While Wednesday's UEFA Champions League matches didn't have the same kind of upsets, save for one that was fairly huge. AC Milan, who had been off to a slow, struggling start to the 2009 campaign, came back from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-2 on the road against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It was the sort of result you might expect to see a few years ago, but with Milan looking their age in previous appearances this season, it was the young legs of Alexandre Pato that carried the Italians to all three points. The Brazilian scored the game winner when he was left wide open at the far post to volley home past Iker Casillas off a Clarence Seedorf cross.
Elsewhere in UEFA, the battle of two prestigious European clubs ended with two red cards and two missed penalties as Giorindins de Bordeaux held off Bayern Munich 2-1. The Bavarian giants finished the game with nine men after both Thomas Muller and Daniel van Buyten were sent off. Munich was also without wingers Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben their defeat.
English clubs managed to save face after Tuesday, with Manchester United winning 1-0 on the road against CSKA Moscow, while Chelsea thrashed a sorry-looking Atletico Madrid 4-0 at Stamford Bridge. Juventus managed just a lone goal in a 1-0 win against Maccabi Haifa, Marseille snuck past FC Zurich by a 1-0 score, FC Porto came from behind against APOEL to win 2-1, and Wolfsburg's match against Besiktas petered out to a 0-0 draw.
What did you think of yesterday's UEFA Champions League matches? Shocked to see Milan win on the road? Is Bayern Munich in trouble? Share your thoughts below.
Casillas lost that game for Madrid. He’s my favorite player now! ha!
There is something rotten in Munich that new coaches, new players, and new money can not fix. The whole never equals the wonderful parts they have.
Pellegrini has a similar problem at Real. The supporting cast think they are Galaticos, and keep way too much of the ball. Real should keep their Galatico base of 6 or 7 and start moving the pretenders out.
It seems to me that the RM/ACM game revolved around Brazilian players and around old guys.
The Brazilians were a mixed bag. There was some truly putrid goaltending by Dida. Ronaldinho showed tantalizing hints of what was, but ultimately contributed little. Kaka seemed to hustle but offered little inspiration. Marcello seemed like one of RM’s most dangerous attackers! Pato finished well when he had the chance.
Seedorf played really well; he seemed to be the one who generated the best chances for Milan. Raul was opportunistic and had a great work rate for RM.
Both RL and Milan played miserably. I have seldom seen so many terrible sloppy passes from supposed top tier teams. The game ended up being entertaining in the last ten minutes. Ronaldinho is a shell of his former self. “Saint” Casillas looked like the patron of lost souls out there on at least 2 of the goals.
Do they really? I know they are 3-0 but didn’t they struggle in their first two wins? And Madrid routinely gets beat by that score in La Liga. And this is always what people say about Chelsea in the EPL too, until they lose a game, then it’s crisis time. They are certainly doing well, but they are far from unstoppable…
That would be to much of a slippery slope. Then you would have to give cards for players who claim corner kicks, claim possession after the ball is out of bounds, ect. They already have in place, at least in the Prem, that you get a yellow if you take something too far to the point of dessent.
Real dominated the game until the Pirlo wonder goal (huge edge in shots and corners up to that point). That broke the game wide open. Up to that point, I was expecting the typical Madrid game where they ‘keep’ it close then bag 3 or 4 or 6 goals late.
Can we start producing yellows for players that complain about off-sides after a goal?
Good game by my two most hated teams. After the whole Onyewu compensation thing and Beckham loan, I will never cheer on Milan. It is, however, nice to see Madrid fall after their insane summer spending spree.
Chelsea look unstoppable in Europe right now!
Hala Madrid! Pato and Dinho were a handful for the sorry Madrid defense.