After a Tuesday that proved pretty positive for most of the prognosticators, it’s on to Wednesday and UEFA Champions League action in Groups A-D.
Hopefully, Wednesday’s matches produce a little more offense. There were two scoreless draws on Tuesday, and the eight matches featured a scant nine goals – with no team netting more than twice (Barcelona, Stuttgart, and Arsenal).
Group C is where most of the attention will be faced Wednesday, as Real Madrid and AC Milan both stand tied for first on 7 points, with Marseille lurking just a point behind, and even FC Zurich not out of it with 3 points. Zurich, however, must go to Madrid, while Milan host Marseille. Wins by the hosts would lock elimination round berths up for both big clubs.
You know the drill: 10 points for the winner and exact score; 5 points for the winner and the right margin of victory; 2 points for just having the winner; as well as 10 points for calling the exact score for a draw; or 5 points for calling a draw and having it hit, but with a different score.
It’s never too late to join in The Run for the Signed Soccer Ball.
The schedule, my picks, and the current standings below.
GROUP A
* Bayern Munich v. Maccabi Haifa (Very cautiously, I’m picking Munich. BAY 1-0)
* Bordeaux v. Juventus (Just a hunch that the visitors are going to rise up here. JUV 2-1)
GROUP B
* CSKA Moscow v. Wolfsburg (Tough place to play, but I’m going to put some faith in Wolfsburg getting a result here. 1-1 DRAW)
* Manchester United v. Besiktas (If we’re going to see some style from United, it might well be in this spot. MUFC 3-1)
GROUP C
* AC Milan v. Marseille (I would love to see Marseille advance out of this group, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. ACM 2-1)
* Real Madrid v. FC Zurich (Madrid win for fun, but forget about defending. RM 6-3)
GROUP D
* Apoel Nicosia v. Atletico Madrid (Tough roadie, but I’ll take the chance. ATL 1-0)
* FC Porto v. Chelsea (Not quite the intrigue any more, huh. CHEL 2-0)
COMPOSITE STANDINGS
1) 166 – writered21
2) 137 – aaronstollar
3) 109 – RegularGuy
4) 101 – dkstones
5) 65 – nica1004
6) 60 – tomwilhelm
7) 31 – FlashMan
8) 19 – Lowecifer
9) 5 – RandyNA
10) 2 – FFCinPCB
I’ll do the early game first and then edit later with the later games before they start.
CSKA 1-1 Woflsburg
The other 7:
Bordeaux 1-1 Juve
Bayern 2-0 Maccabi
Man U 4-0 Besiktas
Real Madrid 4-1 Zurich
Milan 1-1 Marseille
Porto 1-2 Chelsea
APOEL 1-2 Atletico Madrid
The schedule, my picks, and the current standings below.
GROUP A
* Bayern Munich Soccer News Topics v. Maccabi Haifa (Not very cautiously, I’m picking Munich. BAY 2-0)
* Bordeaux v. Juventus Soccer News Topics (Just a hunch, a draw. JUV 2-2)
GROUP B
* CSKA Moscow v. Wolfsburg (Late pick, but shouldn;t matter considering. CSKA 2-1)
* Manchester United v. Besiktas (If we’re going to see some United, it will be tonight. MUFC 3-0)
GROUP C
* AC Milan v. Marseille (I would love to see Milan advance out of this group, it’s going to happen. ACM 2-0)
* Real Madrid v. FC Zurich (Madrid fun, but forget about win. RM 2-2)
GROUP D
* Apoel Nicosia v. Atletico Madrid (Tough chance. Apoel 1-0)
* FC Porto v. Chelsea (Not quite huh. CHEL 3-0)
CSKA 1-1 Woflsburg
Bordeaux 0-1 Juve
Bayern 4-0 Maccabi
Man U 3-1 Besiktas
Real Madrid 4-0 Zurich
Milan 2-0 Marseille
Porto 0-2 Chelsea
APOEL 1-1 Atletico Madrid
GROUP A
* Bayern Munich v. Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Munich
* Bordeaux v. Juventus 1-0 Juventus
GROUP B
* CSKA Moscow v. Wolfsburg I texted this earlier, but I’ll repeat it here. 2-1 Wolfburg
* Manchester United v. Besiktas 3-0 Man U
GROUP C
* AC Milan v. Marseille 2-2 tie
* Real Madrid v. FC Zurich 5-2 Madrid
GROUP D
* Apoel Nicosia v. Atletico Madrid 1-1 tie
* FC Porto v. Chelsea 3-0 Chelsea
So mad I got the right score and the wrong winner. You let me down, Wolfsburg!
Matchday 5 will go down as the one where Nica took over. She gets top honors for the second straight day.
With the early game, it’s a bit difficult for folks to get those picks in it appears. FFCinPCB nailed the score, but past posted. However – it was 1-0 Wolfsburg when he posted, so I’m going to give him credit.
Today:
1) 24 – Nica1004
2) 19 – RegularGuy
3) 16 – FlashMan
t4) 14 – writered21
t4) 14 – FFCinPCB
COMPOSITE STANDINGS
1) 180 – writered21
2) 137 – aaronstollar
3) 128 – RegularGuy
4) 101 – dkstones
5) 89 – nica1004
6) 60 – tomwilhelm
7) 47 – FlashMan
8) 19 – Lowecifer
9) 16 – FFCinPCB
10) 5 – RandyNA
You da man! I was hoping you would take note of that.