Opening night!
Euro Big Guns Fire On Matchday 1, But Italian ‘Champions’ Inter Endure Familiar Fate With Defeat
London: European champions Barcelona led the charge of the fancied teams over the first obstacle of the Champions League course when they nearly all scored emphatic victories on Tuesday.
Barcelona thumped Levski Sofia 5-0 — a sobering start for the first Bulgarian club to reach this stage of the competition — for their
biggest Champions League win.
Bayern Munich played superbly in the second half to beat Spartak Moscow 4-0 at home, while AS Roma beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 in Rome with all their goals also coming in the second half.
Chelsea beat Werder Bremen 2-0 in London with German national skipper Michael Ballack scoring his first goal for the club as he fired home from the penalty spot against his compatriots to seal the win.
Inter Milan, though, slipped up in Lisbon, losing 1-0 to Sporting and having Patrick Vieira sent off midway through the second half. In the other games, Valencia beat Olympiakos Piraeus 4-2 in Greece in a match in which both teams led during the game.
Fernando Morientes, the former Real Madrid striker back in Spain after a short sojourn in Liverpool, scored a hat-trick for Valencia.
Two matches failed to end conclusively with PSV Eindhoven and Liverpool drawing 0-0 in the Netherlands while Galatasaray were held to a goalless draw in Istanbul by Girondins Bordeaux.
Matchday One will be completed on Wednesday with the remaining eight matches in the other four groups. Fittingly, it was European champions Barcelona who scored the first goal of this season’s competition proper following the qualifying rounds. Andres Iniesta put Barca ahead after seven minutes and they went on to dominate not only the Bulgarians but also the elements in the Nou Camp.
Despite heavy rainfall throughout the match, Barcelona played superbly with Ludovic Giuly (39), Carles Puyol (49), Samuel Eto’o (58) and Ronaldinho, who scored in stoppage time, blowing Sofia off the park.
Bayern, European champions as recently as 2001 but now also-rans in the competition because they cannot compete with the wealth of clubs elsewhere , showed Spartak Moscow a trick or two. Claudio Pizarro set them on their way with a 48th minute strike while Roque Santa Cruz (52), Bastian Schweinsteiger (71) and Hasan Salihamidzic (84) wrapped up the victory.
AS Roma gained direct access to the group stage after being promoted to second place in last season’s Serie A standings following the Italian match-fixing scandal.
They scored three goals in 12 minutes through Rodrigo Taddei, Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi before David Pizarro scored their fourth from long range a minute from time.
The night’s major upset was in Lisbon where Inter, installed as Italian champions after Juve were stripped of the title for their involvement in the scandal, lost 1-0 to Sporting. The match was won and lost in a five-minute period through the second half when Marco Caneira scored a stunning goal for Sporting and Inter midfielder Vieira was sent off on his European debut for Inter after his move from Juve. REUTERS
A Barca first
Madrid: Barcelona’s fame as the only major European team not to wear advertising on its shirts is over. Yet the European champion is delighted by the groundbreaking manner it has broken with tradition — through an agreement to publicise UNICEF.
‘‘For me it’s perfect that the team is wearing this charitable logo and I hope people will take it as an example,’’ Ronaldinho said. The five-year collaborative agreement with UNICEF was signed last Thursday. Under a deal bearing the slogan ‘‘Barcelona, more than a club, a new global hope for vulnerable children,’’ the team will annually contribute euro 1.5 million to UNICEF humanitarian projects. This year’s donation will be employed for AIDS education programmes in Swaziland.
Benitez defends Gerrard omission
Eindhoven: Rafael Benitez has defended his decision to leave club captain Steven Gerrard on the bench for Liverpool’s goalless Champions League opener with PSV Eindhoven.
Gerrard was introduced with 20 minutes of the Group ‘C’ left and almost snatched a winner with an opportunist shot on the turn that came back off the inside of the post two minutes from the end.
But Benitez insisted he had no regrets about his decision to rest the England midfielder, three days after Liverpool went down to a 3-0 defeat to Everton in their derby clash.
“Steven was on the bench as were several other senior players, Xabi Alonso, Peter Crouch, Sami Hyypia, but people only mention Gerrard,’’ Benitez said with more than a hint of irritation.
“We must accept that nobody can play at 100 percent for every match, it was a very difficult game against Everton and you can see that the players who were involved for all that game were on the bench.’’ Barcelona have no yellow cards, Bayern Munich one yellow card, Liverpool no yellow cards, Valencia one yellow card, Roma one yellow card, Chelsea four yellow cards. Do you think it is violence? No’
Jose Mourinho, CHELSEA MANAGER ON UEFA’S ‘HIDDEN AGENDA’.
Nobody has played 90 minutes in our first six official games so far. There is still a diversity of physical fitness among the squad’
Frank Rijkaard, BARCELONA MANAGER DEFENDING HIS ROTATION POLICY.
I have played against Greek sides many times and I seem to have the fortune against them that I don’t have in other countries’
Fernando Morientes, VALENCIA HATTRICK SCORER
BROTHERS IN ARMS: Samuel Eto’o, Belletti and Giuly celebrate a goal against Levski Sofia
TEAMWORK: Sporting Lisbon players celebrate Marco Caneira’s strike against Inter
PIGGYBACK: Bayern’s Salihamidzic takes a ride off Podolski after scoring against Spartak Moscow
CAN’T LOOK: Olympiakos’ veteran Brazilian Rivaldo feels the pain of loss to a rampant Valencia
TRUE CHAMPS: Ronaldinho sports Barca’s UNICEF logo
HAT-TRICK HERO: Morientes celebrates his goals against Olympiakos
PILE UP: AS Roma players celebrate Daniele De Rossi’s goal against Shakhtar Donetsk
Euro Big Guns Fire On Matchday 1, But Italian ‘Champions’ Inter Endure Familiar Fate With Defeat
London: European champions Barcelona led the charge of the fancied teams over the first obstacle of the Champions League course when they nearly all scored emphatic victories on Tuesday.
