Roma
THE ROAD TO ROME - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHDAY 2
GROUP A
Chelsea sat on top of the Premier League as well as this qualification group prior to their visit to Romania and at the end of the evening were still there thanks to a goalless draw against surprise package CFR Cluj-Napoca. Even the bookings were level with two apiece in a forgettable clash. AS Roma meanwhile, travelled to France knowing that a defeat to Girondins Bordeaux would effectively end their hopes of qualification. As it was, they unleashed The Beast and ran out comfortable 3 - 1 winners. It was not without a scare as Youann Gorcuff gave the French side the lead on eighteen minutes, the game changing with the dismissal of Henrique eight minutes before half-time. Vucinic brought the Italians level with a quarter of the game remaining leaving the stage set for Julio Baptista to revive memories of the form that made him one of Sevilla’s prized assets. He scored twice in the last nineteen minutes to allow the Romans to dream of being in the final.
GROUP B
In a match laden with political overtones, Anorthosis Famagusta entertained Panathinaikos and ran out comfortable 3 - 1 winners to maintain their top spot. A Sarriegi own goal after eleven minutes set the rot for the Greeks, Dobrasinovic doubling the Cypriots lead five minutes later. Salpigidis pulled one back with barely half an hour on the clock but defeat was assured when Mulla Mohammed scored with twelve minutes of the match remaining. Internazionale were second on alphabetical order as they were held to a 1 - 1 draw by Werder Bremen. Maicon gave the Italians the lead with a quarter of an hour played only for Pizarro to level the match with a second half equaliser.
GROUP C
Barcelona maintained their 100% start to the competition with a late win in the Ukraine. Shaktar Donetsk took the lead through Ilsinho on the the stroke of half-time before Argentenean wonderkid, Lionel Messi, scored twice in the last three minutes. Controvesy followed the win with Barca accused of lacking sporting grace by not kicking the ball into touch with a Shaktar player injured in the build-up to the equaliser. That the ruling was abandoned by FIFA a couple of seasons ago has done little to help ease the Ukrainians pain.Sporting Lisbon recovered from their mauling in the Camp Nou to ease past whipping boys Basle in Portugal. Romagnoli and Derlei the scorers in a 2 - 0 victory.
GROUP D
In the Vicente Calderon, the headlines were garnered by crowd trouble for which Atletico de Madrid were hastily punished by UEFA. A two-match home ban was subsequently suspended until a full appeal hearing could be heard on October 30th. It did not stop the Spaniards enjoying a 2 - 1 win over Olympique Marseille, Kun Aguero opened the scoring on four minutes only for Niang to level twelve minutes later. The winner came with barely a quarter of the match played, Raul Garcia the days hero. Liverpool followed their win in Marseille with a comfortable 3 - 1 victory over PSV Eindhoven at Anfield. Hold the front, back and centre pages! Crack the champagne, break out the bunting, have a sausage roll in celebration for Robbie Keane scored!!! Dirk Kuyt started the party mood, air guitaring through Agadoo after his fifth minute opener and L’ilStevie Gerrard finished it all off. The Dutch consolation coming from Koevermans.
GROUP E
Bruce Rioch locked horns with an English club once more and found his AaB Aalborg side on the wrong side of a double from Dimitar Berbatov and a Wayne Rooney goal as Manchester United cruised to a 3 - 0 victory in Denmark. Celtic’s abysmal away record in Europe continues, a Marcos Senna goal sending them to defeat at Villarreal. The last time that The Bhoys won in Europe, Gladstone was still Prime Minister of Britain or at least that is the way it feels to Gordon Strachan.
GROUP F
Bayern Munchen‘s indifferent start to the season continued with a 1 - 1 draw at home to Olympique Lyonnais. Juninho gave the visitors the lead midway through the first half before his compatriot, Ze Roberto, levelled proceedings seven minutes into the second half. Steaua Bucharest could not hit the backside of a cow with a banjo nor the back of the net in a goalless draw in Florence. Nor could cFiorentina so that made a mockery of all the claims that the Champions League is the pinnacle of club football.
GROUP G
Having surrendered their unbeaten home record at the weekend to Hull City, Arsenal might have expected a sterner test from FC Porto. Whilst the Portuguese giants may not be fallen, they are certainly slumbering. Having spurned a golden chance minutes before Robin van Persie opened the scoring just past the half hour, Porto crumbled when faced with Arsenal’s attack. Emmanuel Adebayor doubled the lead before the interval before the duo got their braces in the second half, Arsenal’s 4 - 0 victory sending them to the top of the group. Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kyiv failed to hit the target in Istanbul, leaving the Turks with a tall order to qualify.
GROUP H
BATE Borisov shocked Juventus by racing into a two-goal lead through Krivets and Stasevich before a quarter of the game had been played. Such fairytales could not last as Iaquinta scored twice before half-time to level matters. A goalless second half meant the match finished 2 - 2. Zenit St Petersburg are finding life at Europe’s top table considerably more difficult to stomach than the UEFA Cup was last season. A Hubocan own goal gave Real Madrid the lead after six minutes, Danny equalising twenty minutes later. When Ruud van Nistelrooy struck on thirty-one, the Russians had no reply as Real ran out 2 - 1 winners in Russia.
