UEFA Champions League: ManU, Real Madrid Win; Bayern Munich vs. Juventus Ends in Draw

Each of the final seven games of Matchday Two have reached full time and the Group standings are beginning to take shape. There was some late drama in a few of the games and some sloppy play in a few others. In what was the premier match up of the day, Bayern Munich and Juventus played to a 0-0 draw. Munich controlled much of the match, but only managed two shots on target (too match Juventus) and could not get a goal past the keeper. A win would have put Munich in the Group A driver’s seat, but their draw coupled with a Bordeaux victory over Maccabi Haifa, leaves Munich and Bordeaux tied at the top.

In Group B action, after CSKA Moscow’s win over Besiktas earlier in the day, Manchester United took control of the group with a 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg. United now have six points while Wolfsburg and Moscow both have three.

Not wanting to be left out of the late-match scoring that is taking place today in Champions League play, FC Porto and Bordeaux have both claimed late advantages.

FC Porto first scored in the 75th minute against Atlético Madrid when Radamel Falcao put the Dragons on the board with a shot from close range that found the bottom right corner of the net. Just seven minutes later, they extended their lead to 2-0 when Rolando netted a goal, a shot to the right corner following a corner. Hulk assisted on the opening tally. You won’t like FC Porto when they’re angry…

Wolfsburg struck first in the second half, but ManU has answered. After tying the game in the 59th minute, United has added a second goal to take the lead. Michael Carrick scored in the 78th minute to give United the 2-1 lead late in the game.

In a span of just seven minutes, Real Madrid erased a scoreless tie and took a 3-0 lead over Marseille with a trio of goals. First, in the 58th minute, Pepe played a through ball into the box for Cristiano Ronaldo who finished with a left-footed shot into the center of the net. Minutes later, Marseille’s Souleymane Diawara was whistled for a bad foul in the penalty area. Kaká took advantage of the mistake, putting the PK into bottom left corner. Real’s onslaught continued when, in the 64th minute, Ronaldo struck again, this time with a near point-blank goal.

Real Madrid gaining three points in the Group C standings seems all but inevitable at this point.

The Blues’ Nicolas Anelka drilled a ball from the right half of the box into the upper left corner in the 18th minute to give Chelsea an early 1-0 lead over Apoel Nicosia as it looks to gain another three points and extend the advantage in Group D of the Champions League. As the match nears halftime, Chelsea is controlling the pace of play, recording nine shots to Apoel Nicosia’s two.

The final seven games of Matchday Two are underway right now and thus far there has been one early goal. FC Zurich has taken a 1-0 lead over AC Milan in Milan with a 10th minute goal from Hannu Tihinen. Milan has controlled possession, but has not been able to get a shot on goal thus far.

Besiktas was finally able to solve the CSKA Moscow defense in the 92nd minute with a goal from Ekrem Dag, but it came too late to continue the rally as Moscow held on for a 2-1 victory. After Moscow dominated the first 15 minutes, Besiktas had actually made things interesting throughout much of the match, actually winning the ball possession battle. However, Moscow’s goal in the 61st minute gave them a lead they would not relinquish and they were able to snag the full three points in Group B play.

All matches from the first part of Matchday Two are complete and Arsenal and Barcelona both posted resounding wins, while Liverpool stumbled in Group Stage action. Arsenal held their 2-0 lead over Olympiacos and takes a very solid lead in the Group H Standings. Barcelona was also able to hold their 2-0 lead over Dynamo which makes things very crowded in the Group F Standings.

Liverpool did not fare as well as they were unable to overcome two first half goals only nine minutes apart and Fiorentina was able to take home the 2-0 win. Liverpool face a very tough Premier League battle this weekend with Chelsea and tight race in the Group E Standings going into Matchday Three. Their next Champions League match is against their group leader Lyon, who have a three point lead over Liverpool after a dominating 4-0 win over Debrecen.

