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Chelsea – Happy, in form and unstoppable under Scolari

Champions League Double Header

Match Day 3 of the Champions League sees the double header games with the same teams lining up again on Match Day 4.

These games have become synonymous with groups really starting to take shape and the outcome of this week’s matches will have a large outcome on the final placing of the group.

By the time Thursday morning comes around, the group stages of the Champions League will have reached the halfway mark so its wise to take a look at the form of teams entering this important week.

English Entrants Go Goal Crazy
With both finalists hailing from England last year and four clubs from the nation representing the Premier League, it’s a good a place to start as any and the weekend results of England’s quartet sees them in ferocious form.

A total of 15 goals were spread out amongst the four English teams and only 3 conceded, with Chelsea being the pick of the bunch.

Scoring five goals in any game is notable but to do it away from home with 8 first team regulars unavailable indicates the strength in depth available at Stamford Bridge and the quality of football that Phil Scolari has them playing.

Chelsea fans and players appear to be enjoying their football again. A top class performance will be needed to see off Roma at home although if Roma perform in the manner they did when FC Cluj defeated them, Chelsea may be able to ease them past in a much lower gear. With four points from two games, Chelsea will be looking to use home advantage to overcome their Italian rivals.

Arsenal were trailing 1-0 at halftime at home to Everton and considering the club lost at home to Hull recently the fans would have been concerned but the introduction of Theo Walcott turned the tide and Arsenal ended up 3-1 winners.

The Arsenal backline may not be as formidable as it once was but the attacking options available to Arsene Wenger sees Arsenal in with a chance of lifting silverware this season. A tricky trip to Turkey awaits Arsenal and a repeat of their away point against Dynamo Kiev would be accepted against Fenerbache.

Liverpool in Strong Form
Liverpool looked as though they would drop points at home to Wigan as they tailed 2-1 at halftime but a Wigan sending off helped change the game. A late winner from Dirk Kuyt kept the Reds title challenge burning strongly but the loss of Fernando Torres due to a hamstring injury has cast a sense of disappointment over the long awaited clash with Athletico Madrid.

Ever since the draw was made, the game was billed as El Nino’s return to his former club and although UEFA has relented and reversed the band on Athletico playing at home, injury appears to have ruled out the star striker from his anticipated return.

Manchester United were the evening kick-off on Saturday night but it took them until the second half to get into their stride where they eventually blew West Bromwich Albion away by 4 goals to nil. Wayne Rooney continued his great run of form for England and with Ronaldo and Berbatov also getting on the score sheet, things are looking ominous for their opponents on Tuesday night, Celtic.

Celtic Triumph at Cost of Injuries
Celtic prepared for the trip to Old Trafford by travelling north to take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle and a bruising encounter saw the Hoops emerge victorious by a 2-1 margin which sees them open up a 3 point gap in the SPL.

Celtic appear to be afflicted by a number of injuries throughout their team and the absence of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Giorgios Samaras will reduce even further the Glasgow giant’s chance of overcoming their terrible away form in the Champions League.

One of the more enticing ties of this week sees Juventus play host to Real Madrid but the Turin club did not get their week off to a great start as they went down 2-1 to Napoli.

Juventus actually took the lead on the hour mark but goals from Hamsik and Lavezzi increased the building pressure on coach Claudiom Ranieri. Real Madrid fared much better in their warm up for the major clash in a thrilling encounter with city rivals, and Liverpools opponents, Athletico Madrid in a match that will be recalled for the timing of the goals and controversy.

Mayhem in Madrid as Athletico and Real clash
Real got off to a perfect start when Ruud van Nistelrooy opened the scoring in the first minute and for a long period of time this looked as though it would be the only goal of the game. As a spectacle, the game really came to life after the half hour mark when Perea of Athletico and then van Nistelrooy were both sent off but a Simao strike on the 90th minute appeared to seal a point for the home side.

Incredibly, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty in the seventh minute of injury which was duly dispatched by Higuain to earn all three points for the away side and to leave Athletico cursing the outcome of the match.

Villarreal were held at Espanyol with a 0-0 score line but with a home time against Aalborg in Group E to come on Tuesday night, the Spanish club should be confident of moving onto 7 points and cementing their chance of qualifying for the knock out stages of the Champions League.

Bayern Munich Still Stuttering
Bayern Munich required a very late goal from Miroslav Klose to take all three points in their away tie to Karlshrue by a 1-0 margin but at least they enter Tuesdays clash with Fiorentina with a win and a two point lead in their Champions League group.

Victory at home should give Bayern some breathing space and see them well placed to progress to the last 16. Fellow German entrants Werder Bremen played out a captivating 3-3 draw with Borussia Dortmund in a match where 6 goals came after the 59th minute mark. Pizzaro struck in the 88th and 90th minute to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and all must have felt Werder Bremen had stolen 3 points but a Zidan equaliser in injury time left both teams deflated and sharing a point apiece.

A tough trip to Greece to face Panathinaikos may not be the game that Werder would have looked forward to calm their frayed nerves!

With a lot of the teams in the Champions League entering this round of matches in high goal scoring form and capable of producing a lot of drama, there will be a great number of excited fans eagerly looking forward to Match Day 3 of the Uefa Champions League.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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