. 

Manuel Friedrich popped up with a late winner for Leverkusen in the closing seconds to pile the pressure on Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.

In the other game in Group E Valencia ran riot at La Mestalla as they thumped Genk 7-0.

Oliveira Jonas set Valencia on their way with the opener after just ten minutes before Roberto Soldado took control with a hat-trick in the first half.

Pablo Hernandez got in on the act on 68 minutes and Aritz Aduriz made it 6-0 two minutes later. Tino Costa completed the rout for Valencia with a seventh goal nine minutes from time.

APOEL Nicosia made history as they became the first Cypriot side to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League after earning a goalless at Zenit St Petersburg. Quite an effort and is a direct result of UEFA’s splitting of the qualifiers to ensure Champions of the lesser known leagues have a direct route to the group stages.

The Cypriot champions only needed a point to reach the last 16 for the first time in the club’s history and they held on to secure a draw after a stubborn rearguard performance.

The match was almost called off after an incident in the second half saw referee Felix Brych take the players from the field because of smoke from a flare in the stands, this could see Zenit face punishment from UEFA.

Porto kept alive their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages with a 2-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Hulk put Porto ahead 11 minutes from time and an unlucky own goal from Razvan Rat in the final minute sealed the win for the Portuguese champions.

Champions League holders Barcelona secured top spot in Group H with a 3-2 win over AC Milan, a five-goal thriller at the San Siro deciding the group winners.

Barcelona were gifted the lead on 14 minutes when former Barca midfielder Mark van Bommel diverted Seydou Keita’s cross into his own net, an unfortunate own goal and in the end this cost his side dearly.

Milan drew level on 20 minutes when Zlatan Ibrahimovic found the net against his old club after collecting Clarence Seedorf’s pass and firing past Victor Valdes.

Barcelona restored their lead just past the half hour mark when Lionel Messi scored from a retaken penalty after Xavi was brought down inside the box by Alberto Aquilani.

Former Portsmouth man Kevin-Prince Boateng drew Milan level again on 54 minutes with a superb individual goal.

However, Barcelona grabbed the winning goal on 63 minutes through Xavi after fine flowing move from the Spanish champions.

As Barcelona and AC Milan battled it out for top spot, you’d be forgiven for not knowing there was another match being played in Group H. With Plzen and BATE battling to finish in third spot, it was the Czech side who took the spoils in Minsk 1-0.

Plzen put themselves in pole position for a Europa League spot with a 1-0 win over BATE Borisov in Group H.

The win moved Plzen two points clear of BATE, who must now defeat Barcelona at Camp Nou if they are to deny the Czech side third place.

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UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Tuesday Round-Up – Match Day 5

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How good is it to see moneybags Manchester City falter in Europe, the club has swept all before it in the domestic arena but when it comes to the Champions League they look like a different side and Mancini looks out of his depth. It just goes to show that you can have all the money in the world, and the best players but money cannot buy instant success. 

There can only be 11 players on the field at one time and in a competition as short as the Champions League any team can be found out and punished by a lesser team on their day. Manchester City now need to hope that Napoli do not beat Villareal in a fortnight’s time or their Champions League journey for 2011/12 will be over before it really even started!

Match Day 5 – Tuesday Round Up

Napoli moved ahead of opponents Manchester City into second place in Group A with a 2-1 win in Naples, thanks to an Edinson Cavani double.

City will now host Bayern in two weeks needing a win, while Napoli travel to pointless Villarreal, where victory for the Italians would ensure their progression regardless of City’s result.

In other Champions League action, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan reached the knockout stages as the final qualification picture became a lot clearer.

The Germans secured top spot in Group A with a 3-1 win over Villarreal, while Inter secured top spot in Group B with a draw at Trabzonspor.

Franck Ribery scored twice for Bayern, either side of a Mario Gomez effort, as Jonathan De Guzman netted Villarreal’s consolation.

A 1-1 draw away to Trabzonspor was enough for Inter to assure themselves of the number one spot in Group B. Ricardo Alvarez gave the Nerazzuri the lead but Halil Altintop quickly equalised.

Lille left the rest of the group in the balance with a vital 2-0 win away to CSKA Moscow earlier in the evening, Moussa Sow adding to Vasili Berezutsky’s own goal.

The result leaves both teams level on five points, one behind Trabzonspor. Lille host the Turks in their final game, while CSKA go to Inter.

Group C is more tightly poised, but United’s clash with Basle in a fortnight represents a straight fight for qualification after tonight’s results.

United had overturned an early deficit, brought about by Phil Jones’ own goal, to lead Benfica 2-1 through Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Fletcher.

