There’s little doubt that Thomas Vermalen has been a good signing for Arsenal. Lacking a top-class centre-back last year, Arsene Wenger did brilliantly to dispose of Kolo Toure and bring in the Belgian – and made a profit by doing so. Read more »

Bayern do it again. Their victory in the last round against Fiorentina featured a last-minute goal at home to win the first leg 2-1, and then a 2-3 defeat away from home, with a brilliant Arjen Robben ‘winner’ near the end. It seemed inevitable when Bayern pulled a goal back before half-time that the same would happen here. Read more »

If there was any remaining doubt that Lionel Messi is the greatest football player of his generation, they were erased tonight, as Barcelona got the better of Arsenal in the much-hyped battle of the teams playing football ‘the right way’. Arsenal didn’t lose this match tactically, but they didn’t help themselves. Read more »

No surprises for guessing that Barcelona again saw more of the ball in the game at the Nou Camp – it’s doubtful any side will visit there this season and see more possession. Read more »

A game as tight, tense and nervy as you’d expect from a 1st v 2nd clash – Bayern emerge from it on top, despite playing for 50 minutes with ten men after having Hamit Altintop dismissed. Read more »

A tight game that was won the better side. United looked tired after their midweek game in Munich – Chelsea were fresher, brighter and created more goalscoring opportunities. They are now in the driving seat. Read more »

An exciting, crucial game at Old Trafford resulted in a deserved 1-2 win for Chelsea. The tactical battle throughout the game was quite subdued – both sides set up as expected once we had the team sheets, and the only real change was when United pushed forward late on. Read more »

A decent game for the neutral tonight, but fairly underwhelming from a tactical point of view. Both sides played as expected, the result was no surprise, and all the goals came from defensive mistakes rather than attacking brilliance. Read more »

A crazy game of football to watch, a difficult one to analyse. Two open, attacking sides produced a wonderful game for the neutral, but one that will probably leave both managers absolutely fuming – Wenger because his side were awful and conceded poor goals, Guardiola because his side threw away a 0-2 lead. Read more »