Puddle's UCL Recap: A Week of Stunners

Edinson Cavani after scoring against Chelsea: AP Images

So it turns out that the UEFA Champions League isn't necessarily as predictable as one might think, judging from this last week's results. I think one wouldn't be blamed for picking Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter, and Bayern Munich to go through from the teams that played this week, but they all either lost or were drawn into a late draw. Here's my recap of the action for the week.

CSKA Moscow vs. Real Madrid
I think Madrid knew they were in for a tough match in Russia against CSKA. All one has to do is look at the Zenit vs. Benfica game last week to tell how difficult the conditions are in Russia this time of year. Even so, Madrid controlled the match fairly easily. Cristiano Ronaldo scored first on 28 minutes, blasting a shot in after a cross from Fabio Coentrao. In the second half, Madrid had several chances to put it away, notably from Ozil and Ronaldo, but couldn't get the ball into the back of the net again.

This set up the week's first dramatics. Late in stoppage time Aleksei Berezutski passed up a shot on target and passed over to Pontus Wernbloom, who shot before the Madrid defense could switch over and beat Casillas from 7 yards to seal the draw, 1-1. Still Madrid have the away goal, so one would suspect with the next leg of the tie in Spain, they should still advance.

Napoli vs. Chelsea
Okay, this one was tough to even watch the highlights of, let alone write about as a Chelsea FC fan. I'm not sure what's going on under AVB, but it's not quality football. Especially at the back. The Blues actually jumped on top first in this one, with Juan Mata snatching a goal on 27 minutes. After that, Chelsea's defense fell apart, and the match became a nightmare.

Napoli equalized in the 38th minute. Ezequiel Lavezzi blasted home a shot from distance after being left totally alone by the Chelsea defense. Edinson Cavani gave the Italian side the lead right before half time, with a header/body shot that could have been a handball. David Luiz cucked up yet again in the 65th minute by kicking the ball right to Cavani, who passed to Lavezzi. Lavezzi then completed his brace by tapping into the relatively empty net to make the final 3-1.

This result and player selection has finally turned me totally against AVB. He is just not ready for this type of pressure yet, in my opinion. Still, the Blues aren't out of it, if they can get their defense to get better. A 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge would see them through, and they are more than capable of that.

FC Basel vs Bayern Munich
This one was really the shocker of the week, as Basel absolutely STUNNED the German giants. It really was a good match, with Basel showing a lot of attacking intent despite the edge in possession for Bayern. Basel in even hit the woodwork twice in the first half.

Both defenses tightened down in the second half, allowing for far fewer chances. Still, Basel found their breakthrough in the 86th minute. The German defense collapsed a little bit, and Jacques Zoua was able to find Valentin Stocker unmarked on the left side. He nutmegged Bayern 'keeper Manuel Neuer to give the Swiss side a 1-0 win. Still, Bayern should feel fairly confident heading home as well.

Marseille vs. Inter Milan
It's always tough to play Marseille in France, but one has to think Inter should have done better here. They too were shocked late. Inter was anxious all night long and allowed Marseille plenty of looks. Both Forlan and Schneider had major chances as well, but once again Inter was not amongst the goals.

The French took the win literally on the last kick of match. Andre Ayew snuck away from Chivu and headed in a corner kick to make it 1-0 and disappoint Inter once again. Still, like Bayern and Madrid, Inter should fancy their chances going back to the San Siro, but they'll need to tighten things up quite a bit.

UCL: FC Basel vs. Manchester United

Well what have we here? Earlier in the week Chelsea were taking all kinds of fire in the soccer world for the possibility of being eliminated from the Champions League before the knock out stage. I guess we all thought it was forgone conclusion that United would get through. Well, I guess Basel didn't get the memo, because they showed up BIG TIME.

To be fair, United started pretty well. They controlled the ball in the opening 5 or 6 minutes and looked to be chiseling away at the Basel defense. However, once Basel got possession, they did something with it.

All hell broke loose along the United back line in the 9th minute. Both Smalling and Vidic went up for the same cross in their 18 and collided. Smalling fell dazed, and Basel gathered the ball and sent it back in toward the six, which just seemed to baffle United. Captain Marco Streller hammered the ball past David De Gea, who still doesn't look comfortable, and into the net for the 1-0 lead.

It got worse for the Red Devils before the half as well. Captain Nemanja Vidic went into a challenge and twisted his knee. He went down and started waving his hands for medical attention immediately. Initial reports were not good, suggesting ligament damage that could sideline him for months.

Basel added an insurance goal in the second half. In the 84th minute, Alex Frei headed home a ball to the far post that seemed to assure the Swiss a victory with a 2-0 lead. However, United didn't give up, as Phil Jones knocked the ball barely over the line in the 89th minute to make it 2-1. However, United couldn't come up with any magic during stoppage time, and 2-1 was the full time result.

The loss puts United into the Europa League, which I'm sure they'll want no part of. It's Thursday fixtures are a drain for the league weekends. Credit to FC Basel, they showed up, while United played like they were in dreamland for most of the match.