Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Champions League Benfica 1 - Celtic 0

I'll start this post by saying that i did not watch this game. I did have the opportunity to follow its text comentary on the UEFA site.
Benfica started with:
Quim, Maxi, Luisao, Katsouranis and Leo. In the midfield, Assis, Binya, Rui Costa and Rodriguez. Up front Bergessio and Cardozo. I had originally predicted Di Maria on the right, with a possible Assis start over Di Maria which was what Camacho went with with. Bergessio had another terrible performance and one must think that at this point he is on a very short leash as far as opportunities go. He has had the perfect opportunities, he has started games and has had more than his fair chances and opportunities to make an impression, at this point i think Camacho is very unimpressed. With Nuno Gomes declaring himself ready for Sunday's game, Bergessio will most likely disappear off the map and stop being an option, he will then have to content himself with whatever minutes are given to him off the bench. After Bergessio's exit there was a clear rise in Cardozo's performance from what i've read. Di Maria and Adu came off the bench, with the first one making the pin point assist to a classy goal by Cardozo. The Paraguayan had already hit the iron a couple times and missed another few chances, but in the end he came through in the closing minutes of the game.
In the other game of the group, Milan beat Shakhtar and at the end of the first round of games Milan find themselves where they should be, top of the group. The remaining 3 spots are out of order from what anyone could have predicted, which has much to do with Shakhtar's performance in the Champion's League so far.
So what's next?
Next round we will have the same fixtures with reversed home teams. Benfica will have a difficult task and another crucial game when they visit Celtic in 15 days time, Shakhtar will host Milan and will look to come away with some type of points, while the Italians will look to secure qualification to the next round with a win. As of right now the group remains wide open with the top 2 teams tied in points and the bottom 2 in the same situation as the head to head dictates where they stand in the standing.. here they are
Milan 6 points
Shakhtar 6 points
Benfica 3 Points
Celtic 3 points
With Shakhtar no longer being an unknown surprise to their opponents, it'll be interesting to see how Benfica and Celtic will approach their clashes with the Ukranian side as their matches will prove to be decisive in qualification aspirations, both for the champions league second round and Uefa Cup entry.

For those of you that did not see the game.. here is a clip of some of the best moments.

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