Barca Are Over-Reliant On Messi, Karim Benzema Is Mr. Champions League Junior - What We Learned From Match-Day 1 Of The Champions League…

By Umid Dey.

Malaga are doing just fine without Cazorla….

When Santi Cazorla joined Malaga from Villarreal last summer, the Yellow Submarines got hit hard. So hard that they failed to win a single game in the group stages of last season’s Champions League.

This summer, same was expected with Malaga when their talisman was sold to Arsenal. All of those expectations, however, don’t look like will get fulfilled as Malaga have made a terrific start – both in La Liga and the Champions League.

With the sale of Santi Cazorla, the task to perform well and fill in his boots fell on the young shoulders of Isco – and the 20 year-old has, so far, done an excellent job for his team.

Malaga's New Messiah

The youngster put in a stunning performance by scoring twice in Malaga’s 3-0 win over Zenit on Tuesday – a Zenit team which had the likes of Hulk, Bruno Alves, Shirokov, Lombaerts et al in it.

Albeit it’s too early in the season, if the way Malaga have played so far this season is anything to go by, then we might as well say that Malaga are doing just fine without Santi Cazorla.

Barca are over-reliant on Messi….

When Arsenal were being mocked as an one-man-team last season, there was this another team in Catalonia who could have been labeled the same: Barcelona.

The Catalan Club, at times last season, had to solely rely on Messi to win them games – and he indeed won them some games single-handedly, but that wasn’t enough to secure the Champions League or La Liga title.

The same happened last night as well – the Argentine talisman had to score twice in the last ten minutes to win Barca the game after them being 2-1 down at Camp Nou against Unai Emery’s Spartak Moscow.

Barca's One Man: Messi

Whether Messi can save Barca like this every time is yet to be seen, but the chances of that aren’t 100% as Messi is, after all, a Human and can have bad games – and Barca will need to find a solution when that happens, or else they might lose it again like last season.

Juventus are Italy’s only hope in the Champions League….

Ah, the Old Lady is back to where it belongs: the Champions League.

After 3 years of absence in Europe’s elite competition, Juve finally kicked off their Champions League campaign against defending champions, Chelsea. Things weren’t looking bright for Juve when Oscar scored twice to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead.

Then a saviour appeared in Arturo Vidal.

Juve's Saviour

The Chilean scored a brilliant goal just before half-time to give Juve a chance to get back into the game. Vidal looked like he was playing through an injury barrier – such dedicated players are needed in a team if they are to challenge for silverware.

And then Quagliarella scored in the 80^th minute to tie the scores at 2-2.

It was a great comeback from Juve, especially considering that they were up against a very strong Chelsea side and were playing in the Champions League after a long time. They also showcased their great mental strength – they went unbeaten last season and have not lost a game, so far, this season as well.

Things, however, don’t look bright for the other Italian Club in the Champions League, Milan. They drew against Anderlecht 0-0 at San Siro and it was uninspiring.

Frustrated Pazzini

Milanisti might argue that Juve also drew, so Milan drawing isn’t a big deal. However, Juve drew against a strong Chelsea team at Stamford Bridge and also put in a great performance. Milan, on the other hand, drew in their own backyard against Anderlecht and the manner in which they played wasn’t inspiring.

Milan lost 2 of their best players in Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic to PSG – Juve, in contrast, have strengthened by signing great players like Asamoah and Isla. Showing no disrespect to Milan, Juve look like the only Italian team capable of going far in the Champions League.

Milan fans will be hoping that Milan pull off a miracle like Chelsea did last season …. but it looks unlikely.

Champions League is Karim Benzema’s competition….

Didn’t score for Club or Country since May 2012. Had a torrid Euro 2012 with France. Had a woeful start with Real Madrid this season.  Yes, that’s Karim Benzema.

Prior to the City game, Karim Benzema was going through a drought – he hadn’t scored a goal for more than 800+ minutes.

Real Madrid were trailing 2-1, with just 5 minutes to go, after Kolarov gave City the lead once again by scoring from a free-kick. Every City fan were convinced that their team would come out of the Bernabeu with all 3 points.

But it wasn’t to be because Benzema had something else in mind.

