Champions League Wednesday Review

By Dennis Neri
for SoccerMyLife.com

Published: September 3, 2010

Arsenal 0 AC Milan 0

This was a very interesting game that got better as the match went on with lots of tactical and skilful play from both sides.

As expected Arsenal were the slightly more attacking of the 2 sides but Milan had their moments as well but both sides defended resolutely.

Cesc Fabregas had 1 of his better games in a while and was very influential in the midfield as both teams packed the midfield with a lot of quality players like Genarro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo, Mathieu Flamini and Hleb.

The 2 lone strikers Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal and Pato for Milan put on very good performances with Adebayor hitting the post 15 seconds left to play following a great cross from Theo Walcott.

Ratings

Arsenal

Lehmann 6

He did not have that much to do but he did produce 1 of the assists of the year when he threw the ball 50 yards to Adebayor that might have produced a goal.

Sagna 6

He could not go forward as much as he used to with Ambrosini, Maldini and Seedorf to occupy his thoughts.

Clichy 6

He too had his work cut out and could not go forward as much as he likes but he did play well.

Gallas 6.5

He had to be at his best after his calamitous performance against Manchester United as he had to contain Pato then Gilardino when he came on.

Senderos 6.5

He came on for Kolo Toure and performed very admirably but in typical fashion he had his hand in mouth moments almost causing a penalty when he seemed to trip up Pato.

Eboue 6.5

He played very well as he took the fight to Milan but his dark side is always likely to rare its ugly head as he was rightly booked for diving in the 2nd half.

Flamini 6.5

He kept Pirlo and Seedorf quiet but could not offer much in the attacking sense but overall was a good performance in keeping with his brilliant season,

Fabregas 7

He played the best he has in a long time especially in the 2nd half as everything good came through him with lots of clever passes and ground coverage.

Eduardo 5

He was not very much in the game and was not given the service that he craves.

Hleb 6.5

Like his good friend Fabregas, he played the best he ahs done in a very long time, taking on players and bringing his teammates into play.

Adebayor 6

He put in his usual great shift and he did worry the Milan defence but he missed a very good chance with seconds to go that might have changed the dynamic of this tie.

Milan

Kalac 6.5

He made a number of good saves but most of them were routine saves and he was solid throughout as he hardly spilled a shot although he was almost caught out with Walcott’s cross at the death.

Oddo 5

He has a lot of energy but unfortunately he is 1 of those players that does not think at all. He gets into very good positions and puts in horrible crosses to the utter disgust of his teammates. But he has enough pace to get his side out of trouble whenever they are stretched.

Maldini 6

At 39 years of age he still can run down the flanks comfortably and defend admirably for 90 minutes. It is quite incredible to see this phenomenal athlete still perform at the highest level in 2 positions in such a prestigious game.

Kaladze 6

He was quietly effective with no frills

Nesta 6

Before he went off injured, he was very impressive as he was able to snuff out the danger posed by Adebayor.

Ambrosini 6

He went about his business with minimum fuss. He is not the most gifted of the Milan players but he did his job effectively as he was able to stop Sagna from coming forward.

Gattuso 6

This was not 1 of his barn storming performances as he was not going into tackles as he normally does.

Pirlo 5

He was very disappointing as most of his passes went astray and he could not influence Milan as much as he normally does. His free kicks were even worse.

Seedorf 5

He did not look match fit and did not play very well at all. He did not influence the game at all.

Kaka 5.5

He was not able to get into the game as the likes of Flamini, Fabregas and Eboue did not give him room to maneuver.

Pato 6

He played well for someone that has not played for 3 games and is 18 years of age. He showed great maturity as he did cause Senderos, Sagna, Clichy and Gallas problems.

Jankulovski 5.5

He came on for Nesta and did well enough with his pace.

Celtic 2 Barcelona 3

This was always going to be a tall order for Celtic and it turned out to be just that.

Celtic went in front when Aiden Mcgready caused a lot of trouble for Carlos |Puyol and the ball eventually came to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink via a good cross and he put headed Celtic in front.

Barcelona quickly equalized following a 1-2 involving Deco and eventual scorer Lionel Messi.

Celtic surprisingly and against the run of play went in front when another cross was met by debutant Barry Robson, whose looping header caught Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés floundering from his goal line.

Barcelona equalized with the goal of the day and by far the best goal over 2 days of champions league football. It started with Gary Caldwell needlessly giving the ball to Ronaldinho and he in turn played the ball to Thierry Henry and his finish was absolutely sublime as he curled the ball superbly round Artur Boruc to make it 2-2.

Barcelona went in front for the 1st time when Samuel Etoo, who had come on for Ronaldinho found Lionel Messi and he dragged the ball back to completely full Caldwell and curled the ball round Boruc for the win that their football quality so richly deserved.

The plus points for Barcelona fans is how well Deco, Ronaldinho, Henry and Messi played but then again Celtic are a decent side but not of the highest quality so that may have something to do with it.

They even survived another of Rijkaard’s eccentricities as he played Henry on the left, Etoo on the right and Messi on the middle. Also taking off the impressive Deco did not make much sense either.

Lyon 1 Manchester United 1

Karim Benzema put Lyon in front when he collected the ball from Jérémy Toulalan and he turned smoothly and buried a good shot past Edwin van Der Saar in United goal.

Carlos Tevez scored a late equalizer as he collects a Nani cross to put United in the driving seat.

Fenerbahce 3 Sevilla 2

Mateja Kezman put the home side in front with a free header following U

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Author: Dennis Neri
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