Wednesday’s Champions League results

Bayern 0
Juventus 0

Bordeaux 1 (Ciani 83)
Maccabi Haifa 0

CSKA Moskva 2 (Dzagoev 7, Krasić 61)
Beşiktaş 1 (Ekrem Dağ 90+2)

Manchester United 2 (Giggs 59, Carrick 78)
Wolfsburg 1 (Džeko 56)

AC Milan 0
Zurich 1 (Tihinen 10)

Real Madrid 3 (Ronaldo 58, 64, Kaka 61)
Marseille 0

APOEL 0
Chelsea 1 (Anelka 18)

Porto 2 (Falcao 75, Rolando 82)
Atletico Madrid 0

Champions League – Tuesday’s results and Wednesday’s matches

Let’s see…on Tuesday, Liverpool’s defense sucked once again in a 2-0 loss to Fiorentina. (Another thing that I just found out: it’s the first time Liverpool hasn’t scored in a Champions League game in two and a half years – yikes) In other group E action, Lyon smashed Debrecen, 4-0. In group F, Inter was lucky to play Russian champ Rubin Kazan to a 1-1 draw after going down to 10 men in the second half. Sevilla and Arsenal both went top of groups G and H, respectively.

There are several good matches on Wednesday, including Bayern hosting Juventus and Wolfsburg at Manchester United.  The winner of the Wolfsburg/United game will have an early edge to lead the group.

Fiorentina 2 (Jovetić 28, 37)
Liverpool 0

Debrecen 0
Lyon 4 (Källström 3, Pjanić 13, Govou 24, Gomis 51)

Rubin Kazan 1 (Domínguez 11)
Inter 1 (Stanković 27)

Barcelona 2 (Messi 26, Pedro Rodríguez 76)
Dynamo 0

Unirea Urziceni 1 (Varga 48)
Stuttgart 1 (Tasci 5)

Rangers 1 (Novo 88)
Sevilla 4 (Konko 50, Adriano 64, Luis Fabiano 72, Kanouté 74)

Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 78, Arshavin 86)
Olympiacos 0

AZ Alkmaar 1 (El Hamdaoui 48)
Standard Liege 1 (Traore 90+1)

Wednesday’s Schedule
Bayern vs. Juventus
Bordeaux vs. Maccabi Haifa
CSKV Moskva vs. Beşiktaş
Manchester United vs. Wolfsburg – 2:45 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
AC Milan vs. Zurich
Real Madrid vs. Marseille – 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
APOEL vs. Chelsea – 2:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Porto vs. Atletico Madrid – 2 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)

Tuesday’s Champions League Matches

UEFA Champions League is back in action today with the second set of group games. There are eight matches today and eight tomorrow as well. Groups E, F, G and H play today. Dynamo sits at the top of group F since Barca drew with Inter in the first game. A win for Dynamo would be a huge step towards the next round. Arsenal and Olympiacos share the top spot in group H, so the winner in that game gets an early edge.

Arsenal vs. Olympiacos
– 10 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
AZ vs. Standard
Barcelona vs. Dynamo
– 4:45 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
– 2 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Debrecen vs. Lyon
Fiorentina vs. Liverpool
– 2:40 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
– 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Rangers vs. Sevilla
– 2:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Urinea Urziceni vs. Stuttgart
Rubin vs. Inter
– 11 a.m. ET Wed. Sept. 30/Fox Soccer (Delayed)

Weekend Thoughts & Observations

• Chelsea is beatable after all.  Wigan took it to the Blues and walked away with a 3-1 win.  The loss sent Manchester United to the top of the table.  It’s definitely a game Chelsea shouldn’t have lost, but give credit to Wigan as they played a very good game.
• Fernando Torres is the man.  Seriously, he’s a beast.  The Spainard had a sublime hat trick in Liverpool’s 6-1 thrashing of Hull City.  He already has eight goals this season.  He needs to stay healthy if Liverpool wants to contend for the title.  Since dropping two of their first three, the Reds have ripped off six straight victories in all competitions.  They also currently have the best goal difference in the league at +12.
• Portsmouth is still without a point.   It could be a very long season for Pompey.
• Manchester City showed no lingering effects of their tough loss in last weekend’s Manchester Derby.  City beat West Ham on Monday, 3-1, thanks to a Carlos Tevez double.
• Champions League is back in action this week.  The big match tomorrow is Manchester United hosting German champion Wolfsburg.  Fortunately, that one will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel. (An aside to FSC: Please, please, please invest in HD technology.  It sucks seeing the best footballers in the world as indistinct little blobs on the television.)

Premier League TV Schedule – Sept. 26-28

Saturday, Sept. 26
Portsmouth vs. Everton – 7:30 a.m. ET/ESPN2 (Live)
Birmingham vs. Bolton
Blackburn vs. Aston Villa – 8:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Liverpool vs. Hull City – 10 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Stoke City vs. Manchester United – 9:30 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Tottenham vs. Burnley – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Wigan vs. Chelsea – 5 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Fulham vs. Arsenal – 12:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Sunday, Sept. 27
Sunderland vs. Wolves – 10:30 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Monday, Sept. 28
Manchester City vs. West Ham