The latest week of Euro action saw some crushing results for four title favourites, while several other top teams registered solid wins. A couple of thrilling games as well with Valencia, Cologne and a pair of teams in Scotland trading goals aplenty.
But abject misery and heartache for a pair of 1991 FA Cup semifinalists. However a great weekend for United, City, Real and Barcelona fans. We may also have seen the last of one of Europe's greatest managers, who is now at a personal nadir.
Step this way for Episode Three of the Euro League Wrap.
Weekend of August 27:
But abject misery and heartache for a pair of 1991 FA Cup semifinalists. However a great weekend for United, City, Real and Barcelona fans. We may also have seen the last of one of Europe's greatest managers, who is now at a personal nadir.
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| Wenger's last days ? |
Weekend of August 27:
France:
Three of the title contenders all won with two of them putting in strong performances, winning away at teams that started well.
PSG turned the screw on Toulouse with an away victory that saw them surge up the table. With fellow contenders Olympique Lyon also winning at nascent league leaders Montpellier, and Lyon beating Olympique Marseille at home, all three protagonists used round 4 to throw down the gauntlet to the rest of the league. As impressive as PSG And Lyon's wins were however, Lille's home triumph over Marseille, arguably the fourth title chaser, was the most newsworthy. They also draw first blood in the first match between the big four.
New star Kevin Gameiro, Turkish forward Mevlut Erdinc and winger Jeremy Menez, all got on the scoresheet against Toulouse, for whom Etienne Capoue, put into the early lead. Toulouse had seven points from their first three games and finally lose their first one. Miralem Pjanic and Jeremy Pied put Lyon into an unassailable lead before Henri Bedimo pulled on back for Montpellier, who still lead the table with nine points from four games, but dropped their first points of the season.
Sochaux made up for their Europa League elimination at the hands of Metalist Kharkhiv, by edging St. Etienne at home. Ryad Boudebouz scored a double, either side of a striker from Pierre Aubemeyang. Fellow Europa League hopefuls Rennes, who fared far better, beating 1991 European Cup Champions Red Star Belgrade, also won, beating Caen at home 3-2. Razak Boukari, Jeris Ekoko and Abou-Kader Mangane putting Stade into a 3-0 lead before goals from Thomas Heurtaux and Younes Belhanda made it interesting at the death.
Doubles from Moussa Sow and Mathieu Valbuena cancelled each other out in the game between Lille and OM, with Cameroonian defender Aurelian Chedjian's strike making the difference. Mathieu Dossevi gave Valenciennes the early lead at home to Bordeaux before Abdou Traore and Anthony Modeste turned things around for the Girondins. Arnold Mvuemba and Yann Jouffre gave Lorient their second win, in a comeback win over Nancy, show scored through Djamel Bakar. Dijon picked up the points at promoted Evian with Brice Jovial picking up the three points while Nice and Brest played out a goalless draw.
Auxerre however continue to beat all expectations and make a mockery of their predicted struggles with another comfortable win, this time downing promoted Ajaccio, 4-1 at home. League leading scorer Alain Traore scored another double with Anthony Le-Tallec and Kamel Chafni also on the scoresheet. Araujo Ilan notched a consolation for Ajaccio.
With four games gone and the table having some meat on it, Montpellier still lead the table with nine points. Lyon are second with eight with Lille and PSG among seven teams on seven points.
Full details here.
Auxerre's Alain Traore leads everyone with five goals, ahead of Kevin Gameiro, Ryad Boudebouz and Dijon's Brice Jovial with three.
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Germany:
The German league table has a familiar look to it with Bayern Munich, Schalke and Werder Bremen all occupying the top three spots. Bayern and Schalke won for the third week in a row, after losing their opening game, while Werder won for the second straight week.
Old warhorse Raul scored just after the hour to give Schalke the points over Gladbach in Sunday's late game. Roberto Firmino gave Hoffenheim the early lead at home to Bremen before Marko Arnautovic and Markus Rosemberg fought back to take the three points. Mario Gomez's hat trick gave Bayern the points at Kaiserslautern for whom Ivo Ilicevic pulled one back at the death.
Friday saw Hertha (Raffael) beat Stuttgart while Saturday saw Leverkusen hold Dortmund to a draw at home. The pair traded red cards but no goals. Hannover and Mainz also drew 1-1 with Sami Allagui's early strike being cancelled out by Mohammad Abdellaoue. Saturday's other games saw a pair of burgs beat another pair of burgs, at home - Freiburg beating Wolfsburg 3-0 at home (Erik Jendrisek, Oliver Barth and Cedrik Makiadi) while Nurnberg edged Augsburg 1-0 (Alexander Esswein).