Barcelona thumped Levski Sofia 5-0 — a sobering start for the first Bulgarian club to reach this stage of the competition — for their
biggest Champions League win.
Bayern Munich played superbly in the second half to beat Spartak Moscow 4-0 at home, while AS Roma beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 in Rome with all their goals also coming in the second half.
Chelsea beat Werder Bremen 2-0 in London with German national skipper Michael Ballack scoring his first goal for the club as he fired home from the penalty spot against his compatriots to seal the win.
Inter Milan, though, slipped up in Lisbon, losing 1-0 to Sporting and having Patrick Vieira sent off midway through the second half. In the other games, Valencia beat Olympiakos Piraeus 4-2 in Greece in a match in which both teams led during the game.
Fernando Morientes, the former Real Madrid striker back in Spain after a short sojourn in Liverpool, scored a hat-trick for Valencia.
Two matches failed to end conclusively with PSV Eindhoven and Liverpool drawing 0-0 in the Netherlands while Galatasaray were held to a goalless draw in Istanbul by Girondins Bordeaux.
Matchday One will be completed on Wednesday with the remaining eight matches in the other four groups. Fittingly, it was European champions Barcelona who scored the first goal of this season’s competition proper following the qualifying rounds. Andres Iniesta put Barca ahead after seven minutes and they went on to dominate not only the Bulgarians but also the elements in the Nou Camp.
Despite heavy rainfall throughout the match, Barcelona played superbly with Ludovic Giuly (39), Carles Puyol (49), Samuel Eto’o (58) and Ronaldinho, who scored in stoppage time, blowing Sofia off the park.
Bayern, European champions as recently as 2001 but now also-rans in the competition because they cannot compete with the wealth of clubs elsewhere , showed Spartak Moscow a trick or two. Claudio Pizarro set them on their way with a 48th minute strike while Roque Santa Cruz (52), Bastian Schweinsteiger (71) and Hasan Salihamidzic (84) wrapped up the victory.
AS Roma gained direct access to the group stage after being promoted to second place in last season’s Serie A standings following the Italian match-fixing scandal.
They scored three goals in 12 minutes through Rodrigo Taddei, Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi before David Pizarro scored their fourth from long range a minute from time.
The night’s major upset was in Lisbon where Inter, installed as Italian champions after Juve were stripped of the title for their involvement in the scandal, lost 1-0 to Sporting. The match was won and lost in a five-minute period through the second half when Marco Caneira scored a stunning goal for Sporting and Inter midfielder Vieira was sent off on his European debut for Inter after his move from Juve. REUTERS
A Barca first
Madrid: Barcelona’s fame as the only major European team not to wear advertising on its shirts is over. Yet the European champion is delighted by the groundbreaking manner it has broken with tradition — through an agreement to publicise UNICEF.
‘‘For me it’s perfect that the team is wearing this charitable logo and I hope people will take it as an example,’’ Ronaldinho said. The five-year collaborative agreement with UNICEF was signed last Thursday. Under a deal bearing the slogan ‘‘Barcelona, more than a club, a new global hope for vulnerable children,’’ the team will annually contribute euro 1.5 million to UNICEF humanitarian projects. This year’s donation will be employed for AIDS education programmes in Swaziland.
Benitez defends Gerrard omission
Eindhoven: Rafael Benitez has defended his decision to leave club captain Steven Gerrard on the bench for Liverpool’s goalless Champions League opener with PSV Eindhoven.
Gerrard was introduced with 20 minutes of the Group ‘C’ left and almost snatched a winner with an opportunist shot on the turn that came back off the inside of the post two minutes from the end.
But Benitez insisted he had no regrets about his decision to rest the England midfielder, three days after Liverpool went down to a 3-0 defeat to Everton in their derby clash.
“Steven was on the bench as were several other senior players, Xabi Alonso, Peter Crouch, Sami Hyypia, but people only mention Gerrard,’’ Benitez said with more than a hint of irritation.
“We must accept that nobody can play at 100 percent for every match, it was a very difficult game against Everton and you can see that the players who were involved for all that game were on the bench.’’ Barcelona have no yellow cards, Bayern Munich one yellow card, Liverpool no yellow cards, Valencia one yellow card, Roma one yellow card, Chelsea four yellow cards. Do you think it is violence? No’
Jose Mourinho, CHELSEA MANAGER ON UEFA’S ‘HIDDEN AGENDA’.
Nobody has played 90 minutes in our first six official games so far. There is still a diversity of physical fitness among the squad’
Frank Rijkaard, BARCELONA MANAGER DEFENDING HIS ROTATION POLICY.
I have played against Greek sides many times and I seem to have the fortune against them that I don’t have in other countries’
Fernando Morientes, VALENCIA HATTRICK SCORER
BROTHERS IN ARMS: Samuel Eto’o, Belletti and Giuly celebrate a goal against Levski Sofia
TEAMWORK: Sporting Lisbon players celebrate Marco Caneira’s strike against Inter
PIGGYBACK: Bayern’s Salihamidzic takes a ride off Podolski after scoring against Spartak Moscow
CAN’T LOOK: Olympiakos’ veteran Brazilian Rivaldo feels the pain of loss to a rampant Valencia
TRUE CHAMPS: Ronaldinho sports Barca’s UNICEF logo
HAT-TRICK HERO: Morientes celebrates his goals against Olympiakos
PILE UP: AS Roma players celebrate Daniele De Rossi’s goal against Shakhtar Donetsk