10 December 2008
LYON 2 (Govou 52, Benzema 68)
BAYERN MUNICH 3 (Klose 11, Ribery 34, Klose 37)
As Mensah intercepted a pass into the box he ran into Toulalan, Borowski tackled him before he could clear, Mensah inexplicably back heeled the ball into Toulalan, he was tackled again, this time by Ribery and Klose brought this farce to an end by shooting past Lloris. Benzema came within the width of a post to scoring an immediate equaliser. With his back to play 40 yards from goal Toni brought down a goalkick and played in Ribery with a great reverse pass, Ribery held off Gassama and placed a low shot into the bottom right corner. Ribery made the third with a glorious first time pass from the right which Klose volleyed over Lloris though replays suggest the ball took a deflection off Grosso. Rensing parried what should have been a routine save from Ederson and Govou tapped in the rebound. The always impressive Benzema ran onto a deflected pass, rounded Rensing and tapped into an empty net.
Good luck to anyone who draws Bayern in the last 16, they'll need it.
Attendance : 38,349
Assists : n/a, Toni, Ribery, n/a, n/a
STEAUA BUCHAREST 0
FIORENTINA 1 (Gilardino 66)
Attendance : 14,500
Red Card : Golanski 72 (Steaua Bucharest)
Assist : Vargas (ck)
25 November 2008
BAYERN MUNICH 3 (Klose 57, Toni 61, Klose 71)
STEAUA BUCHAREST 0
Luca Toni rediscovered his Euro 2008 form and once again embarrassed the great legacy of Italian footballers. The useless big goof did however played a part in the opening goal. He horribly miscued a volley and full back Oddo ran onto the loose ball and fired a mid height cross towards the penalty spot, Ribery's attempted diving header fell kindly for Klose to volley in from 6 yards. Toni made it 2-0 with a diving header.
Ze Roberto started a counter attack with a tackle deep, deep in his own half, Ribery skipped away from a challenge on the half way line onto his pass, ran upfield and wisely ignored Toni before feeding Klose for his second.
Attendance : 65,000
Assists : Ribery, Klose, Ribery
FIORENTINA 1 (Gilardino 45)
LYON 2 (Makoun 15, Benzema 27)
Keita ran onto a double deflection off a Govou shot and pulled the ball back across the face of goal, Benzema held up possession and waited before centring for Makoun to smash past Frey. Montolivo, Saturday's two goal hero, was caught in possession by Juninho and he released Benzema who beat Frey with a perfectly placed shot from 25 yards. Gilardino gave Fiorentina hope with a superb header from a Santana cross but as in the previous tie Prandelli's young side failed to take any of the numerous chances they created.
Fiorentina should find the UEFA Cup more forgiving assuming they don't screw up in their last match against Steaua Bucharest.
Attendance : 35,000
Assists : Benzema, Juninho, Santana
5 November 2008
FIORENTINA 1 (Mutu 11)
BAYERN MUNICH 1 (Borowski 78)
Gilardino flicked out Zauri's deep inswinging cross which Adrian 'the 8 ball' Mutu volleyed past Rensing. Montolivo made a half hearted attempt to clear Ribery's hopeful cross, the ball fell to Borowski and he scored as the Fiorentina defence appealed in vain for offside.
Attendance : 40,000
Assists : Zauri, n/a
LYON 2 (Juninho 44 fk, Reveillere 89)
STEAU BUCHAREST 0
Steaua's coach was furious when the ref awarded Lyon a free kick, 35 yards from goal. He should have saved his fury for goalkeeper Zapata who was beaten but a low but not particularly well struck shot. Reveillere scored late in the second half. Taking advantage of the space left by Keita's marker, he ran to the edge of the D before shooting over the poorly positioned Zapata.
Attendance : 30,243
Assists : Juninho (won fk), Delgado
21 October 2008
BAYERN MUNICH 3 (Klose 4, Schweinsteiger 25, Ze Roberto 90)
FIORENTINA 0
Toni headed on a longball and Klose powered through a Vargas challenge before angling the ball wide of Frey. Minutes after Felipe Melo missed an open goal Toni initiated another attack by flicking on a longball, this time to Ribery. Vargas sliced the Frenchman's lazy pass to Schweinsteiger and he turned the Peruvian inside out before slamming a right foot shot past Frey. Gilardino and Mutu flashed shots wide of Rensing's post but in truth Fiorentina were a distant second best. Ze Roberto finished them off with a marvellous solo effort.
Attendance : 66,000
Assists : n/a, n/a, Demichelis
STEAUA BUCHAREST 3 (Arthuro 8, Goian 11, Petre 45)
LYON 5 (Keita 23, Benzema 33, Fred 69, Benzema 71, Fred 92)
Lyon fell behind to a brace of headed goals though Lloris was responsible for the second, horribly misjudging the bounce on Goian's header. Keita, not to be confused with the former Sevilla midfielder of the same name, began the first comeback with an explosive right foot volley and Fred took advantage of poor marking to head the seven time French champions level. Steaua did Lyon on another corner though this time Lloris was powerless to stop Petre's bullet header. Within two minutes of replacing Keita, Fred equalised, thrashing Toulalan's lay-off past Zapata. Benzema delicately volleyed a Juninho free kick into the bottom right corner. Beautiful goal. Mounier took advantage of space down the left to fashion a chance for Fred which he took at the second time of asking.
Attendance : 17,000
Assists : Ogararu, Nicolita (ck), Makoun, Grosso, Nicolita (ck), Toulalan, Juninho (fk), n/a
30 September 2008
FIORENTINA 0
STEAUA BUCHAREST 0
Attendance : 25,000
Assists : n/a
BAYERN MUNICH 1 (Ze Roberto 52)
LYON 1 (Demichelis 25 og)
Juninho fired in a free kick from the half way line and before anyone could react the ball had hit the back of the net. Replays showed it clipped the top of Demichelis's head. Oddo touched on a Demichelis pass, sending Klose down the right and Ze Roberto met his cross with a spectacular mid-air header into the top left corner.
Bayern spent €60 million to rebuild their team last season and they still need past it Ze Roberto to haul their arses out of the fire.
Attendance : 64,000
Assists : n/a, Klose
17 September 2008
STEAUA BUCHAREST 0
BAYERN MUNICH 1 (Van Buyten 15)
Attendance : 20,000
Assist : Schweinsteiger (fk)
LYON 2 (Piquionne 73, Benzema 86)
FIORENTINA 2 (Gilardino 12, 42)
You can always rely on prize fuck-up Boumsong to make a blunder and he did just that on 12 minutes, carelessly handing back possession after intercepting a speculative cross. Zauri chipped the ball into the box, Lloris slipped as he came off his line and Gilardino headed into an empty net. Almiron sent Mutu free down the right and his far post cross was met by the unmarked Gilardino who punched a header into the bottom right corner.
Fiorentina were fuming when that terrible Swedish ref, Peter Frojdfeldt, failed to stop play following a clash of heads between Zauri and Govou that left the Italian midfielder on his knees, Lyon continued to attack, Benzema collected a Juninho pass and centred for Piquionne, played onside by the injured Zauri to tap in. Shades of the Netherlands first goal against Italy at Euro 2008. Zauri was substituted minutes later with a suspected fractured cheekbone. Fiorentina collapsed but seemed to have rode out the storm until Frojdfeldt gave the home side a soft free kick. Juninho played the ball around the wall and Benzema broke from the pack to smash past Frey via a deflection. Terrible officiating and terrible sportsmanship by the French.
Attendance : 43,000
Assists : Zauri, Mutu, Benzema, n/a