The game of the round was served up by Cologne and Hamburg, however, who served up a seven goal thriller at the Imtech Arena at Hamburg. Mladen Petric gave Hamburg the early lead from the penalty spot before Adil Chihi and Milivoje Novakovic put the visitors in front. Slobodan Rajkovic and Heung Min-Soon put Hamburg level just after the hour before Canadian Kevin McKenna and Cristian Clemens scored late goals to give Cologne a fully deserved three points.
In addition to the top three Dortmund and Leverkusen both sit in upper midtable on seven points.
Full details here.
Papiss Demba Cisse is joined at the summit by Mario Gomez and Klaas Jan Huntelaar, all on four goals.
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England:
Manchester inflicted humiliation and misery on North London. Manchester United laid down a statement of intent that sent shockwaves around the continent, while possibly signalling the end for storied Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, with a crushing 8-2 victory at Old Trafford. Citeh meanwhile hammered Spurs at White Hart Lane, 5-1. It's going to be a long season for both of North London's finest as they take up positions at the base of the table.
Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick, Ashley Young a double and youngster Danny Welbeck and Park Ji Sung also got on the scoresheet as United hammered The Gunners, for whom Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie replied. Edin Dzeko scored four and Sergio Aguero notched his third goal of the season as Spurs destroyed Spurs. Younes Kaboul scored a late consolation for the Lillywhites.
Sunday's other games saw Ryan Shotton give Stoke a late, great win over West Bromwich Albion while a Leon Best double gave Newcastle the points at home to Fulham, who got a goal from usual suspect Clint Dempsey. On Saturday, Aston Villa and Wolves drew 0-0 as did Swansea and Sunderland. Top four rivals Chelsea and Liverpool both won 3-1 at home, downing Norwich and Bolton respectively. Jose Bosingwa, Frank Lampard, from the spot, and new signing Juan Mata netted at Stamford Bridge, while Grant Holt scored for the promoted Canaries. Newcomers Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel all scored for 'Pool before Ivan Klasnic pulled one back for Wanderers at the death.
Franco Di Santo scored a double for Wigan to beat QPR At home while Everton got their first points of the season, winning 1-0 at Blackburn from a Mikel Arteta penalty.
No surprises then to see the top four already occupying those spots in the table with United leading City on goal difference, with both on nine points from three games, followed by Liverpool and Chelsea, who have seven.
Full details here.
Bosnian striker Dzeko leads the charts with six goals followed Rooney with five.
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Spain:
The 2011-12 season finally kicked off, a week late, on account of the player strike. Real Sociedad and Real Betis got things started on Saturday winning away. Sociedad beat Sporting Gijon 2-1, with Imanol Agirretze scoring a double while Miguel De La Cuevas pulled one back from the penalty spot. Ruben Castro gave Betis the points with the only strike of the game, away at promoted Granada. Valencia and Racing Santander however threw on the entertainment with a thrilling 4-3 win at Mestella. Roberto Sodada scored an early goal before putting the ball in at his own end to level things. Lautaro Acosta and Adrian Morales then put Racing into a 3-1 lead before a pair of Soldado goals and a Adil Rami strike gave Valencia the win.
Sunday had six games on tap with Real kicking their season off, in style at Real Zaragoza. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, Xabi Alonso, Kaka and Marcelo netted as well against a Zaragoza side that stood no chance. Venezuelan striker Nicolas Fedor and Juanlu traded goals for Getafe and Levante respectively in a 1-1 draw while Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano did the same - Ander Itturaspe and Jose Movilla netting for their respective sides. Mallorca got a surprising 1-0 win over Espanyol from a Jonathan De Guzman strike while Atletico Madrid and Osasuna drew 0-0 in a rather tepid affair that was given a special kickoff slot for TV audiences. In the late game Sevilla beat upstarts Malaga 2-1 with Alvaro Negredo scoring a winning double while Santi Cazorla pulled one back off a free kick, for Al-Thani's side.
At time of writing, Barcelona, who had to play on Monday, just finished putting the final touches to a 5-0 demolition of Villarreal at the Nou Camp. Thiago Alcantara, new signings Francesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez and World's best player Lionel Messi with two, all netted in the rout. After just one game, Marca can crow about Real leading Barcelona in the standings by 1 goal.
More intriguingly, Ronaldo and Roberto Soldado lead Messi in the scoring race by three goals to two, already.
Full details here.
