Champions League Matchday 1: Kick up your heels

Matchday 1 of the 2007/08 Champions League group games is in the books and already we have been treated to some excellent goals and excellent games. Some favorites cruised and others struggled, which should contribute to the intrigue as the competition progresses. Here are some random takeaways from the Matchday 1 action.

Money can’t buy happiness, but it does buy talent – Shakhtar Donetsk have an owner with deep pockets who isn’t afraid to spend money and it shows. The Ukrainian side’s collection of imports looked impressive against a Celtic side that has now dropped 13 of their past 14 away Champions League matches. Unfortunately, Shakhtar’s Cristiano Lucarelli didn’t pull off his trademark goal celebration after notching his goal.

Missing players, missing fans – If you weren’t watching carefully you might have confused Stamford Bridge with Giants Stadium on Tuesday evening. The 24,000 people who showed up to watch an injury-depleted Chelsea side play a lackluster draw against Rosenborg probably wished they had stayed home. It was the lowest home attendance in four years for the London club.

Goals, we have goals – At times last year the Champions League was full of negative, uninspired play. That wasn’t the case for the most part this week. None of the games finished in a scoreless draw despite the best efforts of some of the team’s feeble attacks.

The Curse of Bayern – The German team that probably has the best chance of winning the Champions League this year isn’t even in the competition. Bayern Munich is the prohibitive favorite in the UEFA Cup and they might have to carry the torch for the Bundesliga if the first round of the CL is any indication. All three German teams lost.

Man U the New Chelsea? – Last year it was Chelsea who seemingly won every game 1-0. This year it is Manchester United who are grinding out victories. Their win over Sporting was their fourth straight 1-0 victory. The high scorers from last season have yet to score more than one goal in a game this season.

Rome is burning – Is there a team in the world playing better football right now than AS Roma? They are undefeated in Serie A and they looked more than capable of capturing the big trophy against Dynamo Kiev.

Sherbet doesn’t make for good fashion – Marseille’s play on the pitch looked pretty good, but those uniforms are enough to cause damage to one’s retinas.

They keep going and going… – It wouldn’t be a Champions League matchday without goals by Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Filippo Inzaghi. For those tallying at home, Raul has 57 goals in the Champions League, van Nistelrooy 50, and Inzaghi 60. And oh yeah, Andriy Shevchencko recorded his 47th Champions League goal.

Right where they left off – You know who looked fucking impressive? AC Milan. The summer break didn’t hurt their Champions League form at all.

Right where they left off part two – Meanwhile, Inter Milan continue to struggle where they left off during last year’s Champions League. Hard to figure a team that has been so consistently good in Serie A being so consistently poor in the Champions League.

Matchday 1 results
Rangers 2-1 Stuttgart
Barcelona 3-0 Lyon
Roma 2-0 Dynamo Kiev
Sporting 0-1 Man. United
PSV 2-1 CSKA Moskva
Fenerbahçe 1-0 Inter Milan
Arsenal 3-0 Sevilla
Slavia 2-1 Steaua
Marseille 2-0
Porto 1-1 Liverpool
Chelsea 1-1 Rosenborg
Schalke 0-1 Valencia
Real Madrid 2-1 Bremen
Olympiacos 1-1 Lazio
Milan 2-1 Benfica
Shakhtar 2-0 Celtic

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Category: Champions League, World Football