A Detailed Look At How Italian Giants Snowballed out of The Champions League
In quite an interesting turn of events, Italian giants Juventus have been knocked out of the Champions League by Turkish side Galatasaray on a freezing day in Turkey. The match was meant to be played at the normal time last night, but was postponed due to heavy snow falling in Turkey.
This was a match of super importance for both sides, a win would send either side into the knockout stages, and tensions were high between the two. The final score of the match was 1-0 with the solitary goal scored by Dutch international Wesley Sneijder. Now, I am a huge fan of Italian football, and if I had to choose between the two I would have much rather seen Juventus go through.
But, I do feel like Galatasaray are a side who are often written off too quickly. They have some huge super stars in their starting line up, both Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba grace the pitch for the Turkish side each week, and their talents alone really make Galatasaray a contender in the Champion’s League. It was Sneijder’s goal that sent them into the next round after all.
The other match in group B ended quite predictably however, Real Madrid defeated FC Copenhagen 2-0. It did, however, mark the return of Cristiano Ronaldo from injury, and he started back for Real Madrid in top form, even scoring a goal in the 48th minute.
The other goal was scored by Luka Modric in the 25th minute, an unlikely scorer for Madrid, and not really one of my favorites to be perfectly honest. Though Real Madrid were miles ahead on points in group B and had already qualified for the knockout stages, Carlo Ancelotti still sent out his ‘A team’against Copenhagen. But then again, Real Madrid is a side with so much depth that even their second teams are better than most.
So it seems that Galatasaray and Real Madrid emerge victorious from group B, one of the more difficult ones in my opinion. It’s too bad – I would have loved to see Juventus advance, but this Chelsea girl can never say no to the legend Drogba playing in the Champions League once again.
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