Lots of sports related things today.
1. I have been very slow on my Champions league updates. Arsenal won 4-1 on aggregate against Villareal (wonderful games as well, a real joy) and now play Man U. The other semi is Barcelona- Chelsea with Barcelona especially impressive winning 5-1 on aggregate against Bayern Munich.
2. Premier League. After being waaaay behind Aston Villa in a worrying fifth position. Arsenal are now on a wonderful unbeaten run of (I think at last count) 18 unbeaten games with a 7 point advantage in a solid fourth and catching on third with all the big teams to play.
3. Tennis. Rafael Nadal has JUST (almost literally) won a record breaking fifth title at Monte Carlo meaning a very very good start to clay season. Vamos!
4. FA Cup. whoops nearly forgot. Arsenal unfortunately lost out at the semi final stage to Chelsea yesterday. Both teams played badly. I nearly wept. Everton and man U are playing the second semi final as I speak.
5. Moto GP is back back back. Hurrah my Sundays now have more structure. First race in Quatar was won by Casey Stoner (not my favourite rider.) For those interested (ie no one) my favourite riders are Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo (in that order.) Dani because he is tiny and sounds like Speedy Gonzalez, Val because I love his accent and surreal life (he once gave a post race interview focussing entirely on his dog little Guido) and Jorge Lorenzo because of his strange penchant for Chupa Chups.
Phew. And goodniiiiight sports fans!
Showing posts with label Champions League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champions League. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Friday, 13 March 2009
Ruth Sport's Desk- CL Review part two
Wednesday's matches again presented me with a viewing dilemma, namely that I couldn't watch my beloved Arsenal as their match was broadcast on Sky (boo, hiss) which I don't have. Instead I listened to the commentary on Radio Five Live Sport Extra which was frustrating and hilarious in equal measure- a particular highlight being the commentators' comparison of Julio Baptista to a random fan from the stands and their assertion that 'we're not overegging it he really is THAT bad.'
The game once again started badly with Arsenal conceding an entirely unnecessary goal due to a defensive mix-up between Kolo Toure and William Gallas. The game was exciting and tense- end to end stuff with both sets of midfielders and full backs working overtime. There was a case for a Roma penalty at the end of the first half with the referee controversially ignoring the entire Roma team's appeals and the collective howls of derision from over 60,000 angry Italians inside the Stadio Olympico when Roma full back Marco Motta was brought down by Gael Clichy.
The second half was full of missed chances with both teams coming very close to taking the tie. Into extra time the momentum was with the fresher legs of the young Arsenal team with the Roma team already struggling with residual injury issues beginning to tire. However they were unable to press this advantage leading to the most dramatic of endings- the penalty shootout!
Arsenal won the toss so first up was Eduardo. His penalty was saved by Roma's giant Brazilian keeper Doni putting every Arsenal fan into agony- I was so nervous I had to breathe into a brown paper bag. David Pizzaro scored Roma's first penalty, ramping up the tension further. Robin van Persie steadied Arsenal's nerves, cooly slotting home before Mirko Vucinic fluffed horribly sending the ball bobbling harmlessly into Manuel Almunia. The two teams matched each other with Arsenal's young team stepping up magnificently with Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Denilson, Kolo Toure and Bacary Sagna converting wonderfully. Roma held their nerve with Marco Motta, Francesco Totti, Julio Baptista, Vincenzo Montella and Alberto Aquilani on target. Abou Diaby made no mistake on Arsenal's eighth penalty but the pressure was too much for Max Tonetto who blazed his penalty over the bar. Cue wild (and adorable) celebrations from the Arsenal boys which included Robin van Persie in a vest, Nicklas Bendtner in leggings and not much else and a lot of jumping. So many, many congratulations to Arsenal's wonderful boys and to Arsene Wenger and his super cool amigo Pat Rice.
Oh and some team called Manchester United scored two goals.
Also through- Porto on away goals after a stalemate with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in some style with a 5-2 win over Lyon.
In a random sports related snippet Nicola and I almost walked into/mowed down Dwain Chambers in Waterstones in Newcastle yesterday which was weird. He's the second sports person I've inconvenienced lately after getting my big head in the way of David Moyes reading the Liverpool team on TV at the the Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough.)
The game once again started badly with Arsenal conceding an entirely unnecessary goal due to a defensive mix-up between Kolo Toure and William Gallas. The game was exciting and tense- end to end stuff with both sets of midfielders and full backs working overtime. There was a case for a Roma penalty at the end of the first half with the referee controversially ignoring the entire Roma team's appeals and the collective howls of derision from over 60,000 angry Italians inside the Stadio Olympico when Roma full back Marco Motta was brought down by Gael Clichy.
The second half was full of missed chances with both teams coming very close to taking the tie. Into extra time the momentum was with the fresher legs of the young Arsenal team with the Roma team already struggling with residual injury issues beginning to tire. However they were unable to press this advantage leading to the most dramatic of endings- the penalty shootout!
