UEFA Champions League - Gameweek # 3 - Wednesday - Review

Both the Manchester teams were successful in their Champions League adventures on Wednesday night and they displayed some attacking verve. Record Nine time winners Real Madrid virtually assured their qualification to the next stage with a win over fellow European giants Juventus. Here is a review of all of Wednesday night’s action

CSKA MOSCOW 1—- 2 MANCHESTER CITY

Everyone was talking so much about the pitch before the match that you would have been right in wondering whether it was going to be a cricket match. Manchester City
manager Manuel Pellegrini had a moan about the state of the artificial pitch and his CSKA counterpart tended to agree. However, the football finally did get underway and we were treated to a good match from two teams fighting for that crucial second spot behind defending Champions Bayern Munich in the group.

Sergio Aguero contunued his terrific run of form of late when he opened the scoring early with a well taken goal. However, Pellegrini had been forced to field Javi Garcia at centre half in the absence of Captain Vincent Kompany. It showed as Garcia was repeatedly run at by CSKA. They got their equaliser through former Manchester United man , Zoran Tosic as he capitalised from close range (and it was another shaky moment for Joe Hart). However, Manchester City immediately snatched the lead back within two minutes as Sergio Aguero scored his and Manchester City’s second of the night. And from then on , CSKA chased the game bravely and even had a goal through Honda only to be disallowed. And in stoppage time CSKA thought they had snatched a point only for Joe Hart to redeem himself with an amazing save.

Man Of The Match - Sergio Aguero. The little Argentine has been shooting sharp lately and added to his weekend goal with a brace in Moscow. Crucial matches such as these call for tough characters and Aguero answered his manager’s call

MANCHESTER UNITED 1—- 0 REAL SOCIEDAD

The sigh of relief at Old Trafford as the final whistle was almost as loud as all the noise from Sir Alex Ferguson’s new book release. Questions were raised of the former manager’s timing to launch a book that could potentially disrupt Moyes’ job at Old Trafford - mainly concerning Wayne Rooney . However Manchester United’s talisman showed no signs of discontent as he put in a clinical display. United fans can’t sing Rooney’s name anymore because events suggest he is headed for the Old Trafford exit door in the summer however they must be loving the new , almost robotic, Wayne Rooney . Moyes gave in to popular demand by playing Shinji Kagawa, albeit on the left. Youngster Adnan Januzaj will have to wait to make his Champions League debut . Ryan Giggs also replaced the struggling Marouane Fellaini.

After United’s second minute lead - an own goal - there looked only one winner all along. The interplay between Giggs-Kagawa-Rooney-Valencia was brilliant as United knocked on the door for a decisive second. However as time went on, familiar pangs gripped Old Trafford - the ghosts of Doenetsk and last weekend’s Southampton game. This time though, United saw their lead through to the finish line . There was even a bright late cameo from the much maligned Ashley Young. Shinji Kagawa sparkled and actually has a chance of featuring in successive games for the first time under Moyes.

Man Of The Match - Ryan Giggs. Will the Welshman ever stop playing at the top level? He was neat and tidy in possession, he dribbled at people and controlled the game . In the later stages, Giggs’ experience and calmness saw United through.

REAL MADRID 2—- 1 JUVENTUS

In an entertaining match up between two giants, Cristiano Ronaldo, as he has so often been in the past, was the difference. Two more goals for the Portuguese goal machine and a red card for Georgio Chiellini saw Real Madrid climb to nine points - one foot on the knock out stages. The signs for ominous for Juventus when Di Maria’s angled pass found Ronaldo and he put Real ahead as early as the fourth minute. But the Italian Champions settled and brought out their armoury of quick tempo passing - Pogba , Vidal and Pirlo passed it around behind Tevez and Llorente. And it was the Spaniard who netted on his return to Spain . Llorente’s equaliser capped off a fifteen minute spell of Juve domination. But then the official behind the goal line finally chose his moment to come alive. Social media has been filled with jokes and questions - ‘What does the official behind the line actually do?!’ - They were answered here as he spotted a wrestling down of Ramos by Chiellini in the area which both the referee and the linesman missed.

And Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot as Real regained their advantage. Then as the match wore on, Carlo Ancelotti’s Italian pragmatism came to the fore and Real started passing the ball around in a way that would resemble their bitter rivals from Catalonia. Juve had their chances but they were far and few in between. Juventus are in trouble in the group , however history suggests that they will recover and get through. As for Madrid, they can already start concentrating on the league (at least till February)

Man Of The Match - Cristiano Ronaldo. Who else? The Portuguese netted his seventh of this Champions League (in just the third game!) The way this is going, £ 80 Million for the winger seems an absolute steal. In a night where Ibrahimovic laid down the marker, Ronaldo also marked his territory. Portugal vs Sweden for a place in the World Cup…something special to look forward to indeed.