Manchester United and Bayern Munich opened the defence of their respective league titles with draws, prompting worried looks among supporters.
Normally it would be silly to judge a side on the first match of the season, but in United’s case there was clearly something missing in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle…a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
United fans will be relieved that he is only absent through injury and not because of a departure to Real Madrid.
However, the lack of a cutting edge in the final third and Chelsea’s impressive 4-0 drubbing of Portsmouth has heralded renewed calls for United to up their efforts to sign Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov.
Bayern were equally unconvincing in a 2-2 home draw with Hamburg in Juergen Klinsmann’s first league match in charge. Supporters are already counting the days until injured duo Luca Toni and Franck Ribery are back fit.
Real Madrid, who start their title defence at the end of the month, lost the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup 3-2 at Valencia.
Is the world order about to change? Let’s leave it a few more games to decide.
