Pick-me-ups needed for Barça and Bayern
Monday, February 23, 2009
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There were weekend defeats for three teams back in UEFA Champions League action this week, with FC Barcelona's 22-match unbeaten Liga run ending and FC Bayern München losing their third domestic game in four.
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There were weekend reverses for three of the 16 teams returning to European action in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round this week with RCD Espanyol ending FC Barcelona's 22-match unbeaten Liga run and FC Bayern München losing their third match since the resumption of the Bundesliga.
Atlético angst
Barcelona's fellow Spanish representatives, Club Atlético de Madrid, also lost, 1-0 at Sevilla FC, while Manchester United FC's defence was finally breached after a record 14 successive Premier League clean sheets. United still won, though, as did Chelsea FC, under the stewardship of Guus Hiddink for the first time, while in Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal warmed up for the visit of Bayern by defeating their city rivals SL Benfica. All three Italian teams also won as they prepared for meetings with English opposition.
| Club Atlético de Madrid v FC Porto |
| Sevilla FC 1-0 Club Atlético de Madrid (Jesús Navas 87) Abel Resino: "Nobody can accuse Atlético of not going for it tonight. We're on the right road but there are things we need to correct. It was a game between two strong teams who know each other well and the result could have gone either way. Sergio Agüero had a difficult week and he wasn't quite ready to play the entire game. Having said that, when he did come on after 71 minutes he gave us something extra." |
| FC Paços de Ferreira 0-2 FC Porto (Hulk 15, Bruno Alves 64 pen) Jesualdo Ferreira: "It was a good match and an important win for us as this is the beginning of a hard phase for my team. We can now approach the upcoming big matches with confidence, like the one we will have at home against Sporting in the next round of the Liga." |
| Olympique Lyonnais v FC Barcelona |
| AS Nancy-Lorraine 0-2 Olympique Lyonnais (Cris 19, Benzema 90) Claude Puel: "Before a European game it was important to win and to give playing time to a certain number of players. If we did struggle in the second half, then it was because those players have been out of the side for a while. It explains why each team dominated one half apiece. In the first half we should have scored more and put the result beyond doubt." |
| FC Barcelona 1-2 RCD Espanyol (Yaya Touré 63; De la Peña 50 55) Josep Guardiola: "Nobody said this was going to be easy. We've lost a game but I don't want to start talking about the lead we have at the top of the Liga table. It was a demanding match and we need our players to recover from it. I feel bad that we couldn't give the people who came here to support us a victory to celebrate. The game lacked rhythm as there was foul after foul but in spite of that we did well in the final third." |
| Arsenal FC v AS Roma |
| Arsenal FC 0-0 Sunderland AFC Arsène Wenger: "The team gave everything and want to do well; the attitude is very, very good in the final third. At the moment we aren't as efficient as we could be for different reasons, sometimes because our game is not vertical enough and sometimes we aren't relaxed enough in our finishing. Our passing sometimes isn't incisive enough." |
| AS Roma 1-0 AC Siena (Taddei 63) Luciano Spalletti: "We did not let Siena have many chances while their goalkeeper saved them on several occasions. We played well in the second half, showing a great desire to win. We are travelling to London knowing that we are facing tough opponents but I'm sure my players will give everything, just as they did today." |
| FC Internazionale Milano v Manchester United FC |
| Bologna FC 1-2 FC Internazionale Milano (Britos 79; Cambiasso 56, Balotelli 79) José Mourinho: "We still need 30 points to win the league and that's a lot. We prepared for Bologna without thinking about Manchester United at all. I like these kinds of victories. Bologna are well organised in defence and always score so we knew it would be difficult for us but I'm really satisfied with the approach of my players." |
| Manchester United FC 2-1 Blackburn Rovers FC (Rooney 23, Ronaldo 60; Santa Cruz 32) Sir Alex Ferguson: "We probably no more than just [deserved the win]. Sometimes when you don't play your very best you get a result like that and that's what wins you the title, we hope. It's a great lesson today, it shows you what this league is like. It's a difficult league and we have to dismiss all the talk about us winning it. This is a reminder for us that we need to fight for our lives in every game." |
| Real Madrid CF v Liverpool FC |
| Real Madrid CF 6-1 Real Betis Balompié (Higuaín 7, Huntelaar 15 24, Raúl 36 42, Ramos 45; Oliveira 30) Juande Ramos: "We've reduced the gap by three more points but there's still some distance there. This group of players has grown. There is a lot of quality here and we have to benefit from that by putting it to use as a team. There are a lot of games to go and many more points to play for. Madrid went through a dip during the first part of the season but that happens to every team, and because of that we must always be ready to take advantage." |
| Liverpool FC 1-1 Manchester City FC (Kuyt 78; Arbeloa 51 og) Rafael Benítez: "Clearly [winning the title is] more difficult now. We have to win against Middlesbrough and Sunderland and then we have to start thinking about winning at Old Trafford [on 14 March]. I have confidence we can beat Middlesbrough and Sunderland and then it might be a different situation. It's not easy because United can win games even without playing well, but there are still 12 games. You cannot say everything is finished. If we want to reduce the gap we have to win our next games and then beat United." |
| Chelsea FC v Juventus |
| Aston Villa FC 0-1 Chelsea FC (Anelka 19) Guus Hiddink: "It's a very good start in new circumstances and a new situation. What pleased me most was the first half; we played very good football, had good possession and were dangerous. The only thing we didn't do was score a second to kill the game." |
| US Città di Palermo 0-2 Juventus (Sissoko 27, Trezeguet 79) Claudio Ranieri: "The first half was exceptional with both teams playing at a very high tempo. In the second half we could have killed the game earlier but I'm very satisfied anyway with the performance of my players because Palermo are a good side. Sissoko is a very important player for us because he wins many balls in midfield but today he also scored a great goal." |
| Villarreal CF v Panathinaikos FC |
| Villarreal CF 2-1 Real Sporting de Gijón (Rossi 2, Capdevila 36; Bilić 1) Manuel Pellegrini: "It was very important to get the equaliser so soon after their goal because if that hadn't been the case then doubts might have crept in. It's not easy killing off a game against a team that sits back. This forces you to be very focused in order to avoid being caught on the counterattack and we did just that because in the second half they barely threatened us." |
| Panathinaikos FC 2-1 Panionios GSS (Salpingidis 66, Petropoulos 72; Estoyanoff 90) Henk ten Cate: "It was important for us to perform well ahead of an encounter as important as the one with Villarreal. The only negative was that I wanted to rest Karagounis and Goumas, but the way the match developed didn't allow me that luxury. In the second half we spread our lines and Panionios had room to launch counterattacks. That won't happen against Villarreal. We will be more compact and won't concede space on Wednesday." |
| Sporting Clube de Portugal v FC Bayern München |
| Sporting Clube de Portugal 3-2 SL Benfica (Liedson 11 83, Derlei 47; Reyes 37pen, Cardozo 90) Paulo Bento: "Our win is more than deserved. We were better throughout the whole game but especially so in the second half. We could, and should, have finished the game sooner but we missed several chances. We started very well but Benfica took advantage of our only mistake to equalise. The last two games have put my team under a lot of pressure but we have responded very well." |
| FC Bayern München 1-21. FC Köln (Van Buyten 84; Ehret 22, Brosinski 34) Jürgen Klinsmann: "We are of course disappointed about the defeat. We played badly and were on the receiving end of a bad result. We are frustrated but next week we will play in the Champions League against Sporting and we have to stick together and show team spirit as well as a good performance. A lot of things went wrong today." |