Benzema received the ball on the edge of the box, turned Nastasic – who was having a storming game – in the wrong direction with his first touch and shot the ball straight into the right bottom-corner. Hart couldn’t save this one and Benzema had finally broken his goal drought.

'I own the Champions League!'

And what better an occasion to end the drought?

Benzema has scored 26 goals in 43 Champions League appearances. It was his performances in the Champions League for Lyon that drew a lot of attention. When it comes to Champions League, it is almost guaranteed that Benzema will deliver an awe-inspiring performance.

Real Madrid lost Mr. Champions League, Raul, in 2010 – but they have found another one in Benzema; Mr. Champions League Junior.

How not to take penalties….

Bayern Munich, Schalke, Dortmund & Manchester United – what is common between these four teams? All of them were awarded with a penalty each and all of their takers failed to score from it.

There was once a time when penalties made heroes out of the takers – they would almost always score from them. Lately, it is the goalkeepers who are getting the better of the penalty-takers and making them look like fools instead of heroes.

This is how you take a penalty....not

If you ever want to learn on how to not take penalties, then you should watch the way Nani, Hummels, Mandzukic & Huntelaar took their spot-kicks this midweek.

Varane, Nastasic, Isco & Veratti are the stars of the future….

When City’s and Real’s starting XI came out, everyone was surprised – two talented 19 year-old center backs were in it; one for Real and the other for City.

Almost everyone expected Ramos to start for Real and Lescott for City. Instead, a 19 year old Varane filled in the boots of Ramos & another 19 year old Nastasic took Lescott’s place.

And both of them had a tremendous game.

You may ask how did Real concede 2 and City concede 3 if they both had great games. Here’s why: Kompany had a terrible game; arguably his worst game ever since becoming an undisputed starter at City (was heavily at fault for Cristiano’s winning goal) and all of Real Madrid’s goals were scored from outside the box – blatantly revealing the inability of City’s deep-midfielder to close down the space.

The Future Of City's Defense

Apart from Benzema’s goal, where the Frenchmen schooled Nastasic, the teenager had a brilliant game and showed the World why he is one of the most hyped defenders out there.

And Varane; none of the goals Real conceded were his fault – one came directly from a set-piece and the other from a counter-attack goal where he had to close down Yaya Toure (Pepe should have tracked Dzeko). He was astute with his defending and brilliantly organised the defense when City were building an attack. His composure is way beyond his years.

The Future Of Real Madrid's Defense

Now onto Veratti.

A lot is expected of him, a lot of Italians see him as the next Pirlo; but I can assure you that he won’t be the next Pirlo – he will be the new Veratti.

Against Kiev, he showed that his incredible performance against Toulouse was no one-match wonder. Against Toulouse, he did everything you could ask from a midfielder: defend, set the tempo by spraying passes & play some amazing long-balls.

The Marco Verratti

And he did the same against Kiev.

It is absolutely astonishing how a 20 year old has so many skills; he can read the game so well that he is always in the right defensive position at the right time, he can pass it, has good ball-control, has great vision and is really brave.

I have already written about Isco earlier in this article, so I will keep it till there for him. If these 4 keep progressing the way they are now, then that day isn’t far when these 4 would be in the list of Ballon d’Or candidates.

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C for Champions, D for Death – A quick look at CL Group D

By Fahim Alam.

Following Chelsea’s shock triumph over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, where Chelsea’s dogged performance helped to hold out a 1-1 score line before the penalties, with Peter Cech’s heroics and Robben’s penalty miss finally presenting Roman Abrahimovich with his long cherished ‘holy grail’ – the Champions League Trophy.

This year, the Champions League is back and it never fails to bring out the excitement among the ardent football fans. Following the draw, the highlight of which was ‘Group D’ – which inherited the ‘Group of Death’ title, where the Champions of England, Germany, Spain and Holland will face off each-other, looks to be the most exciting group of the draw.

Ajax

The Dutch powerhouse have had a disappointing summer, losing some of their most influential players in their former captain Vertonghen, midfield enforcer Vurnon Anita, wing-back Van Der Wiel and veteran midfielder Theo Janssen among others. 

They have also reinforced with a number of players, the pick of which would be Dutch winger Ryan Babel and seasoned Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen. Therefore the weight of this Ajax team will be on the young shoulders of free-scoring striker, and current Ajax captain, Siem de Jong and midfield maestro Christian Eriksen. 

