There were differing weekend results for the two coaches who take charge of their clubs in the UEFA Champions League for the first time on Matchday 4, while pacesetters Chelsea FC and Maccabi Haifa FC both registered notable victories.
Coaching changes
Leonid Slutski replaced the sacked Juande Ramos at PFC CSKA Moskva last week and in his first match in charge guided the Premier-Liga outfit to a 1-0 home win against FC Terek Grozny. Quique Sánchez Flores was appointed coach of Spanish Liga strugglers Club Atlético de Madrid a few days before Slutski took his post, but was unable to inspire an immediate change in Los Colchoneros's fortunes, losing his maiden league match at the helm 1-0 to Athletic Club Bilbao.
Goals galore
Atlético host a free-scoring Chelsea side on Tuesday who have hit 17 goals without reply in their last four matches, the latest of which came on Saturday when the Blues consolidated their position at the Premier League summit with a 4-0 win at Bolton Wanderers FC. Haifa, meanwhile, continued their 100 per cent start to the Ligat Ha'Al season by beating Maccabi Netanya FC 2-0, their eighth successive league victory.
| Group A | Juventus 2-3 SSC Napoli
(Trezeguet 35, Giovinco 54, Hamšík 59 81, Dátolo 64)
Ciro Ferrara: "This defeat is like a punch in the face, a very painful one. In the first half we gave too many opportunities to Napoli. After our second goal we made the mistake of changing the way we were playing, we stopped running as we had done before. I can't explain why and Napoli punished us for this mistake."
| FC Girondins de Bordeaux 1-0 AS Monaco FC
(Planus 62)
Laurent Blanc: "The scoreline might suggest we struggled but if you look at the game, Bordeaux were better. We just had to be patient. I'm satisfied with the win and our play. Without the performance of their goalkeeper we could have won by a bigger margin."
| Maccabi Haifa FC 2-0 Maccabi Netanya FC
(Arbeitman 69 90)
Elisha Levi: "Against Juventus it will be hard in every way. We know them but will keep studying them until kick off. We have to collect a point or score a goal and I hope that it will eventually come against the Italians." | VfB Stuttgart 0-0 FC Bayern München
Louis van Gaal: "I can live with this result. We didn't have too many chances, but also didn't allow too many for Stuttgart. We lost too many balls, there is not much more to say about this match."
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| Group B | VfL Wolfsburg 3-31. FSV Mainz
(Martins 7 20, Misimović 64; Amri 35, Ivanschitz 41, Hoogland 85)
Armin Veh: "After going 2-0 up so quickly we took things easy at times. Besides this, we weren't aggressive in certain situations."
| PFC CSKA Moskva 1-0 FC Terek Grozny
(Necid 3)
Leonid Slutski: "We played poorly in attack; there were very few scoring chances for us. We will talk with the team about that later and will try to improve, yet I'm thankful to the lads; all of them gave maximum effort." | Beşiktaş JK 1-0 MKE Ankaragücü
(İsmail Köybaşı 16)
Mustafa Denizli: "Ankaragücü were hard opponents. We have a busy calendar but, nevertheless, we are creating a lot of chances. In the closing stages they pressurised us for an equaliser but we successfully resisted it. It was important to do this and get the win in the end."
| Manchester United FC 2-0Blackburn Rovers FC
(Berbatov 55, Rooney 87)
Sir Alex Ferguson: "We found it very difficult in the first half and you always get a bit concerned, but we don't panic. There's plenty of time in a football match and we can win games in the 93rd minute if we have to. What you need is patience and that's a strong virtue at this club. In the second half we improved our penetration and started to get very good width into the game. We were always driving and tried hard to get that goal that would open up a game. I felt it was only a matter of time before we'd score."