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Scotland:
Celtic and Rangers both won 2-0 this round, at St. Mirren and over Aberdeen respectively. More impressively, Motherwell also won 4-2 at Dumfermline. They keep pace with Rangers and Celtic at the top. Hearts and Inverness also won, downing Killie 2-1 and Hibs 2-0 respectively. St. Johnstone and Dundee drew 3-3 to close out the 12 team, six match division.
Francisco Sandaza (St. Jonhstone), Gary Hooper (Celtic), Michael Higdon (Motherwell) and Joe Cardle (Dumfermline) all scored doubles while leading scorer Steven Naismith also netted for Rangers. He has four goals.
it's been a traumatic month for Scottish sides with both Rangers and Celtic crashing out of Europe and not making it past the qualifying rounds. However, it's good to see Motherwell join the big two at the top of the standings, however, having played a game more.
Full details here:
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Holland:
Defending champions Ajax continued their assault at the top of the table with a crushing 4-1 over Vitesse at the Amsterdam Arena on Friday. Danish defender Cristian Eriksen, Derrick Boerrigter and a double from Icelandic striker Kolbenin Sigthorsson set the the Amsterdam giants on their way. Alexander got a late goal back for the visitors. Ajax improve to 10 points from their four games and are in second.
The result put the focus back on Twente, who promptly dispatched, in their turn, VV Venlo 4-1 on Saturday as well. Brian Ruiz and Mark Janko got their names on the scoresheet along with Luuk De Jong who chipped in with two goals. The result see Twente stay perfect with four wins from four, at the top of the table. Ahmed Musa briefly levelled for Venlo. Fellow title contender PSV also got in on the action, with a 6-1 hammering of Excelsior on Sunday. Dries Mertens scored a hat-trick, Ola Toivonen scored a double and Jeremain Lens also netted in a result that sees PSV keep pace with Twente and Ajax, although a point behind and in fourth place.
PSV, however, surrender third place in the table, on goal difference to AZ who beat Groningen 3-0 away in an impressive result that sees them win three from four. The title is almost always between Ajax and PSV, however Twente have made a fist of it in recent years, winning in 2010, coming second last year and are the current holders of the Dutch Cup. One of these three, predictably will win the title again, and after a span of PSV dominance, it appears Ajax may have the edge this year.
In other results, RKC Walwijk and NEC both won 2-1 at home, downing NAC Breda and Heracles respectively. Utrecht, shorn of striker Ricky Van Wolswinkel, now at Sporting Lisbon, went one better, beating Roda 3-1 at home. Ado Den Haag picked up an importan away win at Graafschap while Heerenveen held Feyenoord to a a 2-2 draw at the latter's stadium. Zambian striker Jacob Mulenga scored Utrecht's third goal while Wesley Sneijder's younger brother Rodney Sneijder netted the second.
Mertens, off his hat-trick leads all scorers with six goals with Janko behind him in the charts with five. Mulenga and Sigthorsson are tied for third place with four goals each.
Full details here.
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Portugal:
With Porto not playing this weekend, Benfica surged to the top of the table, with a 2-0 away over Nacional. Braga also rose to second place, beating Vitoria Setubal 1-0 away. Oscar Cardozo and Bruno Cesar scored for the Eagles while Helder Barbosa netted for the 2011 Europa League finalists. Both games took place on Monday.
Earlier, on Sunday, Beira Mar and Olhanense also won away from home, beating Guimares 3-0, and Rio Ave, respectively. Sporting Lisbon however suffered a set back losing 3-2 at home to Maritimo despite former Barca attacker Jeffren getting on the score sheet. In the other game on the weekend, Feirense and Pacos drew goalless
On Saturday, Gil Vicente beat Academica 2-0 at home. Benfica lead the table over Braga on goal difference with both teams on seven points. Porto play the Tuesday after the International break. Notably, six red cards were shown over the seven matches.
Full details here.
Hulk still leads the league with three goals.
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| Jeremy Menez |
Sochaux made up for their Europa League elimination at the hands of Metalist Kharkhiv, by edging St. Etienne at home. Ryad Boudebouz scored a double, either side of a striker from Pierre Aubemeyang. Fellow Europa League hopefuls Rennes, who fared far better, beating 1991 European Cup Champions Red Star Belgrade, also won, beating Caen at home 3-2. Razak Boukari, Jeris Ekoko and Abou-Kader Mangane putting Stade into a 3-0 lead before goals from Thomas Heurtaux and Younes Belhanda made it interesting at the death.
