Hello and welcome to the latest installment of my football blog. In this post, I will be covering te UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a fortnight, as Chelsea and Manchester United both play in their respective group stage matches, along with Barcelona who play against Celtic.
Group E:
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 Chelsea 1
The defending Champions League winners went to Ukraine to play against Shakhtar Donetsk, but were surprisingly beaten 2-1.
The main story before this match was that Chelsea defender John Terry would be made captain, after accepting a 4-match ban for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
Shakthar got off to the best start, with Alex Teixeira taking advantage of sloppy defending by Ashley Cole and John Terry to slot the ball cooly past goalkeeper Petr Cech into the net in the 3rd minute.
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| Early lead at home: Alex Teixeira celebrates his goal with his Shakthar team-mates. |
Shakthar continued with their attacking style with two shots by Willian which were both over the bar after some great skill.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was replaced after 18 minutes by winger Eden Hazard, after injuring his ankle while crossing the ball into the box.
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| Disapointing: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard had to be replaced in the 18th minute by Hazard |
Mkhitaryan had a shot well saved and parried over the bar by Petr Cech, who kept his side in the match at this point.
Fernandinho made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute with a low drive away from Cech after a dangerous counter attack by Adriano.
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| Thank you: Fernandinho celebrates his goal from a counter attack to give Shaktar a 2-0 lead after 53 minutes |
Fernandinho almost made it 3-0 with a stinging low drive which just went past the post.
Mkhitaryan had another shot parried over the bar by Cech from 20 yards out.
Chelsea midfielder Oscar scored a goal in the 88th minute, after defender Branislav Ivanovic used pace to drive into the box down thw wing, before passing the ball into the middle.
Defender Gary Cahill faked and the ball went through his legs, before Oscar popped up and slotted the ball into the net.
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| Consolation goal: Chelsea midfielder Oscar scores, before running with the ball as he wants an equaliser. |
Chelsea tried to press for a late equaliser, but Shaktar held on for a famous victory at home against the defending champions of Europe and Oscar's goal proved to be only a consolation for the travelling side.
FACT: Chelsea have only won once out of their last three group stage matches now, after drawing against Juventus on the opening night and losing to Shakhtar. They beat Nordsjaelland 4-0.
FC Nordsjaelland 1 Juventus 1
This match was played in Denmark at the Stadium-Parken in Copenhagen
as Nordsjaelland hosted Italian champions Juventus.
Mikkel Beckmann broke the deadlock in the 50th minute for the home side with a curling free-kick from 20 yards out which beat Buffon and hit the underside of the net.
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| Beautiful free-kick: Beckmann scores from 20 yards out past Buffon to give Nordsjealland a 1-0 lead. |
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| There we go: Beckmann is mobbed by his team-mates as he breaks the deadlock against Juventus. |
Group E Table:
1st - Shakhtar, 7 points
2nd - Chelsea, 4 points
3rd - Juventus, 3 points
4th - Nordsjaelland, 1 point
Matchday 4
Juventus vs Nordsjaelland
Chelsea vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Group F:
BATE Borisov 0 Valencia 3
Lille 0 Bayern Munich 1
Group G:
Spartak Moscow 2 Benfica 1
This early-afternoon match was played in Russia, as Spartak looked to win their first match of the group after losing to Celtic and Barcelona in recent matches.
Barcelona 2 Celtic 1
This match was played at the Camp Nou, as Barcelona hosted Scottish champions Celtic, in a highly rated mismatch between two teams at different ends of the footballing spectrum.
Barcelona winger Alexis Sanchez missed a golden chance to break the deadlock within the first 3 minutes, after a great oassing move and through ball by Andres Iniesta was hit past the goalkeeper, but just past the post.
A Celtic free-kick in the 18th minute was whipped into the box and Georgios Samaras' header deflected off Barcelona defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano before beating Victor Valdes to go into the net.
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| Shock at the Nou Camp: Celtic celebrate Samaras' goal against Barcelona in the 18th minute, to make it 1-0. |
Midfielder Andres Iniesta finished off a fabulous passing and move game with Xavi and Messi finding him in the box before he slotted the ball away from the goalkeeper into the low corner of the net to equalise for Barcelona just before half-time.
Tonight's UEFA Champions League Matches include;
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| Arsenal host tough German side Schalke at The Emirates tonight. Will they get another three points tonight? |
Arsenal vs FC Schalke 04
Ajax vs Manchester City
Malaga vs AC Milan
Dinamo Zagreb vs PSG
Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid
(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)
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