Molinaro on Champions League: In case you missed it
Here’s what happened in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, in case you missed it…
The results
Zenit St. Petersburg 0, Austria Wien 0
Celtic 0, Barcelona 1
Steaua Bucharest 0, Chelsea 4
Ajax 1, Milan 1
Arsenal 2, Napoli 0
FC Porto 1, Atlético Madrid 2
Borussia Dortmund 3, Marseille 0
FC Basel 0, Schalke 1
The day’s main talking points
1. ‘New’ Arsenal flying high: This was easily Arsenal’s best performance of the season in all competitions, including their five wins in the Premier League. No doubt many more people will jump aboard the Gunners’ growing bandwagon after this one, and you can hardly blame them. Mesut Ozil was simply magnificent, scoring one goal and setting up another, while the Arsenal defence easily repelled Napoli’s modest attacking forays. Flashy in midfield in attack, Arsenal also showed steel and bite in the centre of the park, effectively pressing Napoli and winning the ball cleanly with timely tackles and hurry tactics. What’s even more encouraging for Arsenal fans is how the team looks far more decisive in the final third. All too often, Arsene Wenger’s teams from the past have been too cute and intricate, trying to walk the ball into the net. This incarnation of Arsenal has a cutting edge to it, and is displaying far more ruthlessness up front. The Gunners’ brilliant mix of speed, midfield strength, efficiency in possession and clinical finishing has made them the talk of European club soccer, exposing all the talk of the club being in “crisis” following their season-opening loss to Aston Villa as pure silliness.
2. Celtic falls short again: Celtic has played Barcelona close in their last three Champions League meetings, including registering that famous, shocking win at Parkhead last year. The Catalans’ 1-0 win on Tuesday makes it look like this was another tightly contested affair, but appearances can be very deceiving. Even without Lionel Messi (injured), Barcelona dominated proceedings in Glasgow, enjoying 72 per cent possession on the night and threatening the Celtic goal with wave after wave of attack. True, Barcelona failed to register a shot on goal in the first half, but Celtic were made to chase shadows, as they only got a rare whiff of the ball. Credit to Celtic who did show a bit of life when captain Scott Brown was red carded in the 58th minute. But the Scots’ momentum was short-lived, and Barcelona finally broke them down through Cesc Fabregas. Despite holding mighty Barcelona to a single goal, the final result was never in doubt.
3. Bad boy Balotelli: Spare some compassion for Ajax. The Dutch club neutralized AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli all game before Ajax’s Stefano Denswil appeared to score the winner with a header off a corner in the 90th minute. But moments later, a penalty area melee ensued that ended with Balotelli winning a penalty decision that he duly converted. In truth, it was a horrendous call by the ref. Replays showed that Balotelli was all over Ajax defender Mike van der Hoorn – and not the other way around. Balotelli sold the “foul” well, conning the ref into awarding the penalty and giving Milan, who was absolutely dire in this contest, a life line and an undeserved share of the spoils.
4. Zenit shouldn’t blame ref: Zenit St. Petersburg has every right to feel aggrieved when they were reduced to 10 men just before halftime. Axel Witsel’s foul on Austria Wien’s Florian Mader in the 44th minute was worthy of a caution, but a straight red? No chance. Still, even though they were playing with a man disadvantage, the Russian side bossed the second half against the Austrians, creating a handful of scoring chances that they failed to convert. They were the better side before and after Witsel’s expulsion, with Austria Wien content to sick back and showing little attacking verve. Zenit can blame the ref, but they should blame themselves for their lack of finishing in front of the goal, especially Brazilian striker Hulk who squandered numerous chances.