Arsenal has finally gotten on the board after dominating Olympiacos for most of the match. The Gunners took the lead on a goal from Robin van Persie in the 78th minute and added to their lead with an 86th minute goal from Andrei Arshavin. They look comfortably in control as the match nears full time.

Barcelona also looks comfortable late after adding a 76th minute goal from Pedro Rodriguez. They now lead Dynamo 2-0 late in the match. All matches are nearing completion.

It would be an understatement to say that Sevilla has controlled the second half of their match with Rangers. After an earlier tally from Konko, Sevilla has added three more goals in ten minutes to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Sevilla has gotten goals from Adriano (64th minute), Luis Fabiano (72nd minute) and Frédéric Kanouté (74th minute) and looks comfortably in the lead in both this match and the Group G standings.

Olympiacos and Arsenal are playing in the only match of the afternoon that does not have a goal as we near the 70th minute in all games. This certainly is for lack of trying by the Gunners. Arsenal has a 16-3 lead in shots, and 8-2 lead in shots on target and significant lead in ball possession. It will be very interesting to see if Olympiacos can hold off the Gunners as they seek to take a commanding lead in Group H.

All of the games currently going on are in the second half and four of them have seen early second half goals. Lyon continues to pound Debrecen as they have added a Bafétimbi Gomis goal in the 51st minute to make it 4-0.

Sevilla has taken a 1-0 lead over Rangers behind a 50th minute tally by Abdoulay Konko. Unirea Urziceni has pulled even with Stuttgart 1-1 after an equalizer from Serban Dacian Varga.

Lionel Messi has given Barcelona a 1-0 lead over Dynamo Kiev with a 26th minute goal. This match will determine the Group F leader heading to Matchday Three and should be very exciting the rest of the way.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina has jumped to a 2-0 lead over Liverpool behind two goals (28th and 37th minutes) from Stevan Jovetic and Lyon continues to roll over Debrecen as they now hold a 3-0 lead after a goal from Sidney Govou in the 24th minute.

The rest of the day’s games are currently underway and both Stuttgart and Lyon have jumped to early leads in their matches. Stuttgart leads 1-0 over Unirea Urziceni after a fifth minute tally from Serdar Tasci. Lyon leads their match with Debrecen 2-0 after a third minute goal by Kim Kallstrom and a goal from Miralem Pjanic in the 13th. The rest of the games remain scoreless at this point.

After losing Mario Balotelli in the 60th minute to his second yellow card of the afternoon, Inter Milan had to withstand a furious flurry of six shots in six minutes from Rubin Kazan to hang on for the 1-1 tie. One shot went off the post and Julio Cesar had to make two saves to ensure Inter would walk away with a point. This is Inter’s second draw of the Group Stage after playing to a 0-0 draw earlier this month with Barcelona. Rubin has to be pleased with the effort and the point after losing to Dynamo Kiev in Matchday One.

Barcelona and Dynamo are just about to begin play against one another as Matchday Two continues. A win by Dynamo would put them firmly in the lead in the powerful Group F, while a win by Barcelona would put significant pressure on Inter heading into the rest of the Group Stage.

In the 60th minute, Mario Balotelli was shown his 2nd yellow card of the match, earning him a red card, and was dismissed. Inter is now playing a man down. To make matters worse, two more players (Walter Samuel and Maicon) have yellow cards and will be dismissed if they are shown one more. Inter had done a good job controlling the match until the Balotelli’s dismissal so it will be interesting to see if they can continue to control.

Dejean Stankovic has found the back of the net for Inter Milan in the 27th minute to tie the game at one. Inter has picked up their play over the past ten minutes or so and is now being very aggressive as they look to take control of the match.

Alejandro Dominguez has given Rubin Kazan the early 1-0 lead over Inter in the 11th minute. Dominguez fired a shot into the top of the net after a nice run.

Though it is early, Rubin has dictated the match thus far, controlling the ball and out-shooting Inter five to three.