Champions League Matchday 1
ROAD TO ROME – CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHDAY 1
GROUP A
All roads lead to Rome so the old saying goes but for AS Roma the pressure of being the club whose ground will host the 2009 final proved too much to bear in their encounter with CFR Cluj-Napoca of Romania. Christian Panucci gave the Italians the lead on seventeen minutes before their world turned upside down, the Romanians reversing the deficit to win 2 - 1. Culio scored once in thirty-two appearances in 2007-08; in Rome, he doubled that tally in twenty-two minutes, the first on twenty-seven, and the second two minutes into the second half.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea ended the French resistance of Girodins Bordeaux, steamrolling through their defences at will. Frank Lampard opened the scoring after fourteen minutes, Joe Cole doubling that lead on half-an-hour. The comfortable 4 – 0 victory was sealed in the last eight minutes with goals from Malouda and Anelka.
GROUP B
Goals were in short supply in this group as Werder Bremen failed to break the stubborn defences of Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta, the match ended goalless. Jose Mourinho took his Internazionale side to Greece to play Panathinaikos. No requirement to beware the Greeks bearing gifts as the Italian champions ran out comfortable 2 – 0 winners, Mancini and Adriano the scorers.
GROUP C
Barcelona may be stumbling in La Liga but they were positively purring in the Camp Nou, cruising to a 3 – 1 victory Sporting Lisbon. Marquez broke the deadlock midway through the first half, Samuel Eto’o increasing the lead on the hour, converting a penalty. Despite Tonel pulling a goal back on seventy-three, the win was in little doubt, a fact sealed with Xavi scoring three minutes from time.
Samba rhythms dominated the Swiss nightline as Shaktar Dontesk danced through their encounter with FC Basle. The boys from Brazil, Fernandinho and Jadson scored twice in the first half to give the Ukrainians a 2 – 1 win, Abraham scoring for the hosts with seconds remaining.
GROUP D
Atletico Madrid made their debut in the Champions League and had a night to remember in Eindhoven, blowing PSV aside in a 3 – 0 victory. Kun Aguero scored twice in thirty-six minutes before Maniche added the third on fifty-four, the Dutch helpless in their response.
In the south of France, Marseille might have fancied their chances against Liverpool, especially when Cana gave them a twenty-third minute lead. It was not to last as they succumbed to Steven Gerrard’s ninety-eighth and ninth goals for the Merseysiders, the equaliser a stunning shot from twenty-five yards three minutes after the French had scored. The winner coming from the penalty-spot six minutes later. Robbie Keane might not be finding the back of the in Premier League so it was entirely consistent that he did not trouble the French either.
GROUP E
Pointless playing the games really as none of Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic or AaB Aalborg could hit a barn door, let alone find the back of the net. Indeed had they not kicked off at Celtic Park, Beauchamp of Aalborg would not have been sent off in the seventy-ninth minute.
GROUP F
A tight group on paper proved to be just that in reality with Steaua Bucharest succumbing to a fourteenth minute strike by van Buyten to give Bayern Munchen the points in the Romanian capital. In Lyon, the hosts gifted Fiorentina a two goal advantage with Albert Gilardino scoring in the eleventh and forty-second minutes. The French side fought back with two goals in twelve second-half minutes through Piquionne on seventy-three and Benzema on eighty-five, which probably makes his value €80.1m.
GROUP H
BATE Borisov may have thought that they had drawn the short straw with a visit to the Bernabeu but despite leaving the Spanish capital with ‘nil points’, better teams than they have been handed heavier defeats than the 2 – 0 scoreline inflicted upon them by Real Madrid. Pin-up of La Liga, Sergio Ramos, opened the scoring on eleven minutes but one of the less beautiful people gracing the top flight of any league, Ruud van Nistelrooy, made the Madrileños wait until the fifty-seventh minute for the second.
Juventus returned from the exile caused by the, ahem, dubious business practices that engulfed the club three seasons ago to beat UEFA Cup holders, Zenit St Petersburg by a single Del Piero goal fourteen minutes from time.
PLATINI WANTS CLUB DEBT OUTLAWED
Michel Platini has set himself on course to become football’s Robin Hood, robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Days after his plan to adjust the Champions League revenue share to clubs, he is now seriously tackling the issue of the debt levels that plague the larger clubs across the continent.
Regular financial reviews from Deloitte & Touche and their ilk show that the challengers for the premier trophy in European club football are heavily in debt. The problem for Platini is how to deal with such an issue. The framework for any changes already exists with the UEFA Club Licencing process; the Frenchman wants to take it further and curb the excesses of the former G14.
The European Club Association (ECA) was formed as an umbrella organisation within UEFA’s ranks to compensate for the disbandment of the G14; Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has been appointed President, subject to confirmation at the ECA’s meeting in ten days time. An illustrious playing career was followed by a successful spell in the commercial confines of Bayern Munchen, giving the German some kudos within both circles, indicating that the thought processes of the Governing Body and the clubs are in tandem in some respects at least.
