Another Season, and the Champions League has begun
To start off, my team Real Madrid got off to a fairly good start, with a 5-2 victory over Zurich. Two Knuckle ball free-kicks from Ronaldo got them two goals. One was a fairly good dipper while the other one, the keeper made a complete mess of it. Madrid's other big signing tried time and again to make things happen but he was getting absolutely no luck. So many balls lost trying to dribble past at least one opponent but no avail. Not once did he get a decent looking run. Higuain I thought played well and it was a big disappointment to see Raul starting with him upfront. I think the strike force for this season should be Higauin and Benzema. Benzema was lively upfront in both their league games this season and I see absolutely no use of Raul. He did score but it was just being on the right place at the right time. Higuain's goal was very well taken and his run past the defender was great to watch. Guti also has performed well in both games he has played and a superb chip over the advancing keeper got him his 2nd goal in as many games. His passing in midfield was very accurate. Xabi Alonso being injured really seemed to shatter Madrid as they let in 2 goals in succession (One of them from yet another set-piece). The other one was a questionable penalty decision.
As for Ronaldo, his hefty price tag cant be questioned yet as he has done what is expected of him. 4 goals in 3 games, of which one was a sub, is not a bad return at all. If he keeps scoring goals, nothing bad can come of this transfer, and I don't believe his best is behind him as many say. Sure, Messi is the more like-able player and much better at different attributes but Ronaldo is the reigning World Player of the Year and he has done nothing to disprove this award yet.
I thought that Pellegrini should have atleast given some minutes for van Nistelrooy who is coming back from a long injury layoff. Replacing him with Raul would have given him some much needed match fitness. An Royston Drenthe continues to be the most comical player I've seen in recent years, and I still havent forgiven him for missing that golden chance against Barcelona last season in their first round league game.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg's Grafite notched up a hat-trick against CSKA Moscow. He is one to finally make  the rise to the Champions League after a fantastic last season in the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich won thanks to 2 Thomas Muller goals (one who I admit have never heard of) and their attacking force looks threatening yet again this season. Their signing of Mario Gomez and Ivica Olic along with Klose and Podolski who are already performing well for them plus the winger prowess of Robben and Ribery makes them look very deadly indeed.
Milan got a tight win over Marseille, with Pippo Inzaghi, the ultimate penalty box poacher notching in two trademark goals. The funny thing is how he celebrates after scoring with such toe-pokes and bundles. It looks like he has just dribbled past four players or scored a Screamer. But that's Inzaghi for you. It never gets old.
The ever-green Paul Scholes nodded a header to give Man Utd a winning start to their campaign. Though how much they can do in this year's competition is still open to debate. I'll refrain from making deragotary comments just yet, but I will say they will miss Cristiano Ronaldo (atleast his goals) very badly.
Inter versus Barcelona. Ultra hyped. The battle of the two best strikers. The battle to see who got the better deal from the swap. Two of European giants clashing. What a let-down. The boring-ness level of this match reached ultra until me and my mates couldn't take more than 25 minutes of this game. Barcelona just passing listlessly while Inter having everyone back. This did not even feel like a competitive game. No one seemed to care even. One time you could see some Barcelona player making a run while Inter players were walking around uninterested like a walk in the park. There was no saving grace and the match ended in a bore-draw. Rightly so. By the way, I think Mourinho has done well using Chelsea's last season game-plan and matched up to Barcelona's all conquering passing game of last season. Expect more teams who face Barcelona to follow suit and expect more bores also.
Changing the channel and watched Liverpool against Debrecen for the remainder. A toe-poked goal from Dirk Kuyt from Torres shot rebound earned them three well earned points. Gerrard tried hard to smash one in from outside the box to no avail. Although one of his shots was pure world class in execution.
Arsenal fought back after horrendous mistakes lead them to two goals down after five minutes. Eduardo's nonchalant back flick off a cleared corner and young goalkeeper Vito Mannone being beaten in his near post gave Liege the first goal. A Gallas bundle on the Liege forward gave them another from a penalty. But a really obvious offside goal from Vermaelen and a superbly finished strike from Bendtner got them abck on level terms and it ended with Eduardo recovering from his earlier mistake with a a flick from a corner. The Liege keeper was rightly furious at both goals. The first time with the offside, the second time with his inept defenders.
That about wraps it up with Lyon earning a well taken three points against Fiorentina and Sevilla, and Dinamo Kieve also earning maximum points. Chelsea got a tidy 1-0 win from a delightful Anelka shot.
Cant wait for next game week. Hope to see you all then.