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Champions League and UEFA Cup Roundup

September 18th, 2008 | By: Julian | 11 Comments »

Terribly sorry that I didn’t post yesterday, but I’ve been uber busy. Anyway, since there’s no national news, let’s turn our attention to club news.

Champions League

Fiorentina tied 2-2 in their CL Group Stage opener with Lyonnais. The game was full of controversy, and you can debate until you’re bluer than Tobias Funke over whether Lyonnais’ first goal was valid or not. But the more important thing- Fior were up 2 goals (thanks to Gila, no less) and then took their foot off the pedal. A 2-2 draw isn’t the end of the world and earns them a solid point, but in such a tough group this result almost feels like a loss. Especially considering they had a 2 goal cushion.

Juve on the other hand didn’t play greatly against Zenit. Or should I say, didn’t play greatly in open play. They had 3 amazing chances from set pieces, one of which Del Piero turned into one of the most beautiful free kicks I’ve ever seen (vid below). Form is fleeting but class is permanent, as they say, and Del P proved that yesterday.

UEFA Cup

Big news here- Milan won! They beat FC Zurich 3-1, with Jank, Pato, and Borriello all scoring for the Italian side. In fact, it was a great day for all Italian sides in the UEFA Cup. Sampdoria demolished FBK Kaunas 5-0, thanks to a brace by Cassano, another one from Bonazzoli, and a single goal from Fornaroli. Udinese won 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund with Floro Flores and Inler scoring in the first half. And finally, Napoli won 3-2 over Benfica, with goals from Denis, Maggio, and Vitale.

I kinda breezed through these results for a few reasons. One, this isn’t even the full UEFA Cup yet- this is still qualifying and there’s a return leg yet to be played. Two, since this blog’s primary focus is on the national teams and not clubs, if you want fuller reports, be sure to check out the respective club’s sites on TheOffside.

What I find really interesting is how the Italian players have been doing. Cassano and Maggio especially have been doing great recently, and I think Lippi will keep them in mind for our next qualifiers. Del Piero is proving critics wrong year after year, and if a guy as old as him can produce a goal like that in the freaking Champions League, then he’s good enough to stay on the Azzurri as far as I’m concerned.

But the biggest surprise so far has been Gila. I’ve been amongst his biggest critics, and I’m not still fully convinced that he’s back to his top. But he has been improving greatly, so if he’s in the next call up I wouldn’t be too pissed. As long as Rossi and Quags get a chance to prove themselves, too.

Tags: AC Milan, Arrested Development, Champions League, Fior, Group E, Italy, Juve, Napoli, Sampdoria, Udinese, UEFA Cup, World Cup 2010

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Comments

By Bashar | September 19th, 2008 at 9:44 am

Ooof.. this is nice.. A mini-international tournament between Germany, Italy, Spain and France.. Quality opposition to test the team out.

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sep19h.html

Posted from United States

By John Silver | September 19th, 2008 at 10:15 am

A retrospective question now it’s all over: what would have been your dream team for Euro 2008 and why?

Posted from United Kingdom

By alessio | September 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am

Ugh, Bashar. All I can think is player exhaustion and injuries from that, the boys barely get summers off with Euros, WC games, and of course pre-season training. Let them keep their summer.

John Silver, basically what we took with us. I found it extremely ironic that everyone was touting our attack when we got there, and panicking about defense. We didn’t have a strong defense, they said, but ADP+DiNatale+Toni+Quags+Borriello scored something like 150 goals the prior season. The exact opposite happened. That’s not a testament to our attack flopping, but a terrible coach. Wrong formation, and after the Holland game we played ultra defensive.

We had the right personnel there. (Of course except for Barzagli/Materazzi) I said Legro shoulda gone instead of Barzagli and now I’m glad everyone agrees.

Posted from United States

By dede heriyanto | September 19th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

that’s udinese i’ve known..why dont you all give your support for this team

By Bashar | September 19th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Btw.. Pirlo out for 2 months so we won’t have him for the WC qualifiers against Montenegro and… Ireland?

Posted from United States

By John Silver | September 20th, 2008 at 10:04 am

No, alessio, I meant an international Dream Team. I was having this discussion the other day with a friend of mine and it’s a question which sprouted some surprising controversy.

Posted from United Kingdom

By alessio | September 20th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Hmm.

Buffon
Sergio Ramos Puyol Chiellini Van Bronkhorst
Sionko Iniesta Senna Podolski
Villa Nihat

Posted from United States

By John Silver | September 21st, 2008 at 10:08 am

See, that already displays part of the controversies. For instance, no Cristiano Ronaldo, for crying out loud? Podolski as left winger? And why Villa over Torres? There’s also something that may be said in favour of Xavi, considering how I saw him play… Thanks for responding, anyway.

Posted from United Kingdom

By alessio | September 21st, 2008 at 10:16 am

No CR7 just because I despise that man. Haha, I don’t know. Any XI is going to be controversial. Any you mentioned could easily have slotted in. I guess my XI was more players who played excellent who came in with relatively low expectations, with a few exceptions of course. I’d never heard of Sionko, I thought van Bronkhorst was spent, and Iniesta and Senna rose above their “role-playing” names and really blew me away. And nihat, well…fun to watch.

On a different note, where are the people calling for Santacroce in the Nazionale? There’s a reason I said he shouldn’t be in there! (yet)

Posted from United States

By Bobo | September 21st, 2008 at 3:51 pm

Why, has Santacroce been doing poorly? I haven’t seen any Napoli games so far.

Posted from United States

By alessio | September 21st, 2008 at 4:17 pm

2 red cards already, 2 avoidable red cards. He’s young and needs to mature.

Posted from United States

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