This week has seen the beginning of competitions for two of the footballing world’s greatest tournament football trophies: The Champions League and The Europa League.
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The English clubs are once again holding out high hopes for a successful campaign which saw Chelsea win the competition last time round.
The Champions League kicked off with a Manchester City game against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu – a fortress of a stadium – in a bid to slay one of Europe’s footballing giants.
They failed, losing 3-2 after winning 1-0 and conceding a football goal in the 90th minute, scored of course by Ronaldo.
It was a stellar performance by the current Premier League Champions though, and the Bernabeu is a tough place to visit at the best of times, never mind as the opening fixture for an international club tournament.
Then came the Gunners, who opened their 16th successive Champions League competition with a 2-1 win against Montpellier, in a performance that was far from convincing. Arsenal are on something of a role domestically, so it is unsurprising to see them carry this through to their international matches.
Manchester United’s game against Galatasaray marked Alex Ferguson’s 100th game in charge of Manchester United in the Champions League, and they celebrated with a sketchy 1-0 win against the Turkish club, who hit the woodwork three times and were denied a clear penalty when Vidic fouled Umut Bulut.
Lastly came the current Champions Chelsea, who sacrificed a 2-0 lead to Juventus to draw 2-2. The only real positive to take forward for Chelsea is the scoring prowess of new midfielder Oscar, who scored both football goals but couldn’t save the Blues from a disappointing opening fixture.
In the Europa League there was a chance for Newcastle to get their first campaign in European football since 2008 up and running with a win. But they couldn’t manage to score against Madeiran club Maritimo, and the game ended in a goalless draw, despite Newcastle hitting the frame of the net three times. This would have been a great win for the Magpies, who may still have been reeling from getting lucky against Everton midweek.
Spurs hosted Italian side Lazio at White Hart Lane, with new signing Clint Dempsey having a goal disallowed after a marginal offside decision was given against him. There was a lucky escape for Spurs when Lazio’s striker Alvaro Gonzalez hit the bar with a thunderous volley from the edge of the box.
It was all about Liverpool though. In a week that has been tough for Merseyside, they came through with a thrilling 5-3 win against Swiss team Young Boys in Bern. With plenty of goals to feast your eyes on this was the most entertaining of all the European football fixtures.
There was a debut goal for Wisdom, who has come through Liverpool’s academy, as well as two goals for midfielder Shelvey. Throw in a comical own goal from the Young Boys and you have a recipe for a thoroughly enjoyable match.
Although I doubt Brendan Rogers will be pleased with conceding three goals.
