Champions League recap:
- Arsenal held serve at home and disposed of Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 to keep their hopes of advancing from the Group Stages alive. They were aided when Bayern Munich did the same to Olympiakos. Arsenal's progression relies on them traveling to Greece and getting a win by two goals or more, to offset the goal difference. That game is going to be fun to watch.
- Manchester United really soiled themselves when they were unable to beat PSV at Old Trafford. A win for the Red Devils would have sent them through to the knockout stages. With this draw, paired with Wolfsburg going to Russia and getting a win, it means that ManU has to go to Germany and win. There's a very real chance that United wouldn't even get out of the group if they're unable to beat Wolfsburg and PSV beats CSKA Moscow. That scenario would definitely be something to watch.
- Barcelona saw the return of Leo Messi to the starting lineup and absolutely pummeled Roma. How thorough was the whooping? Even Roma's keeper said, “It was beautiful to watch because we played against a team from another planet. I was in goal playing for AS Roma, but I appreciated what I saw from Barcelona. They were ridiculously good. As hard as it is to lose a game 6-1, it was beautiful to watch.”... They demolished Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeau and now this. They're currently going for +275 on a Future bet to win this tournament. Definitely in top-notch form right now.
- The most exciting game had to be Real Madrid visiting Shakhtar Donetsk. The game was completely lopsided for 77 minutes as Madrid led 4-0. Then Shakhtar were awarded a penalty. In the next 11 minutes, the hosts put three goals on the board and completely had Madrid boss Rafa Benitez shaking in his boots. The home crowd was fantastic during that comeback. Had Shakhtar tied it up, there would have been riots of excitement. After Real Madrid's embarrassment to Barcelona, fans had to be happy to see their offense get back on track, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two goals. But the defense needs repair. That's supposedly Benitez's expertise, so we'll see what comes of this game. Was it a case of Madrid just coasting with a 4-0 lead? Or something else? Time will tell.
- As always, these matches are a ton of fun to watch. Seeing a team like PSV beat Manchester United 2-1 in Holland, and then hold them to a scoreless draw in England is great entertainment. The Beautiful Game indeed.
Europa League returns later today. You can see Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Napoli, and Liverpool in action. All of those teams are hot on the trail of the leaders in their domestic leagues, so it'll be interesting to see how they eventually handle this Europa League should they continue on past the group stages.