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| Group C | FC Zürich 1-1FC Sion
(Alphonse 67; Chihab 1)
Bernard Challandes: "Of course, I'm not satisfied with a home draw. In our situation we must be winning, one point is not enough to climb the table. Today we started very badly. If you are a goal down in the first minute it is very difficult to come back, but after our goal from [Alexandre] Alphonse we still had enough chances to score the winner." | Real Madrid CF 2-0 Getafe CF
(Higuaín 53 56)
Manuel Pellegrini: "From the spirit side of things we needed a game like this, especially after such a difficult week. We knew that we could turn things around. When you look at it we've kept six clean sheets now in nine games; it's a very positive thing that we are one of the teams who have conceded the fewest goals in the Liga. I hope that today's win will help us to go to Milan and to get a good result but we know that every game is difficult."
| Olympique de Marseille 1-1 Toulouse FC
(Brandão 75; Sissoko 28)
Didier Deschamps: "We were expecting that kind of game regardless of whether Toulouse had eleven or ten players on the pitch. They kept it tight, leaving few spaces. We did well, my players are not to blame. It's clearly not a good result but the campaign is still long and many things pleased me."
| AC Milan 2-0 Parma FC
(Borriello 12 90+3)
Leonardo: "Maybe we should have closed the game earlier but I have seen many positive things today. Ronaldinho made two great assists, [Marco] Borriello scored two great goals but many other players did particularly well tonight. We defended well, with six players when needed, so I'm very pleased with today's performance." |
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| Group D | Bolton Wanderers FC 0-4 Chelsea FC
(Lampard 45+2pen, Deco 61, Knight 82og, Drogba 90+1)
Carlo Ancelotti: "We accepted the criticism after losing our last two away league games and we have responded very well. It was important to improve after not doing well, we certainly have and we are still top of the league. We are doing very well at the moment, this was a good performance. It was our aim to make sure that we were still top of the league when we play Manchester United next week."
| FC Porto 1-1 CF Os Belenenses
(Farías 64; Lima 46)
Jesualdo Ferreira: "We were always looking for three points against an opponent who were basically focused on being defensive. We conceded an unexpected goal just after the interval and our job was very hard after that. We were unlucky tonight but the players fought hard."
| Athletic Club Bilbao 1-0 Club Atlético de Madrid
(Martínez 19)
Quique Sánchez Flores: "Under normal circumstances we wouldn't have lost a game like that. We knew the team has been suffering a lot and that there is an anxiousness to gain wins and points. We know what the situation is here but we also know there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the second half tonight we dominated and had a lot of chances. That's the way football is sometimes but we can't complain because we know it will come back our way."
| Aris Limassol FC 0-2 APOEL FC
(Kontis 21, Charalambides pen75)
Ivan Jovanović: "In the second half, as expected, Aris increased the pressure on us but we managed to contain them well and they didn't really create any threatening chances. We killed off the game with the second goal and our victory was fair in the end."
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| Group E | Fulham FC3-1 Liverpool FC
(Zamora 24, Nevland 73, Dempsey 87; Torres 42)
Rafael Benítez: "We now have a difficult game against Lyon. My concern now is we have too many injuries and we have to analyse which players will be available. When you are not winning you have to analyse why, and we are doing this. It's a question of taking your chances and not making massive mistakes like today and giving a lift to the other team. We have to be calm, keep working hard and find solutions."
| Debreceni VSC 1-2 Újpest FC
(Rudolf 17pen; Kabát 40pen 90+1pen)
András Herczeg: " I'm quite sure that if we'd have scored the second penalty [missed by Gergely Rudolf in the 27th minute] we would have won the game. Our play was solid and we were well organised but this time it was not enough." | AS Saint-Etienne0-1 Olympique Lyonnais
(Gomis 83)
Claude Puel: "We played well even though we lost the ball too much in the first half. That's what we changed in the second half and, naturally, we had the upper hand. The goal came late but we hit the woodwork twice previously and it was a deserved win." | ACF Fiorentina 3-1 Calcio Catania
(Marchionni 4 69, Gilardino 86; Mascara 48)
Cesare Prandelli: "I liked our approach especially when Catania equalised because we remained positive despite playing with only ten men. Then, when Catania also had a player sent off, we fully deserved to score more goals. Now I hope to have a few players back from injury because the game against Debrecen is like a final for us. We want three points."
