Champions League Match Day 3

Fans of football (soccer) are excited because another round of europeans games are on us. Although Mourinho yesterday said that during this point that is Match day 3 and 4, there is no need for the calculator to know whether you'll qualify or not, that panic start setting in during match day 5 yet there are teams who will settle their qualification for the second round in the next fortnight. A case in point are the teams in the group of death, group F comprising of Arsenal, Dortmund, Napoli and Marseilles.

Arsenal currently are top of the group with 6 points after winning their two matches. They will be squaring up with Dortmund during the fortnight, first at home and then away. For Arsenal to be on the driving seat in this group, they need a maximum of 4 points and a minimum of 3 points. With that no matter the outcome of Napoli Marseilles clash, Arsenal will have been safe because  even if Napoli wins the two legs encounter, they will be on 9 points and if Marseilles wins the two legs encounter, they will be on 6 points, both teams will be below Arsenal if they can get 4 points from their games with Dortmund. But this is going to be a tricky game for Arsenal in the sense that Dortmund will be giving everything they've got into this encounter because if they come out with anything less than 4 points from the two games, they should just kiss their Champions League campaign goodbye and that will only be if they win their last two gamess of Match Day 5 and 6 otherwise they need the whole 6 points. Klopp, Dortmund manager knows this, that's why he said his team can win at the Emirates. The goood thing for Arsenal though is that they are in top form and can win the best side out there but we know that tide changes in football.
Expect this encoounters to be a cracker.

Napoli will aim for maximum points between Marseilles because anything other than that and they will be playing Europa on Thursdays, having in mind that their last two games will be against the other top sides in the group. Marseilles on the other hand will want to prove that they are not the whooping baby of the group and will give their all to pull a surprise, I wouldn't bet against them having a point in the two encounters.

That being said, the truth is one of Arsenal, Dortmund and Napoli will be playing in the Europa after the group stages of  the Champions League. Who that will be will be known in a fortnight.

Another encounter to look forward to is that of AC Milan and Barcelona, there will be so much to play for prestige being one of them. AC Milan will also want to cement their grip on 2nd  place.

Match Day 3 (Tuesday) fixtures are as follows
Schalke v  Chelsea
Steau Bucharest v Basel

Arsenal v Dortmund
Marseilles v Napoli

Austria Wein v Atletico Madrid
FC Porto v Zenith 

AC Milan v Barcelona
Celtic v Ajax

Champions League Match Day 2

Europe is back, Europe is back. Today European games returns with all its excitement, twist and turns.
And today highlight will be on the Roman National Stadium where Mourinho's boys, Chelsea will take on Steaua Bucharest. After a poor opening outing from Chelsea, Mourinho has labeled this match a must win. A draw will get nerves jittery. Having walked out on the press yesterday out of anger after he was quizzed about his reasons to drop Kevin, Mourinho is not in his best of moods and it seems the pressure is mounting. This is not going as smoothly as folks expected and the only way for the pressure to lessen is for Chelsea to go on a winning streak. Today's match can be the beginning of that or it can further increase the pressure.

Arsenal take on Napoli in the Emirates Stadium and Wenger's boys will want to continue with their fine form. Arsenal have been absolutely fantastic and there is a feeling in many quarters that this is the season where the finally end their trophy drought. This game may be their toughest test yet as Napoli is in fine form after starting their Champions League campaign with a win over last season finalist, they will come to the Emirates with believe that they can get a result. They've got a coach who is so used to Europe and players to make that happen. And this game also mark a sensational return  to London for Benitez after his strain relationship with another London club, Chelsea a few months ago. It should be noted that a win is crucial for Arsenal especially since they are playing at home as most folks still feel that they may not survive this group so a win will silence all their critics and set them on course for qualifying.

Another exciting game will be Ajax vs AC Milan. Ajax needs to win this match to keep their hope of progressing out of the group stage alive. One thing going for them is that their home form has been excellent so far. AC Milan on the other hand are still in a sticky patch of form and Ajax may fancy that this is the best time to face them. AC Milan will want to try every possible best to get a result in order to lay claim to that second spot behind Barcelona who we all know will qualify as group leaders.

Expect Dortmund to come out firing against Marseille after losing to Napoli on match day one. Can Celtic pull another upset as they did last season when they won Barcelona when they two sides meet today.

Below are the matches for today:
Porto vs Atletico Madrid
Celtic vs Barcelona
Dortmund vs Marseille
Zenith vs Austria Wein
Basel vs Schakle
 Arsenal vs Napoli
Ajax vs AC Milan
Steaua Bucharest vs Chelsea

Enjoy the best of European football and don't fail to let me know your thought on any of those matches.

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