Didier Drogba returned to Champions League Play with Galatasaray (Getty Images)
The second week of knockout action in the UEFA Champions League action certainly provided some interesting results, though not a lot of it along with the pundits' scripts. Out of the eight teams that played, probably only one really punched their ticket to the next round, but there definitely could be some surprises in store in the second legs.
The action kicked off on Tuesday with Arsenal hosting last year's finalists Bayern Munich at the Emirates in London. The Gunners were reeling after the weekend saw them drop out of the FA Cup with a home loss to Blackburn. Sadly for Arsenal supporters, things didn't improve on Tuesday as Bayern were up two goals within 25 minutes courtesy of Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller.
Arsenal did manage to survive until halftime without conceding again, and a stroke of luck awarded them a comeback goal in the second half. The referee wrongly awarded a corner kick to the Gunners after Santi Cazorla's shot defected off of his own man. Bayern 'keeper Manuel Neuer totally flubbed on the corner, missing the ball completely. Arsenal man Lucas Podolski was in the right place at the right time to nod the ball into goal to give Arsenal hope on on 55 minutes, but Matrio Mandzukic struck in minute 77 to ice the match 1-3 to Bayern. It's tough to see the Gunners going to Germany and making up the deficit, but as Chelsea fans will tell you, stranger things have happened. However, I do believe at this point that Bayern are as good as through.
Tuesday's other match took place in Portugal as FC Porto hosted La Liga's Malaga. Much of the punditry, especially on Fox, gave Malaga the advantage in this one, despite Porto's excellent record at home in Europe. Malaga have been decent in La Liga this year, but far from world beaters, and to me, they're a bit over-rated.
Porto controlled the possession 63%-37%, but the match offered few clear chances for either side. Finally Porto broke through in the second half though. Portugal international Joao Moutinho took a pass from Alex Sandro, who positioned him well between the final Malaga defender and goalkeeper. From there it was only for Moutinho to side foot the ball into the net to give Porto the 1-0 win. The hosts would probably have preferred to see a bigger advantage for all their possession, but Malaga will be disappointed not to come away with the away goal.
The shocker of the week came Wednesday at San Siro in Milan as AC Milan hosted Barcelona, who have looked to be a juggernaut in most of their competitions this year. Barca seemed to sputter a little more than usual against Milan, albeit on an obviously choppy pitch. Kevin-Prince Boateng put the home side up early in the second half, but in controversial fashion. Riccardo Montolivo took a shot the quite clearly deflected off the arm of Milan's Christian Zapata, but there was no whistle. The ball fell to Boateng, who managed to slot past Victor Valdes to give Milan the 1-0 lead on 56 minutes. Gerard "Mr. Shakira" Pique was booked for dissent after the goal.
There wasn't controversy in the 81st minute though as Sulley Muntari beat Valdes with an excellent finish to make it 2-0 on full time. The organized Italian side contained Messi for most of the match and their lead is well deserved, despite the obvious talking point. Certainly Barca are more than capable of making up the ground at Camp Nou, but it might be a bit tougher without the away goal. Don't bury them yet though.
The final game of the week took place in Turkey as a revitalized Galatasary squad hosted Schalke 04. With former UCL champions Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba now in the fold, the Turkish side looked to be in good shape for a deep run in the knockout stages. They even took the lead only 12 minutes in when Burak Yilmaz. Yilmaz wowed the crowd by flicking the ball over a Schalke defender then banging into the net to get to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
Schalke had some other things in mind though. Right before halftime Jefferson Farfan set up US International Jermaine Jones after Gala gave the ball away in midfield. Jones took the pass and calmly beat Gala 'keeper Fernando Muslera to tie the score at 1-1. It would be the last scoring of the day. Schalke will be well pleased with the way goal.
There is some controversy surrounding this result as well as Schalke have officially challenged the match with UEFA. The concern is over Drogba's inclusion in the Galatasaray squad. Drogba was given a temporary license with UEFA after the Ivorian striker contended that his contract with the Chinese club he joined was void after they failed to pay his wages for three months. He then joined Galatasaray. However, there is some dispute over this, and UEFA is investigating the legal status of the contract. Schalke is contending that Drogba was ineligible to play pending the outcome of this investigation. I doubt UEFA will do anything given the temporary license, but we'll see. At any rate, the result is a positive one for the German club.
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