Problematically, that harmonious state is set to diverge once the details are scrutinised. Rummeneige believes that the financial stabilitly of the games top clubs is crucial to football’s long-term survival; the clubs have yet to show, en masse, the same sensibilities. Rummenigge and Platini want to curb the excesses shown in expenditure, particularly wages. The financial rewards for players have long been a root cause for the financial turmoil which exists at club level. Proposals that require this spend to be curbed, pegging the salaries to 55% of turnover has been mooted, representing an immediately large obstacle which Platini and Rummeneige will struggle to overcome.
In setting financial restrictions, the duo have to come forward with achievable solutions otherwise they risk alienating the supporters. The simplest option for the clubs to bring revenues and wages into line is to increase matchday ticket prices sharply. For some clubs, the practicalities of doing so are relatively straightforward, limited capacities at the stadia means that waiting lists for tickets become shorter as less affluent supporters drop out. However, there is a downside to this in that those supporters become lost to the game. Broadcasters have reached saturation point in some countries and the matches which have the ratings that advertisers care about are increasingly becoming more polarised toward the top clubs domestically. And what of their offspring? If parents are out of the habit of attending, the example which they set to the next generation is lost and so forth.
Collective Bargaining has long been the preferred method for Broadcast Rights but an era of stringent financial guardianship is likely to see an end to that. The bigger clubs recognise that they would be significantly better rewarded through individual negotiations but the wealth gap which already exists would only become wider under those circumstances. UEFA would need to put in place some financial support for the losers in this situation, something that they have been strongly opposed to doing in the past.
Another crucial area to be addressed is the level of borrowing in evidence at clubs. The English Premier League is regularly held as an example where the excesses of this are most evident. That might be the case now but it was not so long ago that Real Madrid were winning the Champions League, saved from insolvency by the fortuitous sale of land to the city council. The current trend is different, foreign investors funding the purchase of clubs via borrowing which is loaded onto the clubs Balance Sheet or to parent companies, the repayments for which are removed from the club via Management Fees.
An inherently risky strategy, there is nothing wrong with this methodology provided it is managed prudently. However, too many clubs are barely profitable without such charges leading to an accumulation of future financial issues, clubs excessively dependent on future revenues to survive.
Separating the issue of third party borrowing from loans by owners is a thornier issue. Roman Abramovich has funded Chelsea via such loans yet can UEFA treat them as equals to the debts incurred at Manchester United and Liverpool for example, arising from the purchase of the clubs? What of the mortgage that Arsenal have on The Emirates Stadium? Is that of equal standing to any of the three previous examples. Wherever the line is drawn, the losers will bemoan their misfortune. It will take all of Platini and Rummenigge’s political acumen to find a solution that is beneficial to the game as a whole.
Bitter Redknapp Wrong about Capello, FA
Harry Redknapp, now-controversial manager of Portsmouth FC, recently lashed out in interviews about the FA’s appointment of Fabio Capello as England manager. In the eyes of fans, Redknapp was one of the only viable English candidates—note the emphasis—in the running. However, Redknapp ruled himself out when he was arrested last month on charges of match fixing.
Redknapp’s bitter rampage, as reported by ESPN, roamed everywhere from Capello’s nationality to offense that the FA didn’t consult him on the decision. The FA did talk with a number of England’s top managers, such as Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. Redknapp considered the omission a snub and said “I’m obviously not important.†There’s no denying that Redknapp has a great deal of experience in football, but the issue is a moot point; not only has the position been filled, but his arrest rendered him an impossible candidate.
Redknapp insisted the position should be filled by an Englishman, yet there are few English managers presently fit for the job. Instead, it’s foreigners who’ve occupied the foreground. Fabio Capello and José Mourinho, who despite meetings with the FA turned down the job, have always been two names at the top of the potential manager list. And Fabio Capello’s nationality has had no negative effect on his impressive career.
As an Italian, much of his playing career was spent at high-profile Serie A teams such as Roma, Juventus, and AC Milan. With his various teams he won the league four times. He has 32 caps with the Italian national team. As a coach he led AC Milan, Roma, and Juventus through league and Championship winning seasons. He had two stints with Real Madrid, one of which included working with English national player and football superstar David Beckham, and resulted in winning Spain’s La Liga.
His achievements have occurred outside of England, but that does not make him impotent to lead English players. Redknapp expressed concerns that being a famous coach counts for nothing; tactics and player selection win matches. He may have a point, but the sort of talent presently on the English side does require some degree of coaching—or they risk running chaotically like wild stallions, each following his own plan.
The FA is confident that Fabio Capello can be manager, coach, and tactician. Fans are largely satisfied with the choice. His nationality has little to do with the decision, except that it has allowed him to fit naturally into some of the most competitive leagues in the world, and to learn stellar European football style. Redknapp may insist that Englishmen are better, good coaches don’t count, and the FA made a gross oversight in failing to consult him, but both the FA and history are on Capello’s side.
The FA have released an overview of Fabio Capello’s CV here.