New signing Niklas Moisander will face the daunting task of defending against the likes of Aguero, Ronaldo, Lewandowski. However, the star of Ajax is their excellent team of talented coaches under the tutelage of their charismatic manager Frank de Boer, upon whom falls the duty to devise a plan to unlock the resilient defense of Real, City and Dortmund. 

With the loss of important players, and addition of untested and inexperienced players, they are not expected to progress further than the group stage by many. However, Champions League is always full of surprises, so never say never.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR:  Siem De Jong

Manchester City

Following their dramatic last-game title win, thanks to an astounding injury time goal from Aguero, Manchester City enters the Champions League this season in a bullish mood. Backed by the limitless wealth of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed, the Blues participated in their maiden Champions League voyage last season, only to hit the iceberg early on in the group stage. 

Real Madrid, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund bring 14 European Cups between them, with City being the newbies in this group. However, they have a very good shot at progressing from this group this time around. Having an expensively assembled squad with the likes of Yaya Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Balotelli, Tevez among others, under the leadership of uncompromising captain Kompany, Mancini certainly has a squad capable of competing with the European elites.

Unsurprisingly, they have splashed cash again to reinforce their midfield, which seemed to lack the presence of a deep-lying playmaker last season - and they still lack one -  with Yaya Toure playing as an all-action box-to-box midfielder & Barry doing the dirty work in front of the defense. With De Jong leaving the club, Rodwell was signed in a £12m deal from Everton; while García was signed for £15.8m from Benfica,

Despite that, the team may face still a difficult midfield battle and it remains to be seen how their defense deals with the likes of Ronaldo, Reus and de Jong. Nevertheless, this new squad will face their sternest European challenge competing against the former European Champions, but with a team that has been playing together for more than a year, they certainly have a chance of progressing further than the group stage this season.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR: Aguero

Borussia Dortmund

The high-flying young Germans won the Bundesliga title last season, overcoming the challenge of the German giants Bayern Munich, with a young, talented and exciting team, playing some eye-catching attacking football. 

A former winner of the Champions league title during the 1996-97, the young team showed great promise and has blossomed under their young coach Jürgen Klopp. 

Despite not splashing out big in the transfer market, unlike the Bavarians, Dortmund are known for plucking out rough diamonds out of wilderness and shaping then into some of the finest. 

One of their finest and most influential players of last season, Shinji Kagawa has moved on to ply his trade with Manchester United. But this time Dortmund has reinforced with the signing of exciting German youngster Marco Reus for a reported 17.5 million euros along with forward Julian Schieber, and 0midfielders Oliver Kirch and Leonardo Bittencourt have been added to their ranks. 

Moreover, they have resisted interests from all over Europe for their star striker Lewandowski. In German internationals Mario Goetze and Mat Hummels, Dortmund boasts some of the finest German talents. However, as exciting and talented the team may look, experience has always been vital in Champions League and they will be highly tested against the champions of some of the biggest leagues in Europe.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR:  MARIO GOETZE

Real Madrid

32^nd La Liga title, 100 points, 121 goals – Real Madrid had a record breaking season last season, finally winning the La Liga title after a wait of four years, and in quite a spectacular fashion. 

However, Champions League has still been their own weakness and once again they have fallen victim to the heroics of Bayern Munich shot-stopper Manuel Neuer in the Champions League final. 

This year, they are back, chasing the elusive La Decima. After a summer long drama, they finally got their man and signed Luka Modric from Tottenham and, in the final minutes of transfer season, also secured a loan deal for Michael Essien from Chelsea. 

There have also been outgoings from Real, with squad players Altintop, Lass and fan-favorite Granero all exiting the Bernabeu. However, they have had a stuttering start to the campaign with a draw and a defeat in their first two matches. 

In order to win the Champions League, they must get back to their best and hope the attacking trident of Ronaldo, Benzema and Higuain are all fit and firing, flanked by assist machines Ozil and Di Maria. 

Real Madrid have always been dominant in their group stages, progressing as group champions in most seasons. This time around, they will have a bigger challenge and they will need to stay focused and consistent, and hope that luck is on their side too. Can Real Madrid finally banish their Champions League hoodoo and finally win the La Decima?

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR:  Luka Modric.

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