Doubles from Moussa Sow and Mathieu Valbuena cancelled each other out in the game between Lille and OM, with Cameroonian defender Aurelian Chedjian's strike making the difference. Mathieu Dossevi gave Valenciennes the early lead at home to Bordeaux before Abdou Traore and Anthony Modeste turned things around for the Girondins. Arnold Mvuemba and Yann Jouffre gave Lorient their second win, in a comeback win over Nancy, show scored through Djamel Bakar. Dijon picked up the points at promoted Evian with Brice Jovial picking up the three points while Nice and Brest played out a goalless draw.
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| Moussa Sow |
With four games gone and the table having some meat on it, Montpellier still lead the table with nine points. Lyon are second with eight with Lille and PSG among seven teams on seven points.
Full details here.
Auxerre's Alain Traore leads everyone with five goals, ahead of Kevin Gameiro, Ryad Boudebouz and Dijon's Brice Jovial with three.
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Germany:
The German league table has a familiar look to it with Bayern Munich, Schalke and Werder Bremen all occupying the top three spots. Bayern and Schalke won for the third week in a row, after losing their opening game, while Werder won for the second straight week.
Old warhorse Raul scored just after the hour to give Schalke the points over Gladbach in Sunday's late game. Roberto Firmino gave Hoffenheim the early lead at home to Bremen before Marko Arnautovic and Markus Rosemberg fought back to take the three points. Mario Gomez's hat trick gave Bayern the points at Kaiserslautern for whom Ivo Ilicevic pulled one back at the death.
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| Mario Gomez |
The game of the round was served up by Cologne and Hamburg, however, who served up a seven goal thriller at the Imtech Arena at Hamburg. Mladen Petric gave Hamburg the early lead from the penalty spot before Adil Chihi and Milivoje Novakovic put the visitors in front. Slobodan Rajkovic and Heung Min-Soon put Hamburg level just after the hour before Canadian Kevin McKenna and Cristian Clemens scored late goals to give Cologne a fully deserved three points.
In addition to the top three Dortmund and Leverkusen both sit in upper midtable on seven points.
Full details here.
Papiss Demba Cisse is joined at the summit by Mario Gomez and Klaas Jan Huntelaar, all on four goals.
--
England:
Manchester inflicted humiliation and misery on North London. Manchester United laid down a statement of intent that sent shockwaves around the continent, while possibly signalling the end for storied Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, with a crushing 8-2 victory at Old Trafford. Citeh meanwhile hammered Spurs at White Hart Lane, 5-1. It's going to be a long season for both of North London's finest as they take up positions at the base of the table.
Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick, Ashley Young a double and youngster Danny Welbeck and Park Ji Sung also got on the scoresheet as United hammered The Gunners, for whom Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie replied. Edin Dzeko scored four and Sergio Aguero notched his third goal of the season as Spurs destroyed Spurs. Younes Kaboul scored a late consolation for the Lillywhites.
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| Edin Dzeko |
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| United crushed Arsenal |
No surprises then to see the top four already occupying those spots in the table with United leading City on goal difference, with both on nine points from three games, followed by Liverpool and Chelsea, who have seven.
Full details here.
Bosnian striker Dzeko leads the charts with six goals followed Rooney with five.
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Spain:
The 2011-12 season finally kicked off, a week late, on account of the player strike. Real Sociedad and Real Betis got things started on Saturday winning away. Sociedad beat Sporting Gijon 2-1, with Imanol Agirretze scoring a double while Miguel De La Cuevas pulled one back from the penalty spot. Ruben Castro gave Betis the points with the only strike of the game, away at promoted Granada. Valencia and Racing Santander however threw on the entertainment with a thrilling 4-3 win at Mestella. Roberto Sodada scored an early goal before putting the ball in at his own end to level things. Lautaro Acosta and Adrian Morales then put Racing into a 3-1 lead before a pair of Soldado goals and a Adil Rami strike gave Valencia the win.
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| Cristiano Ronaldo |
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| Francesc Fabregas has scored in successive games |
More intriguingly, Ronaldo and Roberto Soldado lead Messi in the scoring race by three goals to two, already.
Full details here.
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Scotland:
Celtic and Rangers both won 2-0 this round, at St. Mirren and over Aberdeen respectively. More impressively, Motherwell also won 4-2 at Dumfermline. They keep pace with Rangers and Celtic at the top. Hearts and Inverness also won, downing Killie 2-1 and Hibs 2-0 respectively. St. Johnstone and Dundee drew 3-3 to close out the 12 team, six match division.
