Champions League: Matchday 2 preview

September 30, 2008

Goal.com takes a look at the Champions League group stage games involving teams from the English Premier League, Spanish Primera Liga and Italian Serie A on Tuesday.

Manchester United at Aalborg

Currently third in group E, Manchester United know the table does not explain the full picture. All four teams that make up group E only picked up one point in their opening game with nothing separating them as both fixtures remained goal-less. Villarreal and Celtic do battle in the other tie and the victor, should one emerge, could end up being United’s main rival for the top spot.

Cristiano Ronaldo is returning to full fitness and will be eager to retain his individual UEFA awards (Forward of the Year, Footballer of the Year), and the Champions League is the only arena he will be able to do that in. The Portuguese wing wizard has already opened his goal account for the season as he converted a spot kick in the Old Trafford side’s last EPL game and therefore shouldn’t be shy around goal on Tuesday evening.

One man who has thus far failed to find the net while sporting Manchester red is $60 million signing Dimitar Berbatov, but Sir Alex Ferguson has said that goals will eventually flow for the silky Bulgarian as his teammates become accustomed to his play. Berbatov has yet to play in Europe’s premier competition for an English side and will be keen to justify his heavy price tag against a side he has already scored against while at Tottenham in the UEFA Cup.

Two players who didn’t make the trip are Owen Hargreaves, who is still struggling with a knee injury, and Gary Neville. A recall for Wes Brown is in the cards.

Aalborg are propping up most of the Danish Superligaen and are currently managed by Bruce Rioch – a head coach who is yet to be on the losing side when facing Sir Alex. The former Arsenal, Bolton, and Wigan boss took over AaB in June.

– Alan Dawson

FC Porto at Arsenal

The Gunners contend in the other Tuesday game against a side that boasts a South American contingent that complements the existing Portuguese flair. Despite losing key players like Jose Bosingwa to Chelsea and Ricardo Quaresma to Inter Milan, Porto still boast players that can stifle the Gunners attack, such as newbie Freddy Guarin – should he start – and Lucho Gonzalez, who returns after his league rest.

After his side’s shock home defeat to Hull, Arsene Wenger will be stressing the importance of “bouncebackability” to his fledgling stars, especially as they will again be playing in front of the Emirates regulars. A win and they can leapfrog Porto to the top of Group G.

Arsenal will be boosted by the return of high-profile French signing Samir Nasri, who looked impeccable at the beginning of the season. Prior to his Arsenal career, he featured for Marseille in the center of the park, and even though Denilson has looked good going forward, his defensive play remains suspect. An option open to Wenger is to play Nasri next to Cesc Fabregas with the latter concentrating on his playmaking duties while the former can fulfill the “Pirlo” role.

The ramifications of a home loss could be severe, as Arsenal would then be five points behind Porto after only two games. So the Professor will certainly press for the win. But a few underperforming players may be dropped for the burgeoning youth. Carlos Vela could replace the ineffective Robin van Persie, one of Kolo Toure or William Gallas may make way for Johan Djourou, and Denilson could also be “rested.”

– Alan Dawson

Real Madrid at Zenit St. Petersburg

Madrid are perhaps chief among the sides, being the reigning La Liga title holders, but their wins of late have not come easy. Against BATE on Matchday 1, they scored just twice against a club a miniscule fraction of their side, raising eyebrows across Europe.

Considering that this result came hot on the heels of a hard-fought, 4-3 win over Numancia, clearly Madrid’s recent form isn’t quite all that it’s made out to be. Still, there’s no arguing with the fact that they’ve now managed five straight victories, including among them a credible 2-0 win at Racing and that famous 7-1 thumping of Sporting Gijon.

They needed Ruud van Nistelrooy to get them out of jail late on at Betis this weekend, but nonetheless they are in bullish mood heading towards Russia on Tuesday. Ruud himself may be called upon once more as the second-highest goal scorer of all time in this competition with 54; the only man to have managed more is none other than teammate Raul with 61.

