Those Crazy Turks!

As most everyone knows by now, and as HalaMadrid noted in his roundup of Tuesday's Champions League action, points are often hard to come by away to Turkish teams, even for the big boys. Well for those lucky enough to watch or even just hear the Man U-Besiktas match, you got a lesson on great football atmosphere. Check out these videos, which confirm why Sir Alex said it was the loudest noise he'd ever heard (clearly he wasn't at the Confederations Cup and those vuvuzelas):

Full length highlights from UEFA, which I love because it cuts out all commentary and lets the crowd atmosphere be the soundtrack to the game:

And for a cool fan view, here's a four and half minute, high quality video from behind one of the goals. The shots of the entire crowd jumping and clapping and chanting are very cool. It was like this the entire game.



Man U is certainly happy to get all three points from this trip. They'll be encouraged by signs that Nani and Antonio Valencia can be dangerous, but they still can't seem to put it all together. And fortunately for the Red Devils, with Rio Ferdinand again an injury concern, Nemanja Vidic seems in fine fettle ahead of this weekend's Manchester Derby.

As for the other match I paid particular attention to, Juve missed their new talisman, Diego, against a feisty Bordeaux. In the pouring rain, the two sides were fairly even. Iaquinta actually scored, though he's still one of the more wasteful strikers on a top European team right now. I like Amauri on the other hand, but he seems to be extremely unlucky, this time being denied by a lucky reaction save by Cedric Carrasso. Although Brodeaux probably shouldn't finish top two, they will not be an easy victory for either Juve or Bayern. Gourcuff was a handfull and he forced Buffon into a few nice saves. Fortunately for the bianconeri, this season Buffon seems to have regained his form from 2006 that saw him as the top keeper in the world.

Juve will be disappointed to have dropped two points from their first home match, especially since Jaroslav Plasil was off-side when he struck his equalizer and the goal should have been disallowed. In two weeks time hopefully Juve can travel with a healthy Diego to the Allianz Arena to get a better gauge of where they stand in this tournament.

Early Returns from transfer deals in Turin, Munich

This weekend saw the big four teams face off in the Serie A as Milan, Inter, Juve, and Roma got to test their early season title credentials. The results were in Sunday afternoon, and to no surprise it looks like it's a two team race again.

I was unable to watch most of the Milan derby, but for anyone who's an AC Milan fan that's probably a good thing because I'm not able to fully deconstruct how Inter tore Milan apart. I did see the nice goal by Thiago Motta set up by some splendid interplay, as well as Diego Milito capping the Genoa connection's scoring by making no mistake from the penalty spot. Oh and Gattuso was rightfully red carded, adding to Milan's misery. The 4-0 result is probably an accurate picture of the gap that currently exists between these two sides. With new addition Wesley Sneijder buzzing, Inter will now get to prove themselves against Barca and Co. in the Champions League.

Further south, Juventus put on probably their best display since the 2006 Calciopoli scandal. Winning 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico is no easy feat, and Juve dominated from start to finish. I will admit that I'm suddenly very excited about this season, largely due to the Brazilian midfield duo, Diego and Felipe Melo. Together they put on a master class, outshining the likes of Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi. Playing in a 4-3-1-2, Felipe Melo was dominant and imperious in breaking up Roma's build up play and releasing Diego as the center of the midfield trio. At one point he even made a tackle in his box and stood up and flexed/preened like an NFL player does after every routine play. I laughed and wasn't sure whether I liked the energy he was displaying or hoped he'd never do that again.

As the player in the hole, Diego was simply a joy to watch, something that is desperately needed at Juve and in Serie A generally. Every attacking play moved through him and he always seemed capable of creating something dangerous. Diego capped his man of the match performance with a pair of extremely well taken goals. Felipe Melo got in the goal scoring action late as well, aggressively pushing forward and producing a finish that Amauri and Iaquinta would do well to emulate. On the bright side for Roma, De Rossi sure can strike the ball. Check out the highlights:




It's very early, but Juve could very well push Inter this year, and like Inter, they will get a good test of their European credentials in the Champions League group stage. French champions Bordeaux will be tough - watch out for Joann Gourcuff, he's only 23 and he's destined to return a big club (he spent one year at Milan, never really settling in). Bayern suddenly looks like a much tougher proposition, as if they weren't surfeit in attacking options already, by adding Arjen Robben, he of the two goal debut against German champions Wolfsburg. Does any team in the world now have a better pair of wingers than Robben and Ribery? I'm sure HalaMadrid can inform on however Real is lining up, but I'm sure whatever it is, they aren't attacking with two pure wingers the way Bayern does. Here's the video of Bayern's 3-0 victory.