<div id="attachment_2007" style="width: 330px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><div><figure class="external-image"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2007" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2007 " src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2009/09/UEFA-Champions-League1.jpg" alt="Photo courtesy of izalldos" width="320" height="480"></figure></div>Photo courtesy of izalldos</div>
Tuesday and Wednesday brought about Match Day 2 in the UEFA Champions League, and the four representatives from Spain had interesting ties that helped shape their respective groups.&nbsp; On Tuesday, Sevilla FC visited Rangers FC at the Ibrox Stadium, where the European night atmosphere is second to none, buoying their beloved Gers, and FC Barcelona hosted FK Dynamo Kyiv at the Camp Nou, where both teams headed into this clash with undefeated records in both league and in Europe.&nbsp; On Wednesday, Real Madrid faced Olympique de Marseille at the Santiago Bernabéu, where Gabriel Heinze and Fernando Morientes played against their former employers in white, and Atlético Madrid tried to forget their domestic troubles at the Estádio do Dragão against FC Porto.
Rangers knocked Sevilla on their heels in the first half, keeping up with Sevilla’s passing football as well as using their robust style to wear down the opposition.&nbsp; The height of the half culminated in the 36th minute, when Abdoulay Konko tackled Steven Naismith inside the penalty area, and referee Jonas Eriksson continued play.&nbsp; There was little doubt about the legitimacy of Naismith’s claim for a penalty, as Konko made no contact with the ball and clearly took out the ankle of Naismith.
Up to that point, Rangers was even with Sevilla, but a pivotal call, or non-call in this case, changes the momentum of a match, and instead of a likely 1-0 to the home side and an extra boost to an already rapturous Ibrox crowd, Sevilla rode its bit of luck and scored four goals in a span of twenty-four minutes in the second half to secure the three points and seize control of Group G.&nbsp; Rangers would ruin Andrés Palop’s clean sheet in the 88th minute by a Nacho Novo strike, a goal fully deserved for their valiant performance, but Sevilla is the class of this group and should cruise to first place at the end of the group stage.
Even though Barcelona was at home and dominated their five games in La Liga, they were wary of Dynamo Kyiv and their attacking threats of Oleh Husyev, Andriy Shevchenko and Artem Milevskiy.&nbsp; Dynamo remained competitive for the opening fifteen minutes, but eventually the Barcelona Way overshadowed any attempt of Kyiv to produce any significant buildup play.&nbsp; When Dynamo had possession, either Barcelona took it away quickly, or they resorted to long balls.&nbsp; Barcelona forced them out of character, as they do with most teams, and their possession strategy created a plethora of chances, two of which they converted for a simple 2-0 win.&nbsp; The blaugrana will not be amused with their abnormal amount of giveaways or the lack of finishing that could have spelled another two to three goals, but a solid team effort and a comfortable 2-0 win sends Barcelona to the top of the group.
Real Madrid and Manuel Pellegrini tweaked the formation and lineup for Wednesday evening’s fixture with Marseille by forming a three-man front line with the three big signings of the offseason: Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kaká.&nbsp; With Guti behind the three as the roaming creative force, there was no room for Raúl in the starting XI.&nbsp; At the moment, Pellegrini’s rotational policy has not created any problems in the dressing room, and if they continue to win, the players will continue to buy into him.&nbsp; It is clear that Pellegrini does not quite have the grasp of how to shape this Madrid team in the best way possible as of yet, and the first forty-five minutes showed a work in progress despite its blistering start domestically.&nbsp; A combination of Marseille’s work rate and discipline and Real Madrid’s tentativeness and lack of understanding within the attacking trio led to a dull first half.&nbsp; In spite of a 57/43 possession ratio in favor of Los Blancos, Marseille was on equal footing, canceled out Madrid for the most part, and generated chances of their own.
Similar to the Sevilla-Rangers match, where Sevilla changed the momentum in a short time gap, Real Madrid tallied three times in a span of six minutes, including a penalty resulting from a second yellow card for Marseille central defender Souleymane Diawara that sealed any chance for Marseille to play their way back into the match.&nbsp; Replays showed that Diawara made contact with the ball first, but the apparent severity of the challenge on Ronaldo forced referee Martin Hansson to flash the yellow card and send Diawara off.&nbsp; With AC Milan suffering a shock 0-1 defeat at the San Siro by the hands of FC Zürich, Real Madrid has complete control of Group C. &nbsp; This season, Madrid has had a tendency to let the opposition hang around and not step on their throats when they have the chance, but as the chemistry continues to develop and the familiarity increases, expect Real to salt these types of games away sooner and with more verve.
Poor Atlético Madrid.&nbsp; They need some alone time to figure out their problems and deficiencies.&nbsp; In the limelight of the Champions League and La Liga, however, all their frailties are shown for everyone to see, and they cannot hide.&nbsp; Their Champions League matchup with FC Porto could not come at a better time.&nbsp; Already struggling in the league, Atlético saw this match as an opportunity to leave their past troubles behind and start anew.&nbsp; Even though Porto was a quality side who advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season by defeating Atlético on the away goals rule, a positive result could spark a much-needed boost within the team.
An ominous sign came in the 26th minute when an apparent groin injury to backup goalkeeper Roberto forced manager Abel Resino to substitute in eighteen-year-old Atlético Madrid product David de Gea for his first senior appearance.&nbsp; Through the first 70+ minutes, the match was lively yet scrappy with much congestion in the midfield.&nbsp; Porto had the slight edge, but there was hardly anything between them.&nbsp; Then a slice a magic engineered by Porto swung the match in their favor.
In the 75th minute, Falcao scored an incredible goal to take the 1-0 lead.&nbsp; Raul Meireles started the move with a pinged cross-field ball to Hulk in the box.&nbsp; Hulk then blasted his shot at the right near post but de Gea brushed it aside.&nbsp; The rebound came straight back to Hulk, however, but he completely mishit it.&nbsp; He was able to recover, settle the ball, and square a pass to Falcao, who attempted a daring back heel and converted the shot to take a late 1-0 lead.&nbsp; Los Colchoneros did not convalesce and eventually conceded a second goal to suffer another defeat.&nbsp; Now they have to travel to Stamford Bridge to confront an in-form Chelsea team who will look to secure a likely spot into the knockout stages with a win over Atlético on Match Day 3.&nbsp; Abel Resino did get a public vote of confidence from the Atlético brass, but that kind of endorsement usually means very little, and more results like this will lead to his sacking sooner rather than later.

