Matchday Four of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy Game came to a close last night with another eight fixtures across the continent. There are plenty of talking points for us to pour over before the tournament resumes in just under three weeks time…
Christian Eriksen
Nicklas Bendtner may reckon he’s one of the world’s very best but, judging by the performance of Eriksen, he may not even be the best young Dane. Frank de Boer’s side sailed to a 4-0 victory (the biggest of the Matchday, level with Barcelona) over Dinamo Zagreb. Eriksen’s two assists -both, of course, coming from a pair of nice, simple backheels- more than rewarded those following our Watchlist but his UCL point tally was bettered by team-mates Siem De Jong on 11 (goal and assist) and Gregory Van Der Wiel on 12 (goal and clean sheet).
Mario Balotelli
His first game back from a three-game suspension saw Balotelli picked as Roberto Mancini’s preferred striker for the trip to Villarreal. Balotelli continued his rich vein of form, grabbing a goal and an assist in the 3-0 win over the out-of-sorts Spanish side. Sergio Aguero came on for a brief sixteen minute cameo and Edin Dzeko played no part- this could affect Macnini’s thinking ahead of the trip to QPR this weekend.
Wayne Rooney
Another game in central midfield last night is not what his Fantasy owners want to hear. Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen started up front against Otelul, suggesting Fergie was intending to keep Javier Hernandez fresh for this weekend’s game at home to Sunderland- Owen’s withdrawal after just eleven minutes somewhat scuppered those plans, though, as he limped off to be replaced by the Mexican. Rooney did cap his performance with a goal, however, but United clearly lack bite without him leading the line.
Mario Gomez
Given his form over the last 12 months the fact Gomez was egregiously ignored in the recent Ballon d’Or shortlist is hard to understand. Not one to wallow on this more than unfortunate omission, the German striker boosted his 2011 scoring record even more by grabbing a first half hat-trick against Napoli. The Italian side fought back to 3-2 in the second half, though Bayern held on for victory, as both sides finished the game with ten men.
Seydou Doumbia
Prior to this Matchday the Ivorian striker was an early leader in the Champions League goalscoring charts. Any of the European Fantasy managers who hopped on board the Russian Premier League top scorer’s bandwagon will have been less than pleased to see CSKA Moscow draw 0-0 away at Trabzonspor. Only to compound measures, Doumbia picked up two yellow cards and was subsequently sent off- he picked up a UCL minus score and is now suspended for the next Matchday.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi breaks the double century barrier for Barcelona and at the next available opportunity his biggest rival Cristiano Ronaldo makes sure he sets a landmark by scoring both goals in a 2-0 win away at Lyon and passing the 100 goal mark. What’s absolutely astounding is it only took the world’s most expensive player 105 games in the white of Madrid to reach this tally, nigh on a goal a game. Two set pieces half way through each period did it – a thundering free kick in the first half and a self-won penalty in the second.
Diego Milito
This miss encapsulates Milito’s form of late and how this game panned out for those in attendance at the San Siro last night – it was not a Milanese dream by any measure of the imagination. After Walter Samuel gave Inter the lead the Argentinian forward redeemed himself by scoring Inter’s second goal in their 2-1 win over Lille. The French champions are now clinging on by the skin of their teeth but as good as gone already.
Rodrigo
Last season he was warming the benches at Bolton alongside Adam Bogdan and Robbie Blake. Now he’s keeping Paraguayan striker, and Benfica legend, Oscar Cardozo out of the Benfica side and is scoring in the Champions League. Things don’t get much different for Rodrigo; his goal in Benfica’s 1-1 draw at home to Basel was an almighty crash-bang-wallop following a game of head tennis in the box.
