The good, the bad and the ugly
The Good
AC Milan on the rise in the Serie A
Gone are those good old days of Italian dominance of the UEFA champions league, the days of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, the days of Adriv Shevchenko, Rui Costa, Kaka, David Trezeguet, Edgar Davids, Pavel Nedved, Javier Zannetti, Ronaldo De Lima ETC, the years of Hector Kuper and Marcello Lippi. Today, we only read about them with nostalgia feelings as what is obtainable now is the remnants of Juventus' defeat to Barcelona in May.
It then becomes noteworthy to see AC Milan win away and talk about it. More interestingly, the return of Mario Balotelli to the Sansiro and the sights of him looking around after scoring for the first time after his home coming from Liverpool.
It took only five minutes for him to register his name on the scoresheet and he went on to lead the Rossoneri to a famous win though it took a late red card to Bruno Fernandez to calm the traveling fans as a late Udinese surge almost turned things around. When Duvan Zapata cut the deficit to one, the composure of the Milan players wound up the game, maybe they're not yet prime for a famous European return but the cup is half full for AC Milan and not half empty.
The Bad
The Lewandowski show at the Allianz Arena
When Daniel Caliguiri fired Wolfsburg in front on Tuesday at the Allianz Arena, all fingers were crossed as to what to expect of Bayern's response. Wolfsburg are pretenders to the Bundesliga throne, they've been champions in the past... The Edin Dzeko year; though Bayern have survived tight ropes this season, no one expected Wolfsburg to inflict defeat on them.
The response was looking like it wasn't going to come until a certain Polish prince took laws into his own hands, what angered him isn't clear as at the time this was put together, was it because he's been under fire for underperformance? Was it because his name wasn't in the shortlist for Ballon'dor? Well, from the 51st minute to the 60th minute, 9minutes of rain from hell, no umbrella could stand the raging storm. Mr Lewandowski was too good to be stopped, too hot to be handled, would Kevin Debryne had done anything to end the rain of five goals in nine minutes if he were to be on the white and green end? The answer is obvious. Weldon Lewa
The Ugly
Barca for Sallah at Celta Vigo
Things are not the same, no two games are ever the same, form is nothing when defeat is inevitable, class is nothing when your opponents throw respect out the window. The tales of a certain Catalonia team... Barcelona got way more than they bargained for as they went to Estadio Municipal de Balaidos to fight for three La Liga points.
After the opening twenty five minutes of ding dongs and spirited defending from the home side, the following twenty minutes belonged to the clever Celta boys. Smooth counters and the seemingly invincible Barcelona were three goals down. Iago Aspas that couldn't do anything meaningful at Anfield became an instant hero on the night, Neymar offered an outlet with a goal that many believed was going to spark some fight but Celta Vigo got other plans. Three minutes after Neymar's goal and John Guidetti was wheeling away in celebrations after finishing off another fantastic counter move.
Barcelona were ugly on the night, no doubts about that, their all attack tactics failed woefully as a disciplined Celta Vigo defense showed how to keep them out. Barcelona are now behind Real Madrid who labored to a 2:1 win at Athletic Bilbao and must get their acts right if they want to retain their title.
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