UEFA Champions League Special: Things we learned from match day three (Part 2)
Raul Gonzalez was born to play in the Champions League
Raul Gonzalez Blanco is a living legend and UEFA Champions League is embedded in his DNA. The Real Madrid legend has made a modest start to his Bundesliga campaign but the forward was back to his ‘Raul self’ on Wednesday as he terrorized the Hapoel Tel Aviv
defence with his sublime predatory movement and immaculate finishes. Former Real Madrid front man scored a brilliant brace and could have scored even more on the night. Raul is now the all time leading goal scorer in European competitions ahead of Filippo
Inzaghi with 70 goals. With Super Pippo nearing the end of his equally legendary career, Raul is set to become the greatest goal scorer ever, on a continental stage.
While Mr. Gonzalez was proving to be too much for Tel Aviv, his successor at Real Madrid, Gonzalo Higuain was squandering chance after chance against a woeful AC Milan defence. Jose Mourinho might have made a big mistake in letting
go of the club legend. A man of Raul’s pedigree would have been a lethal asset coming off the bench. With Karim Benzema yet to find his shooting boots, Mourinho will have to do with a wasteful Higuain, at least till the end of the current season.
Real Madrid are the team to beat this season
The team that took to pitch against the visiting AC Milan on Tuesday was in striking contrast to the team that lost 3 – 2 almost twelve months back. Last year AC Milan ran out victorious with a 3 – 2 score line but with Mourinho
in charge of the opposition, a repeat of the result was always difficult.
Real Madrid thrashed and tormented the Rossoneri for the duration of the match and the likes of Seedorf and Zambrotta would have been gleeful, hearing the final whistle at Bernabeau. A 2 – 0 score line does not do justice to the
dominating display that Los Merengues put in on the night. Cristiano Ronaldo, often criticised for his failure to turn up against bigger oppositions, put in a sublime shift and made a mockery of the Rossoneri fullbacks all night long. Mesut Ozil was in equally
imperious form.
Jose Mourinho has managed to forge a ‘winner’ team yet again. With the players Mourinho has at his disposal, Madrid will most likely go undefeated at home. His unbeaten home record spans almost 9 years and there is no reason for
that to change.
Gareth Bale too hot for Inter Milan
Inter Milan edged out Barclays Premier League outfit Tottenham hotspurs 4 – 3 at San Siro. Such a score line might indicate the match was a close affair. However, you would be mistaken to think that way. Nerazzuri taught the English a ‘footballing’ lesson,
Benitez’s men had raced to a 4 – 0 lead by half time. Against ten men and leading by such a score line, Inter clearly got complacent and let in three goals in the second half.
Gareth Bale has been in inspired form so far this season and the young Welshman put his best performance of the season on the continental stage with an outrageous hat-trick. The player scored two stunning solo goals while his third
was a striker’s finish. Just how many millions did Bale manage to pile up on his already burgeoning price tag, only Florentino Perez will know!
The player was purchased for a measly 5 million pounds and failed to deliver in his first two seasons. The Welshman was unlucky with injuries and subsequent loss of form that made him a laughing stock. This season, in just a few
months time, Bale has become too big a player for Tottenham Hotspurs. AC Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United all have shown their interest.
Milan CEO Adriano Galliani even declared that Rossoneri cannot afford the young prodigy as the player has been so good he has gone beyond the Davioli’s financial capabilities. Spurs faithful meanwhile, should enjoy and relish the
young sensation while they can for Bale will leave for pastures greener sooner or later.
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