Arthur's Football Comments: Champions League 2012-13: The weekend of Barcelona's new La Liga record

November 24, 2012

Champions League 2012-13: The weekend of Barcelona's new La Liga record


The major matches of the week:

There were two important matches in Italy last weekend. Juventus was visited by Lazio in the opening game of Serie A week. The Roman guests were firm in their intention of taking a point from Turin. They had almost done it last year, but the substitute Alessandro Del Piero had managed to score the winner in the end of the match. This time there was no Del Piero, and Marchetti was awesome during the whole match. The champions even hit the bar once, but the luck was not with them that evening. The match got famous for Andrea Pirlo’s absence and Simone Pepe’s presence, who played for the first time this season. 

Simone Pepe was back into the squad after an injury
Milan was visiting Naples. After going down by two goals, Milan’s new hero Stephan El Shaarawy scored two, strengthening his position as the Serie A topscorer. He has now scored 10 of Milan’s 20 goals in the league. As it usually happens in matches of Napoli, there were not too many dangerous moments in front of goals, but physical battles in midfield. It was not Abiatti’s day, as he could have done much better to keep the score low. Credit to Milan and El Shaarawy for finding the right solutions to save the match. The gap between Milan and its next opponent Juventus is still 17 points.

Theo Walcott, Arsenal
The most attractive match took place in London, where Arsenal and Tottenham met in one of the most interesting London derbies. The match was moving on the direction of become a promising encounter, as Emmanuel Adebayor scored to his former club. But very soon he turned from hero to zero, as he was give a straight red card for a nasty tackle. It went far too easy for Arsene Wenger’s team afterwards, as Mertesacker, Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and Walcott scored each.  

Highlights of the week:

-        -  Barcelona’s new record: most points earned after 12 matches in the history of La Liga,
-        -  PSG lost again. This time it happened in the home match against St. Rennais, which played with 9 men almost all of the second half. The French League is getting more interesting now,
-        -  Mbokani saved Anderlecht again. His last minute goal brought a win to his team in the match against Kortrijk,
-        -  Zenit is in trouble again: one of the club fans threw a fireword towards the Dynamo goalkeeper. The champions were awarded a defeat,
-        -  despite the bad form in Champions League, Manchester City hasn’t lost in the domestic league yet. In the last round they crashed Aston Villa, scoring 5 without conceding, and climbed on top of the table for the first time in the season,
-         - the average domestic position of a Champions League participant is 3,4.

The upcoming week end:

There are two top clashes in Russia, where Spartak will meet rivals Dynamo in a Moscow derby. Champions Zenit will meet leaders CSKA. The number 1 and number 2 in the Greek league will face each other, as Olympiacos will visit PAOK. Two Champions League participants will meet in Portuguese and Spanish League matches between Braga and Porto, and Malaga and Valencia. Schalke 04 will have to fight to keep the second position in the match against challengers Eintracht. The two biggest matches of the weekend will take place in England, where Chelsea will fight Machester City in a match, where both teams have to rehabilitate after a poor Champions League week. Finally, Italy will be focused on the San Siro match against Milan and Juventus.


