MLS Transactions; RSL Acquire Local Boy, Vancouver Sells Chiumiento

RSL have acquired former Chivas and Montreal striker Justin Braun (right)

There were a couple of big time moves that went down in MLS yesterday, one will be of particular interest to Real Salt Lake Fans.  RSL have acquired striker Justin Braun from the Montreal Impact for a conditional 2014 SuperDraft pick.  So basically RSL acquired the 2nd leading scorer in Chivas USA history for practically nothing.

Braun is also the only native of Salt Lake City currently playing in MLS, so it will be a homecoming for him.  It gives the Claret and Cobalt a nice local tie in.  Braun adds immediate depth to the RSL front line, and he is expected to compete with Paulo Jr and Emiliano Bonfigli for the the 3rd striker roll behind Alvaro Saborio and Fabian Espindola.  This will be crucial going into CONCACAF Champions League play.

Braun had 24 goals in all for Chivas USA.  He went to the Impact in a deal during the off season, but never caught on north of the border.  He's played in 12 games for the Impact this year, but has yet to score in 2012.

In other MLS player news, the Vancouver Whitecaps sold Davide Chiumiento to Swiss Super League side FC Zurich.  This is somewhat puzzling as he's been a key cog in the Whitecaps lineup this year, leading the club with five assists.  His role is expected to be filled by Scotsman Barry Robson, who has yet to impress after outings against Colorado and TFC.

Chiumiento has played in the Swiss League before.  He spent three years with FC Luzern in his native country.  In 2009-2010 he scored 11 goals for the club.

UCL: FC Zurich vs. Bayern Munich

So if you read my match blog about the Bayern vs. Zurich tie from last week, you know I had high hopes about this leg. I was hoping that back in front of their home support, Zurich would put up a fight.

Well, that didn't happen.

Bayern iced it early. Mario Gomez, who missed so many chances last week, iced it early on in this one. In the 7th minute, Bayern came up the field with a nice looking counter attack. Gomez got on the ball and calmly dispatched the Zurich 'keeper to make 0-1 and 0-3 on aggregate.

Seriously folks, that's all she wrote. After that, Bayern kicked the ball around a lot and Zurich looked positively frightened of the ball.

Needless to say, Bayern will advance to the Champions League group stage and Zurich will take their, um, "game" to the Europa League. Maybe there the competition won't dwarf them. Lame.

UCL: Bayern Munich vs. FC Zurich

The two cities of Munich and Zurich are only separated by about 150 miles. Zurich had a noisy contingent at the stadium in Munich, unfortunately, they didn't see much great football from either side.

What they saw was a battle played largely in midfield, with Munich getting chances and missing most of them. It certainly wasn't impressive at all.

That being said, Munich jumped on top in the early going. In the 8th minute, Arjen Robben sent a nice ball in that found Bastian Schweinsteiger. The German international calmly volleyed it home to give Munich the 1-0 lead.

Did Zurich have chances? Not really. They did get one header off a free kick late in the first half, but it was headed right in to the waiting hands of Bayern 'keeper Neuer. Maybe Bayern fans will start to think he's worth the price tag. At least they didn't get David De Gea.

The pattern of not much football continued in the second half. Every time Munich got a chance, they blew it. It started to look like Zurich would weather the storm for the most part. That changed late though, again coming off the foot of Arjen Robben. In the 72nd minute, the Bayern attacker slipped his marker near the top of the area and smacked the ball into the top corner far post to seal the 2-0 win for the German side.

All in all, 2 goals, no away goals conceded, it looks like job done for Munich. However, much like Arsenal, they failed to really play impressive football that would make them look like a possibility for going deep into the tournament. Zurich would have been better off not conceding the second goal, but the tie is far from over.