Arsenal Mounts Comeback; Inter-Barcelona Tie in Day 2 of Champions League Action

Inter Milan and Barcelona played to a 0-0 tie in Milan on Wednesday despite the fact that Barcelona had 62% time of possession and fired off fourteen shots (only three of which were on goal). They’ll have another crack at each other before the group stage is over, but getting one of the top twospots in a stacked Group F will not be easy. Also in Group F, Kiev finished off FK Rubin Kazan 3-1 behind the strength of three 2nd half goals. With the win, Kiev takes early control of the group.

Arsenal gave up two early goals, but stormed back to take out Standard Liege 3-2 in Liege. There will be a lot of talk about their 2nd goal, but Liege has no excuse for blowing that lead. Liege had only three shots on goal (two of which were goals in the first five minutes) and allowed nine by Arsenal as Arsenal controlled the ball for 71% time of possession. They’ll certainly have difficulty paying Arsenal back when the teams meet in London later.

Pavel Pogrebnyak has given VfB Stuttgart a 1-0 lead with his 18th minute goal and Stuttgart has seriously dominated the play thus far in Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion. They have outshot Rangers F.C. 10-1 in first half action and have 57% time of possession. I’d say that is controlling the match in the early going.

Arsenal got some good news this week when they successfully appealed the suspension of their striker Eduardo. They are not faring as well in Liege against Standard this afternoon (or evening in Belgium I suppose).

Without keeper Manuel Almunia and forward Robin van Persie, Arsenal has landed in an early 2-0 hole courtesy of a blast from just outside the penalty area by Eliaquim Mangala and a penalty shot just three minutes later by Milan Jovanovic. More on the match as it unfolds.

Soccer By Ives has a quick preview of all eight of today’s Matchday One contests. Here’s their take on the biggest match of Wednesday — Inter Milan vs. FC Barcelona — which kicks off at 2:45PM ET on FoxSportsNet (full TV schedule here):

Every time you see diminutive Italian striker Fillipo Inzaghi, you’re — in this case, “you’re” is a stand-in for the way I always feel — left wondering with just how this little, not-apparently-all-that-athletic guy manages to score so many goals. And yet, he just … does.

Such was the case today; were it not for Inzaghi’s two strikes at home vs. Marseille, A.C. Milan would have taken an unusual and crucial first loss in their Champions League qualifying group. I’m telling you, this is Inzaghi guy. He’s everywhere. It’s crazy.

Cristiano Ronaldo wasted no time announcing his formidable presence (writing about soccer is fun, because you can imagine every sentence you write as if a British tele-pundit was saying it) at Real Madrid today; he led the Spanish club with two goals as it routed FC Zurich 5-2. This is why you pay a ton of money for Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s quite good at soccer, iddn’t he?

Manchester United and Chelsea will be expected to repeat their recent Champions League successes in 2009-10 -- both teams have qualified for finals in recent years, including 2008’s match, which pitted the two in a classic shoutout finale -- and both will have to do so without key players (Cristiano Ronaldo transferred from United to Real Madrid while Chelsea’s Didier Drogba is currently serving a suspension) from those runs. But after their first day, both teams notched 1-0 wins, and both teams are in good shape. Are you beginning to notice a theme here?

As for United, a match with obscure club Besitkas was settled in the 77th minute by a Paul Scholes header. For Chelsea, it was Nicolas Anelka’s goal in the 48th minute that sealed the win.