La Liga in the UEFA Champions League: A Recap

La Liga in the UEFA Champions League: A Recap - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/11/rvn.jpg" alt="rvn.jpg" align="right" width="300" height="300" hspace="10"></figure></div>Real Madrid have suffered another major injury blow as striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s season looks to be over after it was announced that he will undergo an operation to correct a problem with his right knee. The reigning Spanish champions already have Arjen Robben and Mahamadou Diarra out of action due to calf and thigh problems, while Rubén de la Red is still recovering after fainting on the pitch on 30 October. de la Red’s football future is in doubt after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon revealed to a Spanish radio station that the Spain international could be suffering from a heart problem. de la Red will not return to action unless doctors are certain that his health is not in danger.
The 32-year-old former Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven star damaged his knee during Real’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Juventus in October. He travelled to the United States last week and underwent exploratory surgery. He is being treated by Dr. Richard Steadman, who previously operated on van Nistelrooy in 2000 prior to his move to Manchester United FC from PSV Eindhoven. Along with damaged cartilage, a cyst on the players’ cruciate ligament was discovered, leaving club doctors in no doubt that the player required an operation.
Despite being troubled by the problem all season, van Nistelrooy made six league appearances for Madrid, scoring four times as well as firing in another three goals in four UEFA Champions League games. He is the second top-scorer in Champions League history with 60 goals.
Dr Richard Steadman will be a busy man as he will also be treating Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves will not play again this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee with a further operation to follow on the left.
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/3472516/Man-Utd-midfielder-Owen-Hargreaves-career-in-safe-hands-with-Dr-Richard-Steadman-Football.html">The Guardian details</a> that Steadman has developed special surgical techniques which allowed several United States Ski Team members to return to competition and win Olympic medals. In 1976 he was named Chief Physician for the United States Ski Team and in 1989, his work was recognised with his election to the US National Ski Hall of Fame.
Hargreaves has not played since September 21st because of the persistent tendinitis which has restricted his opportunities at Old Trafford since his 2007 move from FC Bayern München. United are also missing Paul Scholes through a knee injury though he should return to action much sooner than his colleague.
Dynamo Kyiv’s substantial injury list has grown by one more. Defender Olexandr Romanchuk has been ruled out for at least six months with a double fracture of his left leg sustained in a Ukrainian Cup quarter-final match. Kyiv look like they will also be missing midfielder Milos Ninkovic, centre-back Taras Mikhalik and goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy ahead of their important MatchDay 5 fixture with Arsenal.
<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/11/llorente.jpg" alt="llorente.jpg" align="left" width="350" height="250" hspace="10"></figure></div>Villarreal’s leading scorer Joseba Llorente will not be available for the Spanish club’s two remaining fixtures in the Champions League as he needs approximately a month to recover from a tear in his right thigh. Llorente had been enjoying a good start to his career at Villarreal, scoring six times in eleven league games so far this season.
He joined the Yellow Submarines on a four-year contract from Real Valladolid in the summer after scoring 16 times in 39 appearances during the 2007-08 season. After coming on as a substitute, he scored a second-half hat trick against Aalborg BK in Villarreal’s memorable 6-3 win on October 21st.
Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina will miss up to three months after undergoing surgery on an inflamed tendon in his left leg.
CFR 1907 Cluj will be without striker Didi and defender Gabriel Muresan is a doubt for the visit of AS Roma next Wednesday. Didi suffered a recurrence of a problem with his left knee in a league game against FC Unirea Urziceni while Muresan is struggling with a muscle strain.

Injury Updates: Van Nistelrooy's Season Is Over

Injury Updates: Van Nistelrooy's Season Is Over - World Soccer Talk

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La Liga in the UEFA Champions League: A Recap

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Injury Updates: Van Nistelrooy's Season Is Over