Unfortunately for us Canadians, it’s just not possible to watch Champions League games live unless we skip out on work. So for those of us interested in the beautiful game, the PVR is our best friend, as long as we can avoid the internet, Twitter, radio and others on our way home to watch.
Given that there are thousands of game breakdowns out there already, here are just a few random thoughts that crossed my twisted brain while watching the game.
Does Maicon have an injury or has he just slipped a little? There were several times in the first half when the unofficial “best right back in the world” had acres of space in front of him. He just didn’t seem to have that extra gear. This was especially obvious when Pandev found him on a switch in the first half and the old Maicon could have rumbled towards Ross Turnbull untouched. In this case he was caught and didn’t even get a solid cross into the box. That was the other problem, his crossing was well below the usual standard.
For the first 30 minutes, Chelsea seemed very content to attack down the left-hand side. Florent Malouda frequently drifted inside from his left wing position with Yuri Zhirkov overlapping him. Malouda was Chelsea’s only dangerous player on the offensive end and he found space to operate in front of the Chelsea back four.
Alex
Vanderlei Silva
Can we get a DNA sample to settle once and for all whether Chelsea defender Alex is related to Vanderlei Silva of the UFC? Even if they’re not related, Alex definitely looks like an MMA fighter.
Unfortunately for most of us spectators, the game did get quite sloppy and definitely dirty at times. Yellow cards were handed out like parking tickets. Lucio flipped out several times as if John Terry had slept with HIS girlfriend and Thiago Motta proved he’s one of the dirtiest players in world football. The ugly play culminated with an apparent ankle stomp from Didier Drogba on Motta. While Drogba deserved the red card, Motta deserved a yellow for the NFL-style tackle he laid on Drogba right before the stomp.
In my mind, the player of the game was definitely Wesley Sneijder. He had several passes that unlocked Chelsea’s defense, with the final one to Eto’o sealing the 1-0 victory.
It looks like The Special One’s team has once again advanced in the Champions League and he also got a chance to show Roman Abramovich what
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