ClubLast MatchesNext matchPosition in the domestic league
Ajax (Netherlands)17.11 Venlo (H) 2-2
21.11 Borussia D. (H) 1-4		25.11 Roda (A)4
BATE (Belarus)17.11 Slavia (A) 0-0
20.11 Lille (H) 0-2		25.11 Shakhter (H)1
Anderlecht (Belgium)18.11 Kortrijk (H) 1-0
21.11 Milan (H) 1-3		24.11 Beerschot (A)1
Dinamo Z. (Croatia)17.11 Zadar (H) 5-0
21.11 Porto (A) 0-3		24.11 NK Zagreb (A)1
Arsenal (England)17.11 Tottenham (H) 5-2
21.11 Montpellier (H) 2-0		24.11 Aston Villa (A)6
Man. City (England)17.11 Aston Villa (H) 5-0
21.11 Real M. (H) 1-1		25.11 Chelsea (A)1
Man. Utd. (England)17.11 Norwich (A) 0-1
20.11 Galatasaray (A) 0-1		24.11 QPR (H)2
Chelsea (England)17.11 West Brom. (A) 1-2
20.11 Juventus (A) 0-3		25.11 Manch. City (H)3
FC Barcelona (Spain)17.11 Zaragoza (H) 3-1
20.11 Spartak (A) 0-3		25.11 Levante (A)1
Real Madrid (Spain)17.11Athletic (H) 5-1
21.11 Manch. City (A) 1-1		24.11 Betis (A)3
Valencia (Spain)17.11 Espanyol (H) 2-1
20.11 Bayern (H) 1-1		24.11 Malaga (A)7
Malaga (Spain)17.11 Osasuna (A) 0-0
21.11 Zenit (A) 2-2		24.11 Valencia (H)5
Bayern (Germany)17.11 Nurnberg (A) 1-1
20.11 Valencia (A) 1-1		24.11 Hannover (H)1
Borussia D. (Germany)17.11 Gr. Furth (H) 3-1
21.11 Ajax (A) 4-1		24.11 Mainz (A)4
Schalke 04 (Germany)17.11 Bayer (A) 0-2
21.11 Olympiacos (H) 1-0		24.11 Eintracht (H)2
Benfica (Portugal)16.11 Moreirense (Cup)2-0
20.11 Celtic (H) 2-1		24.11 Olhanense (H)2
Porto (Portugal)17.11 Nacional M(Cup)3-0
21.11 Dinamo Z. (H) 3-0		25.11 Sp. Braga (A)1
Sp. Braga (Portugal)16.11 Pampilhosa (Cup)3-1
20.11 Cluj (A) 1-3		25.11 Porto (H)3
CFR Cluj (Romania)16.11 Astra (H) 0-2
20.11 Sp. Braga (H) 3-1		24.11 Cluj-Napoca (A)6
Galatasaray (Turkey)16.11 Kardemir K. (H) 1-3
20.11 Man. United (H) 1-0		24.11 Elazigspor (A)1
Juventus (Italy)17.11 Lazio (H) 0-0
20.11 Chelsea (H) 3-0		25.11 Milan (A)1
Milan (Italy)17.11 Napoli (A) 2-2
21.11 Anderlecht (A) 1-3		25.11 Juventus (H)12
Montpellier (France)17.11 Valenciennes (A) 1-1
21.11 Arsenal (A) 0-2		25.11 Bordeaux (H)14
PSG (France)17.11 St. Rennais (H) 1-2
21.11 Dynamo K. (A) 2-0		24.11 Troyes (H)3
Lille (France)16.11 Lorient (A)  0-2
20.11 BATE (A) 2-0		25.11 Marseille (A)8
Nordsjæland (Denmark)16.11 AGF (A) 2-0
20.11 Shakhtar (H) 2-5		25.11Esbjerg (A)2
Olympiacos (Greece)17.11 Kerkyra (H) 2-0
21.11 Schalke 04 (A) 0-1		25.11 PAOK (A)1
Shakhtar D. (Ukraine)17.11 Arsenal K. (A) 0-2
20.11 Nordsjælland (A) 5-2		24.11 Hoverla (H)1
Dynamo K. (Ukraine)17.11 Metalurg D. (A) 0-1
21.11 PSG (H) 0-2		25.11 Arsenal K. (H)3
Zenit (Russia)17.11 Dynamo M. (A) awarded win to Dynamo
21.11 Malaga (H) 2-2		26.11 CSKA (H)3
Spartak M. (Russia)17.11 Volga (A) 1-1
20.11 Barcelona (H) 0-3		25.11 Dynamo M. (H)5
Celtic (Scotland)17.11 Aberdeen (A) 2-0
20.11 Benfica (A) 1-2		24.11 Inverness (H)1
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