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| Francisco Sandaza |
it's been a traumatic month for Scottish sides with both Rangers and Celtic crashing out of Europe and not making it past the qualifying rounds. However, it's good to see Motherwell join the big two at the top of the standings, however, having played a game more.
Full details here:
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Holland:
Defending champions Ajax continued their assault at the top of the table with a crushing 4-1 over Vitesse at the Amsterdam Arena on Friday. Danish defender Cristian Eriksen, Derrick Boerrigter and a double from Icelandic striker Kolbenin Sigthorsson set the the Amsterdam giants on their way. Alexander got a late goal back for the visitors. Ajax improve to 10 points from their four games and are in second.
The result put the focus back on Twente, who promptly dispatched, in their turn, VV Venlo 4-1 on Saturday as well. Brian Ruiz and Mark Janko got their names on the scoresheet along with Luuk De Jong who chipped in with two goals. The result see Twente stay perfect with four wins from four, at the top of the table. Ahmed Musa briefly levelled for Venlo. Fellow title contender PSV also got in on the action, with a 6-1 hammering of Excelsior on Sunday. Dries Mertens scored a hat-trick, Ola Toivonen scored a double and Jeremain Lens also netted in a result that sees PSV keep pace with Twente and Ajax, although a point behind and in fourth place.
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| Dries Mertens |
In other results, RKC Walwijk and NEC both won 2-1 at home, downing NAC Breda and Heracles respectively. Utrecht, shorn of striker Ricky Van Wolswinkel, now at Sporting Lisbon, went one better, beating Roda 3-1 at home. Ado Den Haag picked up an importan away win at Graafschap while Heerenveen held Feyenoord to a a 2-2 draw at the latter's stadium. Zambian striker Jacob Mulenga scored Utrecht's third goal while Wesley Sneijder's younger brother Rodney Sneijder netted the second.
Mertens, off his hat-trick leads all scorers with six goals with Janko behind him in the charts with five. Mulenga and Sigthorsson are tied for third place with four goals each.
Full details here.
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Belgium:
The big surprise at this stage of the season is that three unheralded sides occupy the top three spots in the Jupiler Pro League table. The trio of Gent (not to be confused with reigning Champions Genk), Cercle Brugge (poor cousins of city rivals Club Brugge) and Mechelen, are in the top three with identical 3-1-1 records and 10 points from five games each.
Heavyweights Anderlecht and Standard Liege are in mid-table for now a couple of points behind with eight while Genk are still to discover their rhythm and sit in ninth spot with six points. Genk actually held Mechelen to a 0-0 draw on Saturday to keep the latter from opening up a gap at the top. Gent beat Lierse 1-0 with a goal from Cesar Arzo, while Cercle beat bottom side Westerlo 3-1 away with Kristof De Haene scoring a double.
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| Jelle Van Damme |
Anderlecht and Standard could only manage 1-1 away draws at Club Brugge and Beerschot respectively with former Liverpool winger Milan Jovanovic scoring a late equaliser on his return to his former club. National team striker Jelle Van Damme also netted, giving Standard the lead in their game.
Both Mons and Kortrijk impressed, beating Waregem and Truiden respectively. An Ernest N'For double paced Kortrijk to a 4-0 win while Ebrahima Savaneh also netted a double to pace Mons. Both clubs take up places in the top six for now. Finally Leuven beat Lokeren to keep some distance from the bottom three and sit on six points.
Mons Jeremy Perbet still leads all scorers with five goals.
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Portugal:
With Porto not playing this weekend, Benfica surged to the top of the table, with a 2-0 away over Nacional. Braga also rose to second place, beating Vitoria Setubal 1-0 away. Oscar Cardozo and Bruno Cesar scored for the Eagles while Helder Barbosa netted for the 2011 Europa League finalists. Both games took place on Monday.
Earlier, on Sunday, Beira Mar and Olhanense also won away from home, beating Guimares 3-0, and Rio Ave, respectively. Sporting Lisbon however suffered a set back losing 3-2 at home to Maritimo despite former Barca attacker Jeffren getting on the score sheet. In the other game on the weekend, Feirense and Pacos drew goalless
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| Oscar Cardozo |
Full details here.
Hulk still leads the league with three goals.
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Europe awaits the kickoff of the Italian Serie A, however there could be delays with a player strike in effect on the peninsula.
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| Roberto Soldado netted a hat-trick |
Also, keep an eye out for the International break with games not schedule for the next two weeks and league football only resuming on the weekend of September 10, 2011. A full roundup of those international games, featuring two rounds of Euro 2012 qualification will appear on this blog.
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