After a high scoring opening day of 22 goals followed by a 14 goal 2nd day, let us look at the mouth watering clashes served for the next week on September 30th.
Zenit St Petersburg Vs Real Madrid:
Zenit narrowly lost to Juventus by a solitary Del Peiro goal and Madrid had a comfortable outing with a brace at home over BATE. Zenit will look to prove themselves as a tough opponent for the touring Spanish champs at the Petrovski stadium. The free scoring Spaniards fly to Russia after a win over Betis at the weekend and the In-form madridistas will not settle for anything less than 3 points. Zenit come at the back of a 3-0 win over lokomotiv and currently 6th place in the league. Coach Advocaat will put his best attacking line up for this big game. All that remains to be seen is how well does Zenit play to deserve its tag of dark horses. Too early to say, but rest assured that the UEFA cup champions are a team to look out for.
AaB vs. Manchester united:
The Danes frustrated Celtics at the park for over an hour and despite being down to 10 in the last 10 minutes, they managed to negate a flurry of attacks from the Celtics. Things will be different at old Trafford for the very reason that Man Utd looked like getting back in the groove after a 2-0 demolition of Bolton at the weekend. They played their best game of the season till date in terms of possession and shots on target. With a novice like Aab, Sir Alex would not squander the opportunity to get their winning streak back on track. At home this might well prove to be a one-sided match in favour of united unless the Danes come up with the game of their lives. Also for Aab, they would see the return of Beauchamp after his controversial red card was over turned by UEFA.
Villareal vs Celtics:
Coach Manuel Pelligrini would be very delighted over a single point squeezed from old Trafford but would still consider himself unlucky for a deflection of Franco that was denied by the post when Van Der Sar seemed a mere spectator. To follow it up they take on Celtics who could just take a single point over Aab in their home game. Both the teams have not entered the score sheet and arguably these two lock horns for the second spot in the group behind the reigning champions. Fans can look forward to a tight game with Villareal lining up the likes of Senna and Nihat from the bench. On the other hand, Celtic seems to have lost a big name or two to injury and that might hamper their progress in the tournament. Villareal sit pretty on top of the league table with comfortable wins. What looks optimistic is the manner in which they have gone about their work. Celtic would need a top draw to scar the yellow submarines in front of their fans at the Estadio Al Madrigal.
Fiorentina Vs Steau Bucharest:
The Viola’s went ahead twice only to concede goals and Lyon got back into the game to snatch a draw after some angry moments from the viola players. Steau Bucharest in their game against Bayern lost on a tight one goal margin after Buyten deflected a free kick for the visiting Bavarians. For most of the second half, the Romanian outfit stung the palms of Bayern Keeper Rensing with some excellent drives from the edge and outside. Coach Lakatus would look back a fortnight and expect a better finishing form for his strikers to upset the violas. The Violas meanwhile have their own problem at the back and are currently 13th in their league. At home any points dropped would spell doomsday in this extremely competitive group.
Bayern Munich Vs Lyon:
The Germans are yet to find their feet on the ground in the league and have been at the wrong place of the table considering their high standards. The return of Ribery for the cup will be a welcome relief for Klinsmann as his side look to bolster their attack against the French champions. With a disastrous start to the league campaign, a lot hinges on how they respond to the UEFA CL clash against a good opponent. The French champs are meanwhile about to lose Juninho to injury. Rest apart the team looks in good shape and would not want to concede any advantage to the german giants. They rank 1st in their league and also put up a good performance against fiorentina to get back into the game after being 2-0 down. The Bavarains will be questioned on their defense against the likes of Benzema and Govou after a disastrous 5-2 defeat to Werder Bremen still in their minds. This contest should play level with both teams looking better to take the 2 spots in this group.
Arsenal Vs Porto:
Arsene Wenger will be very disappointed about his young team which is showing signs of inconsistency and vulnerability at the back. They drew against Dyanamo kiev and lost to Hull city in the league at the weekend. Inexperience in this side could be a fallability against a Porto side that ousted Aragones’s Fenerbahce with a 3-1 win. At the emirates stadium, Arsenal are still a unbeatable side but with their new found zest in youngsters, they might open up gaps for the experienced porto side to exploit. Porto are undefeated in their league and remain 3rd in the rankings. What remains to be seen is the line up they present against arsenal after closely observing their fluctuating fortunes over the past few weeks. Arsenal looks a beatable side but they are also ruthless on their day at the Emirates.
Fenerbahce vs Dyanamo Kiev:
Fenerbahce lost to Porto and Kiev drew with arsenal. What they can’t afford now is a point share where the other two heavy weights in the group can pull away from them. Fenerbahce look a better side in proper shape after a few summer signings. With coach Aragones, they look a formidable team in the field and play football with good movement up front. Mallorca man Guiza will once again be the key player to watch and all eyes upon him to score his first home UEFA CL goal. As for Dyanamo Kiev, they put up a good show to stumble arsenal, but did’nt show much of attacking prowess in the second half and were left to defend deep in the wake of a string of arsenal attacks. The ukranian side for all their players with international experience can play better and we hope they just bring out one of the better performances over fenerbahce. Tough it may seem, but never the less this match seems promising on the cards especially after the 1st week results.
BATE Borisov Vs Juventus:
BATE had a tough outing against Real in the first week and it seems like no respite when the Italian giants are coming down to play some spoil sport. The scoreline 2-0 depicts little damage but psychologically the pressure of a heavy weight opponent would still ring their minds when they see the likes of Del Piero scorching free kicks from distances. As for Juventus, A scratchy display ended by a piece of brilliance from a legend against a well organized Zenit side. The Old lady lacked creativity all throughout and this cannot continue for long if they are to make any impact at the latter stages of the tournament. Currently placed 6th in their league with 2 successive draws, the onus of scoring rests upon Amauri to keep them going into the season with good convincing performances. BATE can count on fans at their home ground to do all the inspiring work for them. For BATE fans, there was an upset in the first week by CFR Cluj and BATE can draw some inspiration from it.
