Champions League 2012-13: The week of Madrid derby and Bayern-Borussia encounter

Champions League said goodbye to half of its participants. 16 teams are not going to be on our weekly focus any more. On the other hand, we will have a better chance to get involved in the remaining teams’ performances. Of the 17 initial leagues, we have only 9 left.

There is a plan to introduce an article in the coming weeks, dedicated to the 16 teams that left the Champions League. There is also going to be presented the promised article about
Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund. 

The major matches of the week:

The Madrid derby between Real and Atletico took place in non-usual circumstances, where
Real was 8 points behind the rivals. It was one of the most provocative matches of the season. There were small tricks and quarrels both on the pitch and on the benches. The referee didn’t want to make it worse: he could have shown the red card several times. He didn’t make it worse, but it never got better either. As concerned football itself, there was not much to watch in such a nervous encounter. The first goal came from a fabulous Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick. The champions were more or less better in counterattacks, so they scored their second in the second half. Only after making it 2-0 Real got a chance to shine with its bright football. Ronaldo and friends created some fine chances, two of which ended with the Portuguese hitting the post. The opponent, lead by Falcao, was silent during the whole period. An important win for Jose Mourinho.

With Blaszczykowski fully reintegrated and Mario Gomez not yet, Borussia and Bayern met for the second time in the season. This time they played in Munich. It was a very entertaining football match, with a high tempo and lots of interesting attacks. Once again Klopp tried to surprise its opponent, introducing a non-usual midfield shape with Blaszczykowski in the middle. Heynckes had nothing to surprise, which didn’t prevent his team from showing a decent performance. The first half ended goalless. Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller on one side, and Kuba and Lewandowski on the other couldn’t open the score. On the 67^th minute the best player of the match Toni Kroos got the ball at the penalty box, cheated Subotic and Hummels with a simple trick and opened the score. Only 7 minutes later Mario Goetze managed to equalize. And then started the period, where the home side had an enormous advantage over the exhausted champions. With Mario Gomez already on the pitch, Mueller twice, Kroos and Javi Martinez missed some great opportunities to finally break the curse of Borussia Dortmund. It was not meant to happen again. 1-1, and Borussia is still 11 points behind.

Highlights of the week:

-          Arsenal conceded two last minute goals from Michu to register its second home defeat of the season. The team is on the 10^th position in the Premier League,

-          Manchester United visited Reading, where there were already scored seven goals on the 35^th  minute,

-          Valencia’s Mauricio Pellegrino got finally fired after a home defeat from Real Sociedad. The manager was replaced by Ernesto Valverde, 

-          Porto was kicked out from the national cup competition by already a former Champions League participant Braga,

-          Juventus easily won in the first Turin derby of the past three years. The Italian champions look forward to the long-awaited return of their coach Antonio Conte this weekend,

-          The Ukrainian league is starting its three month long pause. Champions Shakhtar will need 25 points in the remaining 12 matches, to clinch the title again, while topscorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan needs 5 goals to set a new Ukrainian record of most scored goals during a season. See you at Champions League, Shakhtar!

-           After 16 teams have left the Champions League, the average domestic position of the participants has… remained the same. Surprisingly enough, this indicator amounts only 3,56. Especially Arsenal and Valencia contribute to this result, occupying 10^th and 12^th positions respectively.

The upcoming weekend:

So it is time for Manchester derby. It couldn’t come on a better occasion. The teams are on the first two positions in their league, while Manchester City will need to concentrate on the league. Another match in England is going to take place in London, where Arsenal will meet season’s surprise West Bromwich.  

Club	Last Matches	Next match	Position in the domestic league
Arsenal (England)	01.12 Swansea (H) 0-2 04.12 Olympiacos (A) 1-2	08.12 West Brom. (H)	10
Man. Utd. (England)	01.12 Reading (A) 4-3 05.12 Cluj (A) 0-1	09.12 Manch. City (A)	1
FC Barcelona (Spain)	01.12 Athletic (H) 5-1 05.12 Benfica (H) 0-0	09.12 Betis (A)	1
Real Madrid (Spain)	01.12 Atletico (H) 2-0 04.12 Ajax (H) 4-1	08.12 Valladolid (A)	3
Valencia (Spain)	01.12 R. Sociedad (H) 2-5 05.12 Lille (A) 1-0	08.12 Osasuna (A)	12
Malaga (Spain)	01.12 Getafe (A) 0-1 04.12 Anderlecht (H) 2-2	08.12 Granada (H)	6
Bayern (Germany)	01.12 Borussia D. (H) 1-1 05.12 BATE (H) 4-1	08.12 Augsburg (A)	1
Borussia D. (Germany)	01.12 Bayern (A) 1-1 04.12 Manch. City (H) 1-0	08.12 Wolfsburg (H)	3
Schalke 04 (Germany)	01.12 Borussia M. (H) 1-1 04.12 Montpellier (A) 1-1	08.12 Stuttgart (A)	4
Porto (Portugal)	02.12 Sp. Braga (Cup) 1-2 04.12 PSG (A) 1-2	08.12 Moreirense (H)	1
Galatasaray (Turkey)	30.11Gaziantepspor (H)1-1 05.12 Braga (A) 1-2	08.12 Sivasspor (A)	1
Juventus (Italy)	01.12 Torino (H) 3-0 05.12 Shakhtar (A) 1-0	09.12 Palermo (A)	1
Milan (Italy)	30.11 Catania (A) 3-1 04.12 Zenit (H) 0-1	09.12 Torino (A)	7
PSG (France)	01.12 Nice (A) 1-2 04.12 Porto (H) 2-1	08.12 Evian (H)	4
Shakhtar D. (Ukraine)	01.12 Kryvbas (A) 2-0 05.12 Juventus (H) 0-1	02.03 Volyn (H)	1
Celtic (Scotland)	28.11 Hearts (A) 4-0 05.12 Spartak (H) 2-1	08.12 Kilmarnock (A)	1