Champions League Matchday Two (Wednesday) LiveBlogaganza

By: Daryl | October 1st, 2008

Another eight Champions League games today, and I’m going to try and cover them all here in one big LiveBlog. Personally, I think today’s games look a bit more interesting than yesterday’s. Inter vs Bremen promises excitement and we’ll see if Cluj’s win at Roma was just a fluke when they host Chelsea in Romania.

All comments appreciated, especially comments letting me know about updates and goals I may have missed.

Wow. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, especially the comments letting everyone know about the goals. We’ll do this again for Matchday 3. Here are today’s final scores:

CFR Cluj 0-0 Chelsea
Bordeaux 1-3 Roma
Anorthosis 3-1 Panathanaikos
Inter 1-1 Bremen
Sporting 2-0 Basel
Shakhtar 1-2 Barcelona
Liverpool 3-1 PSV
Atletico 2-1 Marseille

FULL-TIME Atletico 2-1 Marseille (all those goals in the first 30 mins)

FULL-TIME and now the whistle. Barca get the win. That little man is unstoppable.

90+4 Unbelievable! Messi has done it: Shakhtar 1-2 Barcelona

FULL-TIME Sporting 2-0 Basel (do your own “Swiss rolled” jokes)

FULL-TIME Anorthosis 3-1 Panathanaikos

FULL-TIME Bordeaux 1-3 Roma (great comeback from Roma for a much needed win)

FULL-TIME Inter 1-1 Bremen (good point for WB)

FULL-TIME Liverpool 3-1 PSV (as expected)

FULL-TIME - Chelsea 0-0 Cluj

90+ Sinatra-Light-Difficult (as some people call him) with a chance, but pulls his shot wide. Chelsea heading for 0-0. Cluj deserve a point.

90′ We’re into added time in most games now.

Derlei has made it Sporting 2-0 Basel

87′ Barca have equalized. Guess who? Shakhtar 1-1 Barca. The Messiah delivers.

86′ Cluj left Perreira just got on the end of a one-two and forced Cech to make a close range near post save. From what I’ve seen, that win over Roma was no fluke. Cluj have held their own today.

83′ Baptista has another, it’s now Bordeaux 1-3 Roma

- Barca have brought Eto’o off for young Bojan. Still chasing an equalizer in Ukraine.

78′ And Anorthosis have another. It’s Anorthosis 3-1 Panathanaikos thanks to Taher’s goal.

78′ Koevermans has pulled one back for PSV. It’s now Liverpool 3-1 PSV, which I believe was SwissJan’s prediction.

78′ Anelka had the ball in the net for Chelsea, but ruled out for a high foot.

76′ Liverpool 3-0 PSV Gerrard has his 100th Liverpool goal, with a torpedo of a free kick.

74′ Now Di Santo comes on for Chelsea, all 6′4″ of him. Malouda makes way.

70′ The Roma Offside LiveBlog says “GOOAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL BEAAAAAAAAAAAAST” which can only mean Baptista has scored and it’s Bordeaux 1-2 Roma. Free kick apparently.

- Barca still down 1-0 against Shakhtar. Just found out that Messi came on for Henry in the 60th.

66′ Walking wounded Roma are level with a Vucinic header, so now it’s Bordeaux 1-1 Roma. That game is being LiveBlogged here.

62′ Inter 1-1 Bremen - Pizarro with the equalizer for Werder

58′ Belletti replaces Drogba for Chelsea. Thought we might have seen Franco Di Santo there, but not to be. Hope Drogba’s injury isn’t as bad as it looks. He’s had a rough couple of years.

55′ Sporting 1-0 Basel Leo Romagnoli (former “next Maradona”) with the goal.

55′ And now Drogba’s down after a De Souza slide tackle. He’s on a stretcher and looking in a bad way.

53′ Bad news for Marseille. Ben Arfa is injured. He’s spent the last few minutes in blanket and has now subbed out for Bolo Zenden.

- Just checked and Barca didn’t bring Messi on at halftime.

- I’m thinking that game in Romania is exactly where Chelsea need a player like Deco.

45′ Second halves underway (most of them). Chelsea have brought Anelka on to partner Drogba, Kalou the man who makes way.

Here’s Maicon’s goal for Inter, nice little chip:

And here’s Yoann Gourcuff’s goal for Bordeaux vs Roma:

El Kun’s goal for Atletico not too shabby either:

HALF TIME
Scores:

Cluj 0-0 Chelsea
Bordeaux 1-0 Roma
Anorthosis 2-1 Panathanaikos
Inter 1-0 Bremen
Sporting 0-0 Basel
Shakhtar 1-0 Barca
Liverpool 2-0 PSV
Atletico 2-1 Marseille

45+ Shakhtar 1-0 Barcelona - Ilsinho gives Shkahtar the lead. This is what happens when you play with no left back people.

40′ Five mins until H/T and it’s still Shakhtar 0-0 Barca, Cluj 0-0 Chelsea and Sporting 0-0 Basel

36′ Bordeaux’s Henrique has been sent off for throwing a punch/elbow at Roma’s Perotta. Still 1-0 to Bordeaux though.

