Champions League 2012-13: Welcome back in 2013

After a holiday break there is time to watch and comment European football again. Welcome to Arthur’s Football Comments in 2013!

The major match of the week:

After Arsenal’s bright year end, where they smashed Newcastle scoring whole seven goals in the Premier League match, and a successful FA encounter against Swansea, it was time to meet giants Manchester City and Chelsea. The home match against the defending champions of England went wrong. Now it was the time to meet the champions of champions, who, just a reminder, lost their chance to defend that title. So the snowy London invited to a London derby. Chelsea’s absolutely overwhelming performance in the first half, spiced with marvelous passes, long crosses, wide play, and quick attacks, where Arsenal’s fullbacks and the two central defenders have no chance to catch Chelsea’s flying midfielders. Especially good was Azpilicueta’s pass, which created the first goal. Arsene Wenger’s team, without Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain, had nothing in the first half but a couple of possibilities for Walcott, but the young star was not having his best match that day. Arsenal was more inspirational from the first minutes of the second half. They were lots of times caught offside during the whole match, but only on the 58^th they managed to cheat the Chelsea defenders. It was Cazorla who sent that cunning ball to Walcott. Arsenal got a hope. The team started to look for the second goal, thus creating space for Chelsea counterattacks. Torres clearly outran Vermaelen a couple of times, but couldn’t direct himself for a final action. Arsenal’s final storm brought four corners in the last 2 minutes. They were all wasted thanks to Chelsea’s reliable defensive play. Arsenal’s former player Ashley Cole deserves full credit for containing the dangerous Walcott.

Highlights of the week:

-          It’s going fine with Manchester United. The team keeps on winning thanks to Robin van Persie’s goals. There is a difference of 5 points between the two Manchester teams,

-          The four Champions League participants from Spain, who all are still in the game, were stuck in a week of déjà vu. Valencia and Real Madrid had to meet in a Primera match between the two matches of the national cup, while Malaga and Barcelona had the same three matches to play against each other. In the end of the day the wealthier teams won all they came for. Real and Barcelona are in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, while the difference between them is now 15 points in La Liga. Barcelona has just lost its first match of the season’s domestic league,

-          In the first match of the year the German champions Borussia showed their muscles, destroying Werder Bremen away at home. They need to liquidate the 12-point difference with Bayern, if there is a strict plan to defend the title,

-          In the most cheerful European match of the week Schalke 04 managed to win, conceding 4 goals in the match against Hannover. The Gelsenkirchen team is on the 5^th position,

-          Flying Jackson Martinez has now scored 14 goals and is leading the topscorer-list of the Portuguese league. The two league leaders Porto and Benfica still go hand in hand,

-          Juventus is the leading force in the Italian football and the picture is getting clearer now, as the Italian champions have an advantage of 5 points over the closest opponents and have just beaten Milan in the national cup quarterfinal,

-          Milan’s topscorer El Shaarawy has had a weak period, thus letting Cavani and di Natale outstrip him with the number of goals scored in Serie A,

-          France’s last Champions League participant, PSG, is in a great form. They are on the top of the table again,   

-          Samaras and Hooper keep on scoring for Celtic, which is now at least 12 points clear over the followers in the domestic league.

The upcoming weekend:

Arsenal plays a lot of matches these days. They have another big match ahead against the legendary Liverpool, which is only three points behind the Gunners. The Turkish league will be in the focus again, as the top clubs Galatasaray and Besiktas will clash in a hot derby.

