What have we learned from the Champions League this week?

Besides the fact that Wayne Rooney is looking quite decent at the moment that is

Milan should have been a bit more ‘Italian’

If you read the tag line to this site then you should know that one of the key reasons we decided to start writing was because we were becoming extremely frustrated with the fact that so much football coverage and analysis is riddled with lazy clichés and generalisations. Going into the game at the San Siro on Tuesday, I’m sure many were predicting something of a tactical, cagey (read sterile) affair, that historically speaking, comes from an Italian side in the first leg of a European knock out tie. What resulted was anything but.

Indeed after a pulsating 90 minutes, Milan may think to themselves that conforming to the stereotype might have been a better option. What was most shocking about the game was just how open it was; it was a genuinely gripping, end-to-end contest. In the first half Milan created a host of chances, with Manchester United unfamiliarly guilty of giving away the ball on several occasions. In particular Milan looked inspired by their Brazilian flair, Ronaldinho and Pato.

It needed a fluke from Paul Scholes to drag them back into the game, but after that Manchester United always looked capable of opening up the Italian defence at will, and you thought that at some point Milan would have to tighten things up, even if that resulted in a blunting of their attacking threats (and of course a toning down in the excitement of the game). I suppose for the neutral we should be thankful that they didn’t, but their opponents were also surprisingly laissez faire about the game. In recent years, Sir Alex Ferguson has turned his team into a far more cautious and controlled beast in Europe, yet none of that was on display on Tuesday night. Maybe they just got caught up in the occasion.

Perhaps towards the end it should have been United, reverting to a more ‘Italian’ model and closing the game off. They are still in the front seat for this tie, but Clarence Seedorf’s late back heel means there’s still much to play for.

Arsenal need a goalkeeper...

...as in a good one. There were stories doing the rounds a year or so ago that said that Manuel Almunia was considering throwing his lot in with England and declaring himself eligible to play for the country where he has been plying his trade since 2004. Now, this is not an argument on the finer intricacies of defining what we all mean by nationality and place of birth etc. this is merely a point highlighting that a team with designs on winning Premiership and Champions League trophies needs a far better goalkeeper.

Almunia is solid, a 6.5 out of 10. Nothing more. Arsenal are arguably the third best side in the country and a team that are regular qualifiers for the latter stages of Europe’s premier club competition. Yet how can it be that teams like Bolton and Birmingham currently employ better custodians? Before we get too much on Almunia’s back, a man who as I say is a fairly decent keeper, he was not the one putting in a calamitous performance last night in Porto. That was Łukasz Fabiański.

We’ve been told for a couple of years now that Fabianski is a great keeper just waiting to happen, yet has anyone out there ever seen any genuine evidence for this? A 2-1 first leg deficit, with a vital away goal still puts Arsenal in a very strong position (one which l fully expect them to get through) but the Pole’s blunders could end up being a decisive blow to the club’s hopes of getting their hands on the trophy.

Not all of Arsenal’s problems come down to not having a top draw ‘keeper, but they are a vital position on the pitch, with defensive solidarity often coming from the confidence that the man between the sticks exudes to the rest of their team. Arsene Wenger was criticised for not bringing in a striker in the January window, but maybe a new No. 1 should have been a more pressing concern. At least finding one who faces the right way would be a start.

Are Bayern Munich dark horses for the title?

Going into their ties against Fiorentina, it would probably be fair to say that Bayern have been on a roll. Following the 4-1 victory in Turin in their final group stage match to clinch qualification, Louis Van Gaal’s new charges seemed to have clicked at just the right time. Before last night, Bayern had won twelve games in a row in all competitions, leaving them poised to take control of the Bundesliga. They are also a side that can boast a pair of wingers, that when fit, can terrorise any defence out there. In fact, they boast a pair of wingers (that’s Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben) that almost any team in the world would love to have on board.

They were also paired in the draw with a team going through a highly disappointing spell in Serie A, one which has yielded just a solitary point from their last five games and a side whose star player Adrian Mutu has once again been mixed up with doping related offences. So far so good then. But then football is notorious for not conforming to the laws of ‘should be’.

Yes, they might have won last night, but Bayern were anything but convincing, and in truth can count themselves highly, highly fortunate to be going into the second leg in Florence with a lead. They will also be going there with the knowledge that the Italian’s were able to come away with what could turn out to be a priceless away goal. Bayern should probably be thankful though that they are not going into that game facing a deficit.

Despite their recent domestic toils, Fiorentina took the game to the Bavarians early, creating a lot of pressure and also some clear cut chances. Very much against the run of play Ribery’s penalty gave Bayern a halftime lead however that was quickly snuffed out by former Goodison Park ‘favourite’ (read misfit) Per Kroldrup. After that it’s fair to say, Bayern’s victory came as a result of the performance of one man – the referee Tom Ovrebo.

First an inexplicable red card was shown to Massimo Gobbi for an apparent ‘elbow’ on Robben, when it was a case of simple obstruction and then as the game ticked into its final moments, with a draw likely, the official decided that Miroslav Klose’s last minute header – delivered from a position two yards offside should stand. They say ‘13’ is an unlucky number, but Bayern’s thirteenth consecutive win was very much as a result of a whole load of good fortune.