Champions League Review

The 2nd match-day of the Champions League came to a close earlier this week with some shocking results! Manchester United drew 1-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk away from home, Italian side Juventus also drew 2-2 at home against Galatasaray whilst in-form English side Arsenal eased past Italian giants SSC Napoli with two goals for The Gunners coming from newly signed German star Mesut Özil and Oliver Giroud (his goal assisted by the same Özil).

Arsenal celebrating their 2-0 victory over SSC Napoli

In my opinion, the most outstanding match of the night was that between Manchester City and Bayern München. An early goal from Ribéry [7'] and two successive goals from Müller [56'] and Robben [60'] were enough to secure the German side a win after a late goal for Man.City, (coming from Spanish striker Negredo [88']) was not enough to save his side from a humiliating home defeat. With this win, Bayern are sitting comfortably at the top of Group D, with a 3 point advantage over the same Manchester City.

German striker Thomas Müller scoring the 2nd goal for his side's 3-1 victory against Manchester City

The other results from the other Groups in the Champions League were as following:

Group A                                                                            

Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Real Sociedad

Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Manchester United

Group B 

Juventus 2-2 Galatasaray

Real Madrid 4-0 FC København

Group C 

Anderlecht 0-3 Olympiakos

Paris Saint Germain 3-0 Benfica

Group D 

CSKA Moscow 3-2 Viktoria Plzen

Manchester City 1-3 Bayern München

Group E 

Basel 0-1 Schalke 04

Steaua Bucuresti 0-4 Chelsea

Group F 

Arsenal 2-0 SSC Napoli

Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Marseille

Group G 

Zenit Petersburg 0-0 Austria Wien

FC Porto 1-2 Atletico Madrid

Group H 

Ajax 1-1 AC Milan

Celtic 0-1 Barcelona

"Bale is not happy" insists Carlo Ancelotti

Gareth Bale making his Real Madrid "dream" debut

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti stated that the big money signing Gareth Bale is not happy at Real Madrid as he wants playing time. Since being sidelined with a thigh injury, Bale has only featured twice for Los Blancos and netting just one goal. The Welshman is frustrated after missing his side's 4-0 Champions League win against F.C. Copenhagen in Denmark earlier this week. Continuing to his despair, Ancelotti announced that Bale will also be missing this weekend's La Liga fixture against Levante. Real's medical staff stated though that Gareth should be fully recovered in 2 weeks and therefore, will be at Ancelotti's aid.

Champions League night!

The UEFA Champions League trophy

Tonight, the UEFA Champions League will be back with heaps of must-see matches. In my opinion, the main match will be that at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal will take on SSC Napoli. Arsenal are currently at the top of the English Premier League, having won five and lost only one out of the six matches that they played so far. French boss Arsene Wenger is highly confident that his side is capable of snatching the full 3 points tonight: "If we win the second game we know we can qualify," he said. "I wouldn't say it is already a decisive game - but it is a game that will have a great bearing on who qualifies.'' On the other hand, Italian side Napoli are also in fine form in the Serie A as they are only 2 points short of current league holders, AS Roma. To their disadvantage, Rafael Benítez's side will definitely be without Christian Maggio (knee), while he is also sweating on the fitness of Raul Albiol and Gonzalo Higuain.

This match will kick-off at 20:45, alongside with the other teams battling it out for qualification:

Group E
Basel vs. Schalke 04
Steaua Bucuresti vs. Chelsea

Group F
*Arsenal vs. SSC Napoli
Borussia Dortmund vs. Marseille

Group G
Zenit Petersburg vs. Austria Wien (This match will start at 18:00 due to it being held in Russia)
FC Porto vs. Atletico Madrid

Group H
Ajax vs. AC Milan
Celtic vs. Barcelona