Captain Raul has been open to a great deal of scrutiny of late due to some declining performances, but he was absolutely masterful against Sporting, leading some to say that he has, in fact, still got it.

Despite the happy news up front, Madrid still have some worries. First, Wesley Sneijder is still out injured; secondly, defensive wobbles have seen them keep just two clean sheets in six competitive matches this season.

– Ewan Macdonald

Celtic at Villarreal

The Yellow Submarine conjures up images of something bright, bold, whimsical and swinging. How strange it is, then, that this craft slips by almost unseen, unnoticed and undetected.

It’s more like the Hunt for Yellow October as, despite sitting top of the table, Villarreal continue to shy away from the limelight. Yes, the club from the Madrigal towers above all others in Spain at the moment, level at the summit with Valencia.

Since stumbling to a 1-1 draw on opening day, Villarreal have won every single match they’ve played, and what’s more, in all but one they’ve kept a clean sheet. That’s sure to raise spirits ahead of a visit from Celtic, a side who, while quarterfinal regulars in recent seasons, tend to struggle on their travels.

But another look at Villarreal’s recent form shows that goals are thin on the ground. In fact they’ve scored just seven in six competitive games – compare that to Madrid’s 18.

That’s largely due to injury. Guille Franco and Nihat Kahveci have each endured spells on the sidelines, as has Giuseppe Rossi, and it looks as though it’s going to be left to Llorente to lead the line against the Bhoys.

Still, at the back things are brighter. Diego Lopez in goal is in particularly good form, while the defensive four has looked stronger with each passing week.

– Ewan Macdonald

Steaua Bucharest at Fiorentina

One of the most equally balanced groups in the Champions League this year is Group F, where all four teams – Fiorentina, Lyon, Bayern Munich and Steaua Bucharest – are likely to take points off one another.

The Viola should have kicked off with three points after they led 2-0 in Lyon in Matchday 1, but they were pegged back to 2-2 after the seven-time French champions indulged in a lack of sportsmanship by scoring their first while Luciano Zauri lay on the pitch injured in his own penalty area.

Nevertheless, it was still a fine result for Cesare Prandelli’s men, and they can put themselves in a good position if they win against Steaua on Tuesday night.

The Romanians are not to be underestimated, though. They were very unlucky to lose 1-0 at home to Bayern, and they also possess a number of Euro 2008 stars such as Mirel Radoi and Dorin Goian.

Fiorentina will want to avoid a repeat of the shock Roma had at home to Romanian opposition, and they go into the game in not the best of form, having already lost twice in Serie A this season. The Tuscans, though, picked up a much-needed win on Saturday night when Alberto Gilardino scored the sole goal in the win over Genoa.

– Anthony Sormani

Juventus at BATE

Juve returned to Europe’s premier club competition following a two-year Calciopoli-imposed exile, and they are certainly fired up to do well.

The draw was not kind to the Bianconeri, who were matched up with Spanish champions Real Madrid, UEFA Cup holders Zenit St. Petersburg and minnows BATE Borisov of Belarus.

Claudio Ranieri’s men kicked off their campaign with a tense 1-0 win over an impressive Zenit side in Turin, with Alessandro Del Piero scoring a stunning 75th-minute free kick to earn all three points.

Juve have started the season well and are still unbeaten. However, they have lapsed in their last two Serie A games, drawing with both Catania and Sampdoria, meaning that they are now down to sixth in the table.

Opponents BATE have won the Belarus championship three years in a row, but they are unlikely to make much impact in this group. However, they must not be taken lightly, and they put up a spirited performance against Real Madrid on Matchday 1.

Viktor Goncharenko’s side was expected to be on the end of a cricket score in the Santiago Bernabeu, but they only conceded twice to the European superpowers, earning praise in the process.

– Anthony Sormani

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