Weekend Watch Recap: Goals Galore in Switzerland!

Howdy, neighbor. Welcome to your regularly scheduled recap of Friday’s Weekend Watch.

Saturday

Milan v Juventus: As has become their standard MO at home, Milan didn’t score. Happily for them, though, neither did Juve. It was not, however, the cagey, dire match a scoreless draw might suggest to the calcio haters among us — both teams had loads of chances, and both Gigi Buffon and Dida (who forgot, for a few hours, that he mostly sucks these days) made fantastic saves to preserve their shutouts. Despite the lack of goals, the match was definitely a step in the right direction for the home side.

Espanyol v Barcelona: A 1-1 draw that saw Barca drop further behind Real Madrid, who were busy beating Racing Santander this weekend. As has become standard in the last few Barca matches, they went ahead, only to have the opposition draw level the moment Ronaldinho came on the pitch. Nice. The papers in Barcelona must be having a field day with this one.

Benfica v Porto: Porto took it 1-0, thanks to a first-half goal by Ricardo Quaresma. Dammit. The result means last year’s champions not only lengthen their lead at the top the table, but also ended Benfica’s year-long streak in the Liga without a loss. Poor Rui Costa.

Neuchâtel Xamax v Grasshopper: Neuchâtel Xamax thrashed Grasshopper 4-1, thanks to braces by Matar Coly and Raphaël Nuzzolo. But boy did I pick the wrong Swiss league match to feature — while this tame, 4-1 match was going on, Hakan Yakin scored four for Young Boys, who beat bottom side FC Sankt Gallen 7-2. Ouch.

Sunday

Fiorentina v Inter: A 2-0 away win for Inter, who were fantastic, especially in the second half. Despite not scoring, King of the World Zlatan Ibrahimovic was Man of the Match, assisting on both goals and bruising the hell out of Sebastian Frey’s magic hands in the Viola goal. And, also, there was this.

Veria v Ergotelis: A 1-1 draw, with both goals scored inside the first 20 minutes. Yes, they’re still the bottom two in Greece.

América v Nacional: A huge, 2-1 home win for América who, despite spending most of last season rebuilding, are now second in the Colombian Copa Mustang, four points behind Nacional.

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