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| Group F | AS Livorno Calcio0-2 FC Internazionale Milano
(Milito 49, Maicon 80)
José Mourinho: "In the first half we took some risks against a well organised Livorno, but after the break we were brilliant and controlled the game after striking our first goal. The game finished when Maicon doubled our advantage. I'm especially satisfied for Patrick Vieira; this was his best game of the season. If he can train well and has no physical concerns, he's a great player."
| CA Osasuna 1-1 FC Barcelona
(Keita 72; Piqué 90+3og)
Josep Guardiola: "It's annoying not to have won this game especially when we were so close to doing so. Osasuna equalised in the closing stages last week and they've done it again against us; that's football. We lost two points at the end but I'm happy with how my team played. We're left with no other option other than to get over this and lift ourselves in order to get a good result in Russia in the Champions League."
| FC Dynamo Kyiv 1-1FC Karpaty Lviv
(Ninković 60; Zenjov 6)
Valeri Gazzaev: "I'm very sorry we lost two points today. The game evolved in a very hard way for us. We conceded on the break early on and created numerous scoring chances after that but failed to convert any of them. Karpaty deserved their point thanks to their notable commitment." | FC Rubin Kazan 4-1PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara
(Noboa 48, Bukharov 56 75, Gökdeniz 63; Koller 61)
Kurban Berdyev: "It was a very hard game, especially in the first half. After the break my team started to run more and finally found their football. We managed to take our chances in the second half. I'm happy that we avoided making serious mistakes today." |
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| Group G | VfB Stuttgart 0-0FC Bayern München
Markus Babbel: "I'm not satisfied enough with the draw to say that this is a turning point, but a big compliment goes to my team. They put up a great fight against a top team in Europe."
| Dundee United FCA-A Rangers FC
(match abandoned at half-time due to heavy rain)
Walter Smith: "Obviously we're disappointed the game got called off, but as far as we're concerned, the referee's decision is one I think is correct and was a difficult one for him to make. There was water starting to lie at the bottom end of the pitch and he felt it could be a danger to the players and I don't think anybody can argue with him there." | Xerez CD 0-2 Sevilla FC
(Negredo 42, Fabiano 89)
Manuel Jiménez: "We couldn't demonstrate our technical and tactical superiority in the game because Xerez put up an impressive physical performance. We had to play contrary to our normal style. Thanks to the individual talent in our team [we managed to win]. The [Liga] rivals we face who aren't in the Champions League have a small advantage and maybe it shows the magnitude of our task in playing games like this two or three days before a European match."
| FC Unirea Urziceni 3-2 FC Universitatea Craiova
(Frunza 27 62, Bilasco 90+2; Costea 54, Wobay 71)
Dan Petrescu: |
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| Group H | Atromitos FC 0-1 Olympiacos FC
(Óscar González 80)
Zico: "It was a very important win because of all the injury problems we were facing. In the first half, we didn't play well, but after the interval we managed to improve and score the goal. I'm very satisfied with the younger players, who showed that they have a bright future ahead and will be able to help the team." | FC Groningen 0-1 AZ Alkmaar
(Lens 85)
Ronald Koeman: "In the first half we did pretty well but in second we were not tight enough in possession and we had to drop back more and more. During this period Groningen could have scored. Maybe a draw would have been a better reflection of game but that does not mean this victory does not make us extremely happy. The victory comes at the right time."
| R. Excelsior Mouscron 0-0 R. Standard de Liège
László Bölöni: "It was a balanced game that could have gone either way. My players worked well and when [Dieudonné] Mbokani, [Steven] Defour and [Igor De] Camargo are back again, things will improve. [Axel] Witsel's return [from an eight-game ban] has already increased our quality."
| Arsenal FC 3-0Tottenham Hotspur FC
(Van Persie 42 60, Fàbregas 43)
Arsène Wenger: "The three points were more important than anything else but it was a game which lacked a little bit of fluency at the start. We took advantage of two chances and scored two goals and from then on it was a case of waiting for the third chance, taking it, and keeping the clean sheet. We did it all very well."
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