Club	Last Matches	Next match	Position in the domestic league
Arsenal (England)	22.12 Wigan (A) 1-0 29.12 Newcastle (H) 7-3 01.01 Southampton (A) 1-1 06.01 Swansea (Cup) 2-2 13.01 Manch. City (H) 0-2 16.01 Swansea (Cup) 1-0 20.01 Chelsea (A) 1-2 23.01 West Ham (H) 5-1	26.01 Brighton (Cup) 30.01 Liverpool (H)	6
Man. Utd. (England)	23.12 Swansea (A) 1-1 26.12 Newcastle (H) 4-3 29.12 West Brom. (H) 2-0 01.01 Wigan (A) 4-0 05.01 West Ham (Cup) 2-2 13.01 Liverpool (H) 2-1 16.01 West Ham (Cup) 1-0 20.01 Tottenham (A) 1-1	26.01 Fulham (Cup) 30.01 Southampton (H)	1
FC Barcelona (Spain)	22.12 R. Valladolid (A) 3-1 06.01 Espanyol (H) 4-0 10.01 Cordoba (Cup) 5-0 13.01 Malaga (A) 3-1 16.01 Malaga (Cup) 2-2 19.01 Real Soc. (A) 2-3 24.01 Malaga (Cup) 4-2	27.01 Osasuna (H)	1
Real Madrid (Spain)	22.12 Malaga (A) 2-3 06.01 Real Soc. (H) 4-3 09.01 Celta (Cup) 4-0 12.01 Osasuna (A) 0-0 15.01 Valencia (Cup) 2-0 20.01 Valencia (A) 5-0 23.01 Valencia (Cup) 1-1	27.01 Getafe (H)	3
Valencia (Spain)	21.12 Getafe (H) 4-2 05.01 Granada (A) 2-1 08.01 Osasuna (Cup) 2-1 12.01 Sevilla (H) 2-0 15.01 Real M. (Cup) 0-2 20.01 Real M. (H) 0-5 23.01 Real M. (Cup) 1-1	26.01 Deportivo (A)	8
Malaga (Spain)	22.12 Real Madrid (H) 3-2 05.01 Deportivo (A) 0-1 08.01 Eibar (Cup) 4-1 13.01 Barcelona (H) 1-3 16.01 Barcelona (Cup) 2-2 19.01 Celta (H) 1-1 24.01 Barcelona (Cup) 2-4	27.01 Real Mallorca (A)	5
Bayern (Germany)	19.01 Greuther F. (H) 2-0	27.01 Stuttgart (A)	1
Borussia D. (Germany)	19.01 Werder (A) 5-0	25.01 Nurnberg (H)	3
Schalke 04 (Germany)	18.01 Hannover (H) 5-4	26.01 Augsburg (A)	5
Porto (Portugal)	30.12 Estoril (Cup) 2-2 05.01 Nacional (H) 1-0 09.01 Vitoria S. (Cup) 1-0 13.01 Benfica (A) 2-2 19.01 Pacos de Fer. (H) 2-0 23.01 Vitoria S. (A) 3-0	28.01 Gil Vicente (H)	2
Galatasaray (Turkey)	23.12 Trabzonspor (A) 0-0 18.01 Kasimpasa (A) 1-2	27.01 Besiktas (H)	1
Juventus (Italy)	21.12 Cagliari (A) 3-1 06.01 Sampdoria (H) 1-2 09.01 Milan (Cup) 2-1 13.01  Parma (A) 1-1 19.01 Udinese (H) 4-0 22.01 Lazio (Cup) 1-1	26.01 Genoa (H)	1
Milan (Italy)	22.12 Roma (A) 2-4 06.01 Siena (H) 2-1 09.01 Juventus (Cup) 1-2 13.01 Sampdoria (A) 0-0 20.01 Bologna (H) 2-1	27.01 Atalanta (A)	6
PSG (France)	21.12 St. Brestois (A) 3-0 06.01 Arras (Cup) 4-3 11.01 Ajaccio (A) 0-0 20.01 Bordeaux (A) 1-0 23.01 Toulouse (Cup) 3-1	27.01 Lille (H)	1
Shakhtar D. (Ukraine)	01.12 Kryvbas (A) 2-0 05.12 Juventus (H) 0-1	02.03 Volyn (H)	1
Celtic (Scotland)	15.12 St. Mirren (H) 2-0 22.12 Ross County (H) 4-0 26.12 Dundee (A) 2-0 29.01 Hibernian (A) 0-1 02.01 Motherwell (H) 1-19.01 Hearts (H) 4-1 22.01 Dundee Utd. (H) 4-0	27.01 St. Mirren (Cup) 30.01 Kilmarnock (H)	1