Arsenal won the toss so first up was Eduardo. His penalty was saved by Roma's giant Brazilian keeper Doni putting every Arsenal fan into agony- I was so nervous I had to breathe into a brown paper bag. David Pizzaro scored Roma's first penalty, ramping up the tension further. Robin van Persie steadied Arsenal's nerves, cooly slotting home before Mirko Vucinic fluffed horribly sending the ball bobbling harmlessly into Manuel Almunia. The two teams matched each other with Arsenal's young team stepping up magnificently with Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Denilson, Kolo Toure and Bacary Sagna converting wonderfully. Roma held their nerve with Marco Motta, Francesco Totti, Julio Baptista, Vincenzo Montella and Alberto Aquilani on target. Abou Diaby made no mistake on Arsenal's eighth penalty but the pressure was too much for Max Tonetto who blazed his penalty over the bar. Cue wild (and adorable) celebrations from the Arsenal boys which included Robin van Persie in a vest, Nicklas Bendtner in leggings and not much else and a lot of jumping. So many, many congratulations to Arsenal's wonderful boys and to Arsene Wenger and his super cool amigo Pat Rice.
Oh and some team called Manchester United scored two goals.
Also through- Porto on away goals after a stalemate with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in some style with a 5-2 win over Lyon.
In a random sports related snippet Nicola and I almost walked into/mowed down Dwain Chambers in Waterstones in Newcastle yesterday which was weird. He's the second sports person I've inconvenienced lately after getting my big head in the way of David Moyes reading the Liverpool team on TV at the the Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough.)
Ruth's Sports Desk- CL review part one.
So once again it's that time: Champion's League week! We've reached the last 16 and the second-leg ties promised plenty of excitement and they definitely didn't disappoint. First up on Tuesday Liverpool took on Real Madrid and Chelsea travelled to Turin to face the 'Old Lady' of Italian football Juve.
I tuned in with high hopes expecting to be torn between the two games and flicking channels like a woman possessed. Things began to go wrong straight. i chose Juventus first due to my long-standing (seriously 10 years, since i was 9 years old) love for Pavel Nedved and the first five minutes were great, he was everywhere like a little Czech dynamo and I happily cooed over his miraculous blonde hair- honestly it's a real life miracle, he can play football for 90+ minutes and his hair will remain perfect and in place, if he brought out a hair care range I'm convinced it would fly off the shelves. Anyway everything looked great until he was tackled by (I think) Michael Essien hitting his head in the process, he was dazed but returned to the pitch like the hero that he is. Then five minutes later Nicolas Anelka carelessly elbowed him in the ribs leaving him barely able to stand and me screaming at the TV. So 13 minutes in and Pavel is gone so I try Realas I have a lot (ahem) admiration for their squad but things went from bad to worse when they conceded a goal and a ridiculous penalty- note to referee hands do NOT grow out of your shoulders.
Things picked up slightly on my return to Juve with a Vincenzo Iaquinta goal however Chelsea managed to find an equaliser (and all important away goal.) So I decided a large gin and tonic was in order for the second half. The Liverpool game descended into depression territory with shipping 4 by the end of the 90 leaving them 5-0 dowbn on aggregate. Juve and the supreme Alessandro Del Piero proved that age and a sending off (for Giorgio Chiellini) are no barrier to a heroic fightback, scoring a penalty but going down bravely 2-2 on the night and 3-2 overall.
Also through on Tuesday- Villareal and Bayern Munich with a truly breathtaking 7 goals on the night and 12 goals over two legs.
I tuned in with high hopes expecting to be torn between the two games and flicking channels like a woman possessed. Things began to go wrong straight. i chose Juventus first due to my long-standing (seriously 10 years, since i was 9 years old) love for Pavel Nedved and the first five minutes were great, he was everywhere like a little Czech dynamo and I happily cooed over his miraculous blonde hair- honestly it's a real life miracle, he can play football for 90+ minutes and his hair will remain perfect and in place, if he brought out a hair care range I'm convinced it would fly off the shelves. Anyway everything looked great until he was tackled by (I think) Michael Essien hitting his head in the process, he was dazed but returned to the pitch like the hero that he is. Then five minutes later Nicolas Anelka carelessly elbowed him in the ribs leaving him barely able to stand and me screaming at the TV. So 13 minutes in and Pavel is gone so I try Realas I have a lot (ahem) admiration for their squad but things went from bad to worse when they conceded a goal and a ridiculous penalty- note to referee hands do NOT grow out of your shoulders.
Things picked up slightly on my return to Juve with a Vincenzo Iaquinta goal however Chelsea managed to find an equaliser (and all important away goal.) So I decided a large gin and tonic was in order for the second half. The Liverpool game descended into depression territory with shipping 4 by the end of the 90 leaving them 5-0 dowbn on aggregate. Juve and the supreme Alessandro Del Piero proved that age and a sending off (for Giorgio Chiellini) are no barrier to a heroic fightback, scoring a penalty but going down bravely 2-2 on the night and 3-2 overall.
Also through on Tuesday- Villareal and Bayern Munich with a truly breathtaking 7 goals on the night and 12 goals over two legs.
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