Juventus figured to have some momentum heading into its do-or-die Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Having just beaten Inter Milan, Juve needed only a draw at home against Bayern to reach the Round of 16, but instead of a draw, the Italian club was handed a 4-1 beating and a place in the Europa League.
Bayern's impressive victory helped the German club finish second in its group to Bordeaux, making it one of the eight teams to leave Tuesday with a the Round of 16 secured.
Real Madrid was another one of those teams after drubbing Marseille, 3-1, on the strength of two beautifull Cristiano Ronaldo goals.
Perhaps the most impressive performance (aside from Bayern's) came from Manchester United, which defeated Wolfsberg, 3-1, in Germany despite having to field a back-line that featured midfielders Park-Ji Sung, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher. Michael Owen stole the show though, netting a hat-trick and adding mre fuel to his bid to make England's World Cup squad.
Here is a rundown of Tuesday's Champions League results (Round of 16 qualifiers in bold):
Juventus 1, Bayern Munich 4
Maccabi Haifa 0, Bordeaux 1
Besiktas 1, CSKA Moscow 2
VfL Wolfsburg 1, Manchester United 3
FC Zurich 1, AC Milan 1
Marseille 1, Real Madrid 3
Atletico Madrid 0, FC Porto 3
Chelsea 2, APOEL Nicosia 2
What did you think of Tuesday's results? Surprised to see Juventus collapse? Impressed with Manchester United's victory using a patch-work back-line?
Share your thoughts below.
I would only put Rooney, Defoe, and one big guy ahead of Michael making him 4th. I see Becks as 4th on the right also. Maybe they both go if fit.
beasley out at halftime
atdhe.net has the rangers game
Beasley gets the start today for Rangers.
Link to watch the Rangers game anyone???
What a win for Bayern Munchen, they completely out played Juventus. They showed how strong a team they are, finally, and did it with out Ribery. Now on to hoping they get a good draw in the next round. I might even like to see them play Real Madrid, and see if Madrid still cant make it out of the round of 16.
1. Has there ever been a CL group stage game day in which the home teams were winless?
2. Beasley starting for Rangers today (meaningless game, though).
from wiki
‘In the early 1970s, the Israel Football Association was expelled from the AFC due to political pressure from Arabs and Muslims that refused to play against Israel. For 20 years, the Israel Football Association was not affiliated with any confederation and was playing provisionally in the OFC and in UEFA until 1994, when it was admitted to UEFA as a full member. ‘
I also thought it had something to do with safety as Israel having regular matches with the likes of Iran, Syria, Iraq, … would be security nightmare.
Australia in the AFC, Guyana in CONCACAF, Kazakhstan, Israel, and others in UEFA…it’s just the way FIFA does business.
Poor Haifa? How does a team from Israel get into the EUROPEAN Champions League to begin with? Someone from FIFA’s cartography team can get back to me on that. 🙂
CSKA will not be disqualified. If anything, only the players will be punished.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=710521&sec=uefachampionsleague&cc=5901
Bayern to win it all. I am calling it. Does anybody know anything about the moscow doping scandal? Will they be eliminated from the competition due to that?
Suddenly the Bavarian’s breathe life back into the club.
I still find it doubtful Owen will be fit and on form by the time the World Cup rolls around. I would say Rooney, Defoe, Cole, Crouch, Heskey, and Bent are all ahead of Owen in Capello’s mind. Perhaps he will get a cap during the run up so that Capello can say he gave him a look and a proper national team farwell but I doubt he takes him to South Africa.
I think Beckham goes if he is fit. If Capello hasn’t dropped him yet, I doubt he will.
That is a very good question. It would have to be Owen for me.
An in-form Owen would be hard to argue with, but I think they have enough weapons who offer what he does. Beckham would be a specialist, and offer the years of WC experience that can be seen as invaluable. What a nice problem this is to have for a last roster spot!
Bordeaux has looked very impressive in the group stage. Call me crazy, but I’d list them as a dark horse to win it all.
If the last roster spot was between Becks or Owen, who would Capello pick?
Wolfsburg was shocking. Marseilles, Madrid game was fun to watch. The crowd at the Velodrome was absolutely electric.
Soccer in HD is in a close tie with deep dish pizza for my favorite things in life.
Wonder if gooch would be playing if he didn’t get hurt
Poor Haifa. Good on them for making it, but still.