Uefa Cup first round results
Hertha BSC Berlin 2-0 Saint Patrick’s Athletic FC
APOEL FC 1-4 Schalke
FC Nordsjælland 0-2 Olympiacos
NK Slaven Koprivnica 1-2 CSKA Moskva
FC Moskva 1-2 København
PFC Litex Lovech 1-3 Aston Villa FC
PFC Cherno More Varna 1-2 VfB Stuttgart
H. Tel-Aviv 1-2 AS Saint-Etienne
FC Baník Ostrava 0-1 Spartak Moskva
VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 FC Rapid Bucureşti
Hamburg 0-0 AFC Unirea Urziceni
Feyenoord 0-1 Kalmar FF
AC Omonia 1-2 Manchester City FC
Nancy 1-0 Motherwell FC
Brann 2-0 Deportivo
Portsmouth FC 2-0 Vitória SC
Slavia 0-0 SC Vaslui
Austria Wien 2-1 Lech Poznań
MŠK Žilina 1-1 Levski
Beşiktaş 1-0 FC Metalist Kharkiv
FC Timişoara 1-2 Partizan
NEC Nijmegen 1-0 Dinamo Bucureşti
Bellinzona 3-4 Galatasaray AŞ
BSC Young Boys 2-2 Club Brugge
Kayserispor 1-2 PSG
Real Racing Club Santander 1-0 FC Honka Espoo
UC Sampdoria 5-0 FBK Kaunas
Brøndby IF 1-2 Rosenborg
Milan 3-1 Zürich
Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Sparta
Sevilla 2-0 Salzburg
BV Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Udinese
Rennes 2-1 FC Twente
FK Borac 1-4 Ajax
SSC Napoli 3-2 Benfica
Everton 2-2 R. Standard de Liège
Tottenham 2-1 Wisla Kraków
Braga 4-0 Artmedia
Vitória FC 1-1 Heerenveen
CS Marítimo 0-1 Valencia
Manchester United and Arsenal poor start in Champions League
Top favorites to winning this season’s Uefa ChampionsLeague, the two teams from the British isles failed to confirm the expectations and settled both for draws in the opening matches in this years competition.
Arsenal had a poor performance against former soviet team,Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, and instead of winning a match in which they were considered favourites, they barelly rescued a point thanks to the late equaliser from captain William Gallas.
Although Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, twice, and Cesc Fabregas all had good first-half chances for the Gunners
the game finished 1-1.
The second team that was expected a win from, former Uefa Champions league winner, Manchester United ended a goalless match against Villarreal, and also settled for one point.The return of Cristiano Ronaldo as a second half sub didn’t make any difference in the final result, and ended the their 11-match winning streak on home soil in uefa Champions League.More than that Villarreal‘s Guille Franco hit the woodwork and could have caused a surprisingly result.
Having these latest results it’s too early to draw conclusions and say that Arsenal and Manchester United will not be able to repeat the last seasons results , however their poor start raises questions that will probably be answered in the forthcoming matches.
Has fair play disappeared?
Football is one of the most beloved sports in the world and it should remain so. Usually football is associated with passion, emotion, excitement, dedication and not at last fair play.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the case last night, in the opening game of the Uefa Champions League Group F, Lyon against Fiorentina.
In 73th minute with Lyon trying to come back from two goals behind, Piquionne scored a controversial goal. After a duel in the six yard box, Zauri remained down with a head injury. The referee didn’t stopped the match and Lyon un-sportingly refused to kick the ball out.
Piquionne scored the goal from Benzema‘s pass. Zauri couldn’t continue and he had to be replaced with Jorgensen.
Lyon equalized five minutes from time as Fiorentina lost their heads.
After the game Gilardino the scorer of both goals for Fiorentina launched an attack on French team.
Also Zauri and Prandelli complained about the referee decision.
Let’s hope that such things will not repeat too often and we enjoy the matches.
Uefa Champions League 2008-2009 – Group stage results
Group A Chelsea 4-0 Bordeaux
Group A Roma 1-2 CFR Cluj
Group B Panathinaikos 0-2 Internazionale
Group B Bremen 0-0 Anorthosis
Group C Basel 1-2 Shakhtar
Group C Barcelona 3-1 Sporting
Group D PSV 0-3 Atletico
Group D Marseille 1-2 Liverpool
Group E Man. United 0-0 Villarreal
Group E Celtic 0-0 AaB
Group F Steaua Bucharest 0-1 Bayern
Group F Lyon 2-2 Fiorentina
Group G Porto 3-1 Fenerbahce
Group G Dynamo Kyiv 1-1 Arsenal
Group H Juventus 1-0 Zenit
Group H Real Madrid 2-0 Bate