Wednesday programming alert:
CKSA Moscow vs. Viktoria Plzen (Sportsnet ONE, noon ET)
Manchester City vs. Bayern Munich (Sportsnet, 2:30 pm ET)
Juventus vs. Galatasary (Sportsnet 360, 2:30 pm ET)
Real Madrid vs. FC Copenhagen (Sportsnet ONE, 2:30 pm ET)
Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Manchester United (Sportsnet World, 2:30 pm ET)
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Real Sociedad (Sportsnet World Online, 2:30 pm ET)
Anderlecht vs. Olympiakos (Sportsnet World Online, 2:30 pm ET)
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Benfica (Sportsnet World Online, 2:30 pm ET)
TV schedule
Match of the day
The nod goes to Atlético Madrid’s 2-1 win over Porto in Portugal. The three goals were of genuine quality, especially Jackson Martinez’s diving header that spotted Porto the lead. The affair seemed destined for a stalemate before the Spaniards pulled out the win in dramatic fashion, with Arda Turan scoring with four minutes left in regulation off a wonderfully-worked free kick that caught Porto’s defence napping.
Goal of the day
Mesut Ozil scored his first goal for Arsenal since his summer move, and it was a beauty. Olivier Giroud fought off his marker and released Aaron Ramsey down the right with a deft headed flick. Ramsey went into high gear as he burst into the box before cutting a ball back into the middle for Ozil. The German was waiting for the pass after making a lung-busting run from midfield and brilliantly hit it the first time, his side-footed shot sailing past Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina into the top left-hander corner in the eighth minute. It was a beautiful controlled finish from Ozil, who displayed great technique and composure on the play. Honourable mention goes to Julian Draxler’s effort in Schalke’s victory over Basel.
Save of the day
Mario Balotelli came oh-so-close to giving AC Milan a 1-0 lead over Ajax in the 63rd minute. The Italian striker curled a shot from the left at the top of the box that seemed destined for the far corner. Ajax goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen had other ideas, though, athletically adjusting his body to get a hand on the ball and tip it onto the crossbar.
Tweet of the day
Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph sums up the feelings of a lot of neutrals about Arsenal:
Not saying this will last all season for Arsenal, but it's a relief to see them look like Arsenal again, and to see individuals progressing.
— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) October 1, 2013European Football Weekly: Sportsnet 590 The FAN’s Dan Riccio, Derrick Brandao and Gord Brunt take an in-depth look at the beautiful game on the European Football Weekly podcast. For more details and to listen to past shows, CLICK HERE
Eight pack of facts
Austrian teams (Sturm Graz, Rapid Wien and Austria Wien) are now winless in their last 10 Champions League matches, with nine losses.
Thirteen nations were represented on the field between the starting lineups of Arsenal and Napoli: Colombia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and Wales.
No Romanian club has ever scored more than one goal against English opposition in the Champions League (nine games).
Celtic has failed to keep a clean sheet in their last nine Champions League games.
Borussia Dortmund has won their last seven Champions League games at home.
Schalke is unbeaten in its last 12 Champions League games in the group stages (with nine wins).
AC Milan is winless in their last six Champions League games against Dutch sides (with three losses).
Before Tuesday, Porto had kept a clean sheet in each of their last four Champions League home games against Spanish sides.
Burning questions
Why did German referee Deniz Aytekin issue that red card to Zenit St. Petersburg’s Axel Witsel for his tame foul on Florian Mader?
What was going through Celtic captain Scott Brown’s mind when he stepped on Neymar’s hand while the Barcelona star was down on the ground? Did he honestly think he wouldn’t get a red card?
Three stars
1) Mesut Ozil: The German international had his best game in an Arsenal uniform, scoring the Gunners’ opening goal and setting up teammate Olivier Giroud seven minutes later.
2) Ramires: Chelsea’s Brazilian midfielder bagged two goals, but also put in a lot of hard work in the centre of the park for the Blues.
3) Fraser Forster: The Celtic goalkeeper was magnificent in the second half, making a number of incredible saves to keep the Scottish champions in the game against mighty Barcelona. Honourable mention goes to Robert Lewandowski who scored two goals in Borussia Dortmund’s win over Marseille.