Champions League Group Game 1 PMR

[Johnboy]

Missing

None

Errors

che - 1 minor typo

[Ian]

Aston Villa 2-1 Atletico Madrid

Aston Villa kicked off their Champions League campaign with a home tie against Spanish opposition in Atletico Madrid. In a game that saw the away side create a much larger percent of goal scoring chances it was Villa who netted first through their midfield anchor man Wilfred Niddi. The Spaniards though hit back immediately as they had looked very menacing themselves in front of goal. With all to play for it was perhaps against the run of play when Aston Villa found a winning goal 20 minutes before the end through their new signing central defender Eder Militao with the Atletico manager left looking bewildered after watching his team perform really well on the day.

[Si@Burnley]

Juventus 3 - 0 Burnley

This is a disasterous result and a the most disappointing performance this season. Juventus have a very solid starting 11, but they lack squad depth. We wanted to try something new and decided to play D during the first half resting our top striker. Then we switched to more aggressive tactics, put more numbers into our attack and hoped to gain advantage over their tired players and weak subs. But it didn´t work at all this team and we got a lesson. Guedes and Dembele were completeny useless and the only real threat was our no. 4 striker. We will definately need to try some other magic next time.

[Marshy@Atletico]

Aston Villa 2 Atletico Madrid 1

Bewildering was an accurate choice of words for Atletico as they saw the CL hopes dented despite dominating Villa. Two 3-rater players managed to score the goals to add misery to the score line.

marsh commented “2 seasons ago we were a long way off the standard of the sides in this competition and so just being there was enough. Last season again we were a fair way off the pace and needed a goalkeeping injury to keep us with a chance of progressing from the group stages. This time around we set ourselves a target of getting to the next round and today game is a positive that perhaps we are not a million miles away from being able to do just that. We have 5 more games to turn things around.

[Ed@PSG]

PSG 1 Spurs 1
No surprises here. We can win 6 on the spin v RM, and 4 on the spin v Roma, but we simply dont tend to win CL games. Thats 2 wins in the last 23 CL games.
Happy Birthday Eduardo

[Derek]

Man City 0 0 Roma

Two power houses not known for their defensive play went head to head with both sets of fans expecting a hatful of goals. In a sign of reverence towards the visitors though Lovell decided to play all his defensive players behind a unusual neutral tactic.

Such an approach limited the chances for both sides and despite City bringing on Grealish and moving Rovella forward as the game progressed, a dull draw disappointed both fans.

gg Nick.

[Steve@Chelsea]

Real Madrid 4 - 1 Everton

"Another prem scalp which is always pleasing - but we had to make sure we started off our Champions League campaign positvely this time, as previous seasons have seen us lose the first game and have to be on the backfoot right off the bat forcing us to come from behind to qualify in the groups. That being said, we went on the attack, because that's what we do. We scored first through Diaz, before Everton got one back and I was thinking this might be one of those games. But then Diaz jumped into his RX-7, switched on the afterburners, engaged the NOS and added another 2 goals to complete his hat trick to show why he is the best striker in the world right now. Sterling added a late 4th to complete a good win for Real Madrid, particualrly as PSG failed to win at home.

Funny game though, as we tallied a total of ZERO tackles throughout the game. Our 19 rated defenders decided to switch off in this game and it was a matter of our keeper + attackers vs Everton with the defensive unit a non factor. I'll have the lads in for extra tackling practice first thing in the morning!"

[Andy@Berlin]

Chelsea 0 - 1 Inter Milan

Totally dominant performance by Chelsea ,but couldnt find a way through against a well organised Milan defence. A bit disappointing really considering the stats, home and tactical advantage, especially after the start to the season weve had, but never mind we move on. Pleasing we bossed the game, but we really need to find our scoring boots on a more consistent basis. Dont know who sheeted but well played.

[Hamza@Roma]

Chelsea 0 - 1 Inter Milan

"A step up? No problemo"

Having two days only to prepare for a mammoth tie against one of the top dogs in the FFO-verse and with pressure mounted on the interim gaffer's back after being labelled "6th choice" for the vacant role by one of his biggest fans, not much was expected from Inter however we tried a different tactic which really isn't favoured at this point in time but we still managed to nick a win, and what a win it was, the Romans are the next target in the UCL where a win would put us in the driving seat for potential qualification, is this the start of a fairytale or will we crash and burn? Time will tell, our focus is firmly on the next game vs Lyon where we hope to beat Lyon.

