A Week to Remember and Forget

This week was quite memorable for some teams, both club and national. It's also a week that a lot of people want to forget.

As I covered earlier in the week, the Champion's League reset this week with first leg wins by Bayern Munich and Lyon. But the big story of the week isn't necessarily the results, but rather the aftermath.

I failed to mention in a previous post, that during the time Ivica Olic was scoring the winning goal against Manchester United on Tuesday, Wayne Rooney had a collision with Mario Gomez. He ended up twisting his ankle, and will now miss up to three weeks of action. This is crucial due to his superb form as of late. This could likely be a set back for both Manchester United and the English National Team alike.

The biggest story comes from the huge game on Wednesday between defending champions Barcelona and Arsenal. The first half saw Pep Guardiola's side rain down a barrage of shots on Manuel Almunia. The Spaniard was summoned to make superb save after superb save to deny the likes of Messi and Ibrahimovic. Arsenal mustered up a couple of chances, but really failed to move the ball out of their back third and failed to play simple balls.

The second half saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic score his first goal ever against English opposition in less than a minute. A long ball was played into the right side of the penalty area and the Swede chipped it over the head of Almunia. Thirteen minutes later, Ibrahimovic found himself with an opportunity in the box yet again and hammered one over the head of Almunia and into the goal from a difficult angle.

Arsenal seemed all but out of the game until a substitution saw youngster Theo Walcott brought in for Bacary Sagna to add some much needed attack on the wings. A minute or so after being brought in, Walcott dribbled his way into the box and slid one past Victor Valdes. Arsenal really started to battle back, putting the Barcelona back four on their heels. And in the 85th minute, a through ball saw Arsenal Captain, Cesc Fabregas into the box, where he collided with fellow Spaniard Carlos Puyol. The defender was sent off and Arsenal was awarded a penalty kick that Fabregas emphatically drove home.

What wasn't apparent after the foul, was surely noticed shortly after the celebration when Cesc came up limping. It's now been reported that he has a cracked fibula. He's been ruled out for the season and possibly relinquishes his spot on the Spanish roster for this year's World Cup. Fabregas joins Gallas, and possibly Andrei Arshavin, who are likely out for the remainder of the year with injuries.

Battling back to salvage some damage seems in vein now. Losing their best forward, best midfielder and best defender all in the same game is crucial, especially given the fact they are very close to the top of the standings in the English Premier League. Arsene Wenger will have to rally his troops and hope that some very young, and inexperienced players will step up in their absence.

Barcelona seem to have the tie in hand going back to Camp Nou next week. They showed absolute dominance in most of the game and secured two crucial away goals. It will be their game to lose on Tuesday.

The other fixture that took place Wednesday, wasn't as dramatic as the other, but was still big nonetheless. It featured perennial Italian champions Inter Milan and the surprising CSKA Moscow side who has stepped up in big games this tournament. The Azzuri(Inter Milan) bombarded the Russians with shot after shot, taking a total of twenty-five shots, putting nine on goal, all the while controlling 56% of the possession. CSKA only managed a total of ten shots, putting three on target, and proved to be the telling factor of the game. The constant pressure finally gave way to a goal in the 65th minute by Diego Milito. They gained a win without giving up that crucial away goal.

A day or two after reports surfaced about Jose Murinho's lack of satisfaction in Italy, he still managed to coach his team to a much needed victory against a very game Moscow side. It's clear that he really wants to return to England to manage, but is showing his great managing skills in the process.

The next set of games start on Tuesday. CSKA Moscow vs. Inter Milan and Barcelona vs. Arsenal.

Great matches so far, and I'm hoping for some more of the same in next week's games.