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Champions League – Week 1 Results & Tables (Groups A-D)
The first night of Champions League football didn’t bring shocking results except for the Juventus draw at Copenhagen, while all of the favorites came up with rather comfortable wins, none more impressive than Real Madrid winning 6-1 in Istanbul against Galatasaray, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick.
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Daniel Sturridge Can’t Stop Scoring (Liverpool vs Manchester United)
It’s been quite a while since Liverpool have come out as the victorious side in the Northwest Derby, beating Manchester United 1-0 with a lot of defense, a lot of heart and a little bit of Daniel Sturridge, who seems to be scoring goals even when he doesn’t mean it, while Simon Mignolet continues to prove he’s one of the best signings any team has made this season.
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Neymar Scores His Debut Goal On the First Start (Thailand vs Barcelona)
In what should be the first of many, Neyamr didn’t wait very long in the 7-1 win by Barcelona over Thailand in another easy friendly for the La Liga champions, scoring his first ever goal in his new uniform, needing only 13 minutes to get on the scoresheet.
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2013 Confederations Cup – Italy Survive Japan Thanks to Sebastian Giovinco
Starting with a very defensive lineup, it took Italy nearly an entire half and falling behind 2-0 in order to get a grip of the kind of opponents they were facing in Japan, but eventually, thanks to a lot more efficiency inside the box and one substitution, putting in Sebastian Giovinco, also scoring the winning goal, the Italians won 4-3 in the best match of the tournament so far, clinching a spot in the semifinal.
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Neymar With a Magic Goal & Assist Hides a Boring Match (Brazil vs Mexico)
Once again, Brazil were far from impressive in both their defending and composure on attack, but their big star, Neymar, showed once again the kind of quality he has, with another fantastic volley goal in the 9th minute and a magical assist in the final minute, giving Jo another garbage time goal to sink Mexico out of the Confederations Cup.
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2013 Confederations Cup – Luis Suarez Free Kick Goal Is Too Late (Spain vs Uruguay)
Luis Suarez scored a beautiful free kick, but it was only enough for Uruguay consolation goal, while Pedro and Roberto Soldado made sure in the first 30 minutes that Spain came away with their opening match win, a 2-1 victory to give them the expected start in the Confederations Cup.
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2013 Confederations Cup – Mario Balotelli Needed to Get Angry (Mexico vs Italy)
Mario Balotelli finished the job Andre Pirlo started, as Italy got a deserved 2-1 win in their opening confederations cup match over Mexico, who didn’t have much to showcase except for some creative plays from Giovanni Dos Santos and Andres Guardado.
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Neymar Scores the Perfect Goal to Kick Off Confederations Cup (Brazil vs Japan)
Brazil enjoyed a comfortable opening-match to the confederations cup, beating Japan 3-0 with a wonderful opening goal from Neymar, followed by second half strikes from Paulinho and a quality finisher from Jo, making it look like their performance was a lot more brilliant than it really was.
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Arjen Robben is Finally a Winner (Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund)
For a little while, it looked like the bad fortunes that have haunted Bayern Munich and Arjen Robben were returning, but for a team this good, even the terrible mojo that has been following the wonderful Dutch winger had to end at one point. Robben provided the assist for the first goal and scored the 88th minute winner to make Bayern the Champions League winners for a fifth time, and the first time in 12 years.
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Fernando Torres & Barnislav Ivanovic Poaches Another European Trophy (Benfica vs Chelsea)
One of the most tragic weeks in the history of any club have just gone over Benfica, managing to lose a title and a European final in the span of four days with two injury time goals. Meanwhile, Fernando Torres proves that all a team needs is to put him in a final, and he’ll look like a formidable striker. Branislav Ivanovic put on the finishing touch, giving Chelsea the Europa League title.