GG Andy.

[Nick@ManCity]

Man City 0-0 Roma

A pretty boring game for the neutral with Roma being that scared of the Premiership side, that they had to abandon the 'Roma Way'. The started without any forwards on the pitch and just defended with 10 behind the ball. City themselves started cautiously, but Lovell was seen on the side lines giving out plenty of instructions to his side, as they tried to create openings against a poor unadventurous Roma.

Lovells post match press interview "Not a bad start to this seasons Champions League, we probably gave Roma to much respect at the start though. With all the bluster that we have to endure from the EFL lot and Hughes banging on about the Roma Way, we set up to combat it. Might as well not of bothered as the turned up like a bunch of pussies. All 10 players sat behind the ball hoping to grab a goal on the counter attack, yawn!. We reverted to plan A after 31 mins and played our normal passing game. In the second half we brought on Jack for an unneeded defender but we couldn't find that killer touch in the final third. I thought this Hughes chap was meant to be a top draw manager? He just sat like a robot for the whole game, I guess we should be flattered that they were to scared to try and win the game. I'd be pretty embarrassed if i'd sent out a team with 5 midfielders in it and they didn't have as much possession as a team of 2 middies. Anyway i'm happy with the clean sheet and look forward to our next group game against bogey side Chelsea."

GG Derek

[Steve@ManUtd]

MANCHESTER UNITED 2-1 Barcelona

This is a great start to a tough competition and starting off against the side leading the EFL table is pleasing. We have struggled to keep goals out this season, and admittedly that was or priority, with us hoping the front lads cut make the difference, and that's what happened with goals from Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka. Once Barca scored we had to retain our composure and see the tie out which we did.

As I said, pleased with the result, but still a long way to go in the competition.

Reporter "Ruben Semedo had a quiet game for Barcelona, but did you expect him to play? Thoughts on his performance?"

"I'd forgotten he was on the pitch to be honest, he had a really quiet game. It's disappointing given he wanted to play every minute, and we thought this game, you know against his parent club, he'd but up for it and show he has a future here, but on performances like that he may not."

[AB@Juventus]

Juventus 3 - 0 Burnley

Our first game in the Champions League was one to remember for sure. We wanted to shy away from the typical C approach and opted for P, and we were very surprised to see that Burnley came to park the bus (I now see this was a tactical move, which I admire)

This meant that the scores were level going into the break with very little action to speak about, however moving into the second period when Burnley finally came at us, we swiftly took the lead through Y_Adli (Scoring his 3rd in 2 games) followed by a second from C_DeKetelaere just 8 minutes later.

Both teams went on the attack soon after and it was A_Isak who stuck to wrap up all 3 points with less than 15 minutes to play.

Statistically we were much the better team and the 3-0 scoreline shows it. It's a very good start to the group and we'll look to continue that in the upcoming rounds.

Good game Simon.

[Livi@Liverpool]

Man Utd 2 Barcelona 1

This was as even an encounter as you could possibly see but Man Utd were that little bit more clinical and that's what made the difference today. I felt we played pretty well but obviously just not quite well enough. But there's a long way to go in the competition so there's no need to panic just yet and we won't.

Thoughts on the Man Utd boss criticising his on loan player Semedo?...

It doesn't really interest me to be honest, maybe he was just trying to be funny? There's a lot of managers that suddenly develop a swagger after a win. In terms of selecting the player the arrangement was that we'd give him full minutes and that's what we did and will continue to do.

Anyway our focus has already shifted to el Clasico on Thursday. Madrid look to be playing with a real attacking verve so we're going to need to be at our very best in what will no doubt be a bit of a cauldron in the Bernabeu.

[Eduardo]

Parisiens 1 - 1 Spurs

We set up to be difficult to break down but the home side did ever so well and in reality we didnt deserve a result. That said, throwing away two points in the dying minutes of the game is a little annoying. Youssef En-Nesyri got our goal and it takes his tally to five goals in five games. A great start to his career at Spurs.

[JB@Norwich]

Bayern 4-3 Arsenal
"Incredible game, really thrilling. Darren is a good lad but the picture he sent me the day of the game summed up his back lines perfromance. Shit. We did well going forward but again we let too many goals in but its a work in progress. We look forward to the next game"

GG Darren