But Pablo Aimar’s immediate leveller earned the Portuguese side a point and left the two sides level on nine points at the top of the group.

Basle held off Otelul Galati’s late fightback to win 3-2 in Romania and move within a point of the leading pair.

Benfica’s superior head-to-head record against United and Basle means they are through no matter what December 7′s result in Switzerland.

Already-qualified Real Madrid kept up their 100% record with a 6-2 hammering of Dinamo Zagreb to set the seal on top spot in Group D.

Despite resting several key players, Real roared into a 4-0 lead inside 20 minutes in what was a frenetic start to the match, the goals didn’t stop there as Real extended that advantage in the second half with Karim Benzema and Jose Callejon each netting utheir second of the evening.

Dinamo pulled two goals back in the closing stages but Real had switched off by this point.

Ajax are as good as certain of qualifying after a goalless draw with Lyon left them three points ahead of their French opponents, with an identical head-to-head record and a goal difference superior by seven.

Stay tuned to sportsbanter.com.au for further Champions League action tomorrow.

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Steve’s Sportingbet Multi of the Week – 11 November 2011

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Last week we missed out by a whisker again, Jimmy Choux let us down initially by finishing 4th when it really should have a at least come a place. To top it off, Liverpool somehow managed to conjure up a draw against a promoted Swansea side at Anfield, how they didn’t win that match is anyone’s guess.

Anyway, this week we have another one of those silly international breaks so we’ve gone for a mix of A-League action, Abu Dhabi Formula One, Four Nations Rugby League, and supplemented those with a few specials from the international football stage, including Oman v the Socceroos tonight.

Hopefully we’ll have a bit more luck this week, surely placing the bet at 11.11 on the 11/11/11 should do the trick :P

Join Sportingbet Australia

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UEFA Champions League Final Preview – FC Barcelona v Manchester United

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This weekend sees two heavyweights of European football go head to head in a rematch of the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. Barcelona took that match out 2-0 at the Stadio Olympico in Rome, with Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi the scorers.

This season the Final is played at Wembley Stadium in England, a clear advantage to the Red Devils as they look to secure a double after winning the Barclays Premier League. Barcelona will be looking for a double of their own after taking out the Spanish La Liga in style over nearest competitors Real Madrid. Both teams have had plenty of time to rest key players with their respective leagues being wrapped up well ahead of this epic showdown.

Manchester United have a number of players staring down the barrel at retirement including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scoles, Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville, they will want to end their careers on a high so motivation will not be an issue here. It will be interesting to note whether Sir Alex Ferguson takes into account the recent off field drama surrounding Giggs when he selects his side for this clash. Giggs was revealed as the Premier League player that had taken out a “super-injunction” to cover up an alleged affair he had with a former Big Brother contestant, he was unmasked on twitter which led to the gag order being worthless in the end, not able to stop the alleged affair becoming public knowledge.

Barcelona have no such dramas to worry about, their preparations for this match have been smooth to date despite having to fly to England 2 days early in an attempt to avoid delays stemming from Volcanic ash which has threatened Europe for a second time. Surprisingly, they asked Arsenal if they could use their London Colney training ground for some pre-match preparations, the Gunners agreeing despite tensions between the two clubs being at an all time high following last season’s attempts by Barcelona to secure the signing of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas through the media, and being the ones who controversially knocked the Gunners out of this years Champions League competition.

Key to this match will be the Barcelona trio of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. If these 3 fire Manchester United will struggle in this match to be honest, I can’t see Vidic or Ferdinand, as good as they are, being able to handle these 3 at the top of their game.

Manchester United will need to employ similar tactics to those that Arsenal used successfully against Barcelona a few months ago if they want to come away with the trophy in this one. Trying to match Barcelona at their own game will not work, the best you can hope for is to repel their attacks and hit them on the counter, something that Manchester United should be proficient at as they are the tactics that they have used successfully against Arsenal over the years.

Barcelona have looked tired over the last few weeks of the La Liga season so maybe the long season has caught up with them and Manchester United could take advantage of this. Anything can happen in a one off game so this may be the best chance that United have ever had to beat the Catalan giants.

I think this match will be closer than people expect with the styles of the two clubs almost cancelling each other out, if Rooney and Hernandez play to their potential they could cause the Barcelona defenders problems of their own. I still think that Barcelona will lift the trophy come 7 o’clock Sunday morning Australian time, but I would not be surprised if the match goes to at least extra time.

Sportingbet Prices
Barcelona: $2.00
Draw: $3.40
Man Utd: $3.65

sportsbanter.com.au Tip – Barcelona
Banter’s Best Bet – Draw after N/T @ $3.40

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