33′ Liverpool 2-0 PSV Robbie Keane finally has his first goal for Liverpool, sweetly sidefooting a Torres cross into the far corner. He does his rubbish forward roll to celebrate too.

28′ Anorthosis 2-1 Panathanaikos Salpingidis with a spot kick. Game on in Cyprus.

22′ Atletico retake the lead through Raul Garcia - Atletico 2-1 Marseille

18′ Bordeaux 1-0 Roma - Yoann Gourcuff (the new Zidane?) with a big goal for Bordeaux.

16′ Atletico 1-1 Marseille - Marseille have equalized through Niang.

- Plenty of goals in the first quarter of an hour.

15′ And now it’s Anorthosis 2-0 Panathanaikos - Dobrasinovic with the second. Great news for Anorthosis. Not so great news for my predictions, which now lie in ruins.

Inter 1-0 Bremen Maicon with the goal

Anorthosis 1-0 Panathanaikos - Jose Sarriegi gives the Cypriots the lead. Even though he plays for Panathanaikos.

13′ Cluj and Chelsea goalless so far, but it’s been all Chelsea. 58% possession for the Blues in Romania.

- I’m notoriously rubbish with predictions, but an encouraging start today. And only 80 more minutes to go…

4′ Atletico 1-0 Marseille Another one. El Kun Aguero has scored for Atletico.

4′ We have our first goal already. Liverpool 1-0 PSV - Torres shot was saved, Dirk Kuyt buried the rebound. Good news for my fantasy team too, incidentally.

0′ It’s go time.

Word is that PSV’s Afellay sid “no thanks” to a painkilling injection on his injured toe. I say good choice.

Champions League anthem: “The Chaaaampioooons…” etc

Can see Anfield on TV, where they’re playing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. I’m Liverpool-neutral, but European nights at Anfield definitely look like something special.

(ESPN2 apparently disagree, as they’ve cut to commercials)

10 minutes to go…

30 minutes until kickoff, some lineup news:

Marseille look bold, going two up front with the pace of Niang and Valbeuna. Ben Arfa will play down the left. Atletico have partnered Maradona’s almost son-in-law Sergio Aguero with Sinima-Pongele in a similarly attacking line-up. Make sure to keep an eye on that game.

No surprises in the Liverpool lineup. Robbie Keane will play with Torres, and continue the hunt for his first Liverpool goal. He’s now two behind Dimitar Berbatov. Anfield reject Jan Kromkamp starts at right back for PSV.

Leo Messi will begin the Shakhtar vs Barcelona game sitting down. And not sure if Barca have submitted a correct team sheet to UEFA, but looks like they’re playing without a left back:

Jose Mourinho is sending Inter out with a three man strike force. Adriano, Balotelli and Ibrahimovic are the trident, though obviously the lanky Swede will drop a little deeper. Diego starts for Werder Bremen, obviously. Always good to see him in action.

Bordeaux are going five in midfield with just Chamakh up top. Cavenaghi starts on the bench. If you’re a Roma fan looking for a Bordeux vs Roma LiveBlog, you’re in the wrong place. Go visit Chris at Roma Offside.

Chelsea are starting with Wayne Bridge at left back. Remember him? Drogba plays up front, with Malouda and Kalou out wide.

60 minutes until kickoff. Anyone brave enough to make predictions?

90 minutes until kickoff. Here’s a nice easy picture puzzle. The images represent a player involved in one of today’s games. Who is it?

Two hours until kickoff(s). How about some random team news? Both Bordeaux and Roma are looking to bounce back from matchday 1 defeats when they face each other in France, but both will be without their injured captains.

Unfortunately for Bordeaux, Ulrich Ramé wears the goalie gloves as well as the armband. He’ll be replaced by Mathieu Valverde, who suffers from chronic backup keeper syndrome. This debilitating illness means Valverde has made just nine senior appearances over five seasons. The good news for Valverde is that Roma will be missing Francesco Totti.

Chelsea are without injured trio Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Deco (Joe Cole hasn’t travelled either, see comments) but have plenty players ready to step in. CFR Cluj won’t have the same element of surprise they enjoyed against Roma, but they will have the home crowd.

Today’s games:

Anorthosis vs Panathanaikos
Preview: Greece Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 1-2

Atletico Madrid vs Marseille
Preview: Atletico Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 3-0

Bordeaux vs Roma
Preview: Roma Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 0-1

CFR Cluj vs Chelsea
Preview: Romania Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 1-3

Internazionale vs Werder Bremen
Preview: Inter Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 3-2

Liverpool vs PSV
Previews: Liverpool Offside - PSV Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 2-0

Shakhtar vs Barcelona
Previews: Ukraine Offside - Barcelona Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 1-2

Sporting vs Basel
Preview: Sporting Offside
Streams: Here
Prediction: 3-0

Bet on today’s games here.

Full Champions League schedule here.