Marseille start lucky, but end with romp over Zurich

November 4, 2009

Marseille made the most of early fortune before romping to a 6-1 win over FC Zurich here on Tuesday that add hope to the French side’s dreams of qualifying from Champions League group stages.

Marseille started the match without injured Argentine international playmaker Lucho Gonzalez, prompting Didier Deschamps into a shake up that saw Hilton replace Taye Taiwo at left back and Baky Kone join Brandao and Mamadou Niang in a three-pronged attack.

That decision paid off handsomely, with Niang, Hilton and Brandao adding their names to a scoresheet that was loaded with goals in the latter stages.

However Marseille’s eventual dominance of their fourth encounter in Group C, with their final two games against Real Madrid and AC Milan still to come, was initially not all their own doing.

Marseille started with punch but when the opening goal came on three minutes the head of Zurich midfielder Silvan Aegerter turned the ball past Johnny Leoni in the visitors’ net.

Marseille continued to dominate the early stages and, again, another free kick from the left led to their second goal.

This time a more cohesive Zurich defence held their line firmly as Niang, Brandao and Kone all pushed towards goal.

But all three players appeared blatantly off-side when Fabrice Abriel’s free kick rose then dipped dangerously close to the Zurich net before beating the Zurich ‘keeper.

Marseille had two chances to pull further ahead, the first when Bruno Cheyrou’s angled shot, after some nice play by Abriel then Niang, was shot straight at Leoni.

On 25 minutes Brandao, unmarked barely 10 yards from the goal, then fired a first-time effort over the crossbar after Niang had provided the pass after pouncing on a poor clearance by the Zurich defence.

When Zurich reduced the deficit six minutes later it came without any external assistance.

Frenchman Alexandre Alphonse picked up a pass just outside the area, turned and held off defenders Stephane Mbia and Gabriel Heinze to beat Steve Mandanda with a great left-foot drive.

His goal had Deschamps up out of his seat, and gave the visitors a much needed zest that, for the remainder of the first half, had Marseille at sixes and sevens and edged them closer to scoring the equaliser.

Despite brief flashes of attacking play from Zurich, the second half seemed to be all about Marseille showing their first half advantage was no fluke.

A Heinze drive that flew just over the far top corner signalled their intentions early on, and soon the hosts were 3-1 up after Kone returned Niang’s pass and watched the Marseille striker pounce to beat Leoni from close range on 52 minutes.

Zurich had a convincing claim for a penalty waved away in the 65th minute, and their misfortune was compounded in the 80th minute when Hilton drove home their fourth goal after a loose ball fell to his feet inside the area.

Seven minutes later Cheyrou carried the ball from the right flank before unleashing a superb drive that had Leoni flapping at thin air and left the ball in the net.

At the death Brandao took their tally to six after latching on to a solid cross-goal Niang pass to beat Leoni from a yard out.

MARSEILLE, France (AFP)

Tags: AC, Alexandre Alphonse, Argentine, bruno cheyrou, champions league group, didier deschamps, external assistance, Fabrice Abriel, fc zurich, french side, gabriel heinze, Gonzalez, group stages, Johnny Leoni, latter stages, MADRID, mamadou niang, Marseille, mbia, Milan, playmaker, pronged attack, real madrid, scoresheet, silvan, stephane mbia, Steve Mandanda, Taiwo, ZURICH

Ronaldo, Kaka eye new golden Real Euro era

September 15, 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, who cost Real Madrid over 150 million euros, aim to lead the Spanish giants to a 10th European title this season, with their campaign starting in the humble surroundings of FC Zurich on Tuesday.

Ronaldo, the world’s most expensive player, insists the historic winning mentality at the club will be key to driving them to a place in the Champions League final which will be staged at their Santiago Bernabeu home in May next year.

“This is a club used to winning, a lot of the players here are winners, but now it’s about a new team and a new squad,” said Ronaldo, keen to dismiss comparisons with the Galactico era.

“That’s why we have to create the right mentality for us to win the league, the Champions League and the cups. This is a club obsessed with winning and now the players here have to think the same way.”

Real’s last Champions League triumph came in 2002 and with bitter rivals Barcelona taking the title last season, the club’s ambition has been sharpened further.

Last season Real Madrid were beaten 5-0 on aggregate by Liverpool in the first knockout round. It was the fifth successive season they had lost out in the last 16.

“The ambition is to win the Champions League,” said Kaka.

“On top of that, you have the possibility of us being at home (in the final) and it would be fantastic to play the final at the Bernabeu.”

Real and FC Zurich have met once before in the competition but that was 45 years ago with the Spaniards winning 8-1 over two legs in the semi-final before losing to Inter Milan 3-1 in the final.

Defender Raul Albiol is a doubt for Real having twisted his ankle against Espanyol at the weekend while Pepe could make his first appearance this season.

The Portuguese centre-back is suspended for two more games in the Spanish league – as part of a 10-match ban imposed last season for violent conduct – but is eligible to play in Europe.

Zurich reached this stage with a play-off defeat of FK Ventspils with Johan Vonlanthen, Silvan Aegerter and Dusan Djuric securing a 3-0 win in Latvia before second-leg strikes from Vonlanthen and Almen Abdi completed a 5-1 aggregate victory.

ZURICH (AFP)