[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Oguchi Onyewu made his official debut for AC Milan, but it could not have in more difficult circumstances. He came on in the 60th minute but could do nothing to prevent Milan from suffering an embarrassing 1-0 loss at home to FC Zurich that could trigger a shakeup at Milan. Here are three things we learned on Wednesday …
Onyewu may soon have a new head coach at AC Milan.
First-year Brazilian coach Leonardo got a vote of confidence from AC Milan boss Adriano Galliani after the Rossoneri’s stunning 1-0 loss at home to FC Zurich, but we all know what votes of confidence mean …
Galliani once joked that Leonardo, who was hired as Milan’s technical director in early 2008, was a cheap hire to replace Carlo Ancelotti as head coach, but Leonardo will cost Milan a ton of money if he can’t lead it to the knockout stage. Milan isn’t playing well in Serie A, so a move could be made before its next Champions League match, the first of back-to-back games against Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo is going to score a ton of goals for Real Madrid if he can stay healthy.
Cristiano Ronaldo is off to quite a start at Real Madrid: five goals in five La Liga games and two goals in each of his first two Champions League game. He scored twice in Real’s 3-0 win over Marseille, getting a kind bounce on Pepe‘s long pass to beat goalie Steve Mandanda with his left foot and later tapping in Karim Benzema‘s pass into the empty net for the third goal.
Ronaldo was viciously taken down by Senegalese defender Souleymane Diawara for a penalty kick that Kaka converted for the second goal. The Portuguese star limped off the field with an ankle injury from Diawara’s challenge and his status for Real’s key La Liga match against Sevilla is uncertain.
Nicolas Anelka is the best French striker playing in the Champions League.
With all due respect to his longtime pals Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet and younger challengers like Benzema, Nicolas Anelka is the best French striker in the Champions League. For the second Champions League game in a row, he scored Chelsea’s only goal, giving the Blues a 1-0 win at APOEL.
Anelka, the one-time bad boy of French soccer, had his career resurrected when he joined Chelsea from Bolton Wanderers in January 2008. Chelsea, Anelka’s fifth English club, bought him as cover for star Didier Drogba, but he has been outstanding with 19 EPL goals last season and two more goals in Chelsea’s first two EPL games his season.