Comments on: Champions League Liveblog: Zenit St. Petersburg v Real Madrid

By: 9 champion leagues

9 champion leagues — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:45:06 +0000

i agree, zenit carried the pace and Real went for the break, higuain also had another chance to score…

By: Corey

Corey — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:26:33 +0000

You shouldnt take away from the fact that Real got a result in Russia against a very good Zenit team. Any team will look frail defensively when they are under such intense pressure for most of the second half. As fans we should expect incredible showcases of flowing football on the road every game, because that is not realistic. 3 points well earned, and other then Heinze being the goat for the first goal, I dont have to many complaints about the players.

By: 9 champion leagues

9 champion leagues — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:11:12 +0000

I disagree, perhaps zenit deserved to equal the scoreboard but Real’s fulltime defensive mentality was tough to keep up. Arshavin is one difficult player to hold down but that’s what Real pretended…if he gets passed Ramos, then pepe comes to the rescue and cannavaro to heinze’s on the left side.

I think Schuster was too catious to change V D Vaart for javi garcia since the game was doomed to be played extradefensively for the resting 30 minutes! This match proves Real’s improved synergy, zenit is perhaps the toughest team to play and even worse in their turf.

By: Gonzalo @ All In White

Gonzalo @ All In White — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:12:44 +0000

The main difference between the two sides was probably the defence – Real’s wasn’t that great (or you could say Arshavin *burned* Ramos most of the night and Danny gave everyone else headaches), but Zenit don’t have a central defender as good as Pepe or even Cannavaro. Casillas also had a pretty good night, so, all in all, Real were probably fortunate to leave with all three points instead of just one which would, on balance, have been fairer.

Higuaín had plenty of chances to put it away, but was not as inspired today as he has been of late. Someone said that the pace wasn’t that high – I thought most of the first half was frenetic and it didn’t slow down that much in the second – VDV and DLR mostly played one-touch football to get the ball forward, and VDV looked shattered when he was substituted on the hour mark.

Pepe is getting a lot of credit in the Spanish press, but even he did not have a perfect game and a couple of fluffed balls needed Casillas to be at his best reflex-wise.

I wonder if RVN will get a rest on Sunday and it’ll be Raul and Higuain up front. Will Saviola get a start this year? It doesn’t look like it (unless injury forces Schuster’s hand).

By: James

James — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:01:44 +0000

John,
Worldsoccershop.com has the third kits on sale right now for like 55 bucks…I gotta get one too! Huge victory and 3 points for the whites today on the road in a tough environment!

By: Corey

Corey — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:09:14 +0000

Dancy will have a not-so-live blog up eventually, and that will suffice for a review of the game. I will work on the weekend preview tomorrow.

By: john

john — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:25:13 +0000

Oh, and I gotta get me the Black long sleeve De la Red Champion’s League kit. Anybody know a good place to find one online?

By: john

john — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:23:26 +0000

I only watched the second half, and I thought it was embarrassing. Madrid could not retain possession, were completely disorganized in defense, and only luck kept the ball out of the net (along with a couple nifty saves from Casillas). What was really bothering me is that the players were jogging after the ball – they didn’t seem to want to be bothered. But hey, whether or not RM deserved it, they’ll be leaving Leningrad with 3 points, and at this point they’re the only team to get maximum points from their first two games.

And I don’t want to turn this into a debate, but I was shocked that Raul wasn’t out there tonight. Good to see Schuster put some faith in the kids.

By: Cesar

Cesar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:23:54 +0000

I saw the whole game, and it was a very tough victory, Zenit really made Real sweat, but I’m pleased with the way our boys played, specially De la Red, Diarra and Ruud

Robben, now it’s two games in a row where I’ve seen him too selfish, but hey, he’s still a big part of what makes the team play well

take care everybody

By: Kaushik

Kaushik — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:39:30 +0000

couldn’t see the game. but the result sounds awesome. and glad russia trip is over at a relatively warmer time than what juve have to play them.