Can Cluj Take a Bite out of Chelsea?

How cliche that Transylvania is the setting for today's Champions League encounter between Cluj and Chelsea, given of course that it's Oct. 1 and we're about to be bludgeoned for the next 31 days with the images and sounds of Halloween. Just check out the nearest Target or Wal-Mart if you don't believe me.

The ironic thing is that Chelsea likely has that uneasy queasy feeling in the pit of its collective stomach heading into its Group A match--and it's got nothing to do with being a few kilometers from Vlad the Impaler's shack. No, it's more likely due to the fact that underdog Cluj, fifth in the Romanian table, likely isn't sweating this match. Cluj are the darlings of this tournament having conquerered Roma on Matchday One, winning 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Coming home against the 2007-08 Champions League runners-up should be a breeze.

Right?

Well, on another day, maybe not. Today, maybe so.

Chelsea is minus four key performers coming into this match, namely Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and of course Michael Essien-- all hamstrung with injuries; Essien for the season. That's a lot of expensive meat on the bench for the Blues so far from home. Expect Didier Drogba back in the Chelsea starting eleven today and his running partner up front will be Salomon Kalou. Jon Obi Mikel will get the call in midfield likely alongside Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard. Surely Chelsea has enough to stave off the upset; unless of course it falls victim to the same complacency that did in Arsenal against Hull over the weekend. To its credit, Arsenal rebounded in a huge way yesterday, slamming F.C. Porto in London, 4-0.

Manager Luiz Filipe Scolari is saying the right things about his opponent, but understands that semantics don't suit up on the pitch.

"We will treat [Cluj] with total respect. Any team that can win 2-1 at Roma will be dangerous in this competition," he said.

And speaking of saying all the right things, Cluj striker Yousef Kone says Chelsea is four times stronger than Roma right now, making the home team's job--well--four times more difficult.

“Chelsea are a football machine. In the end it's 11 against 11 and the pressure will be on Chelsea, not on us. If they beat us, it would be normal. If we beat them, it would be something fantastic," he said.

So will we see something fantastic? It will be a dramatic, hostile setting for Chelsea against a confident team playing in front of a crowd that is dreaming of an upset. This is Scolari's first test of his managerial mettle at Chelsea--yes even more so than the game against United. He has to move the chess pieces tactically and confidently and the players must execute. Otherwise, Cluj will be in command of the group and Chelsea and Roma will be hammering on each other for second place in the group.

This post originally appeared at Champions League Talk.

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Champions League: Cluj Shocks Roma;Sporting Stutters at Barcelona

So shoot me! I picked the wrong minnow.

I put all my eggs in Sporting's basket, and the boys from Lisbon cracked every single shell with a performance in which they were intimidated, overmatched and underwhelming. UEFA Cup here we come? Probably.

No, I should have bet on the Romanians; they never disappoint. CFR Cluj are the darlings of the Champions League now after yesterday's tremendous performance in Rome. This is how you go into the home of a giant and take them down--injuries notwithstanding for Roma.

Cluj walked into the Stadio Olympico and walked out with a 2-1 win, putting them second in Group A behind Chelsea, which destroyed Bordeau, 4-0.

Cluj owned the second half and the result probably should have been more lopsided than a one-goal victory. Not that anyone in the town of Transylvania is complaining (too cliche?).

The critics today are talking more about Roma's problems, especially on defense where Roma has conceded eight goals in four matches. They're talking about injuries to the Roma back line and their talking about the death of Roma owner and the possibility of a takeover.

A Goal.com column today isn't buying all the excuses:

This poor attitude and lack of accountability will only continue to hurt the club. The attitude existing towards these smaller clubs must be changed. That Roma have gone ahead three games in a row and then failed to win them all against inferior opposition is unacceptable, but of course it ‘cannot be explained’ and ‘things will turn around soon’.

It may be a short ride for Cluj, which takes on Chelsea next, but for a day these guys are kings of Europe and deservedly so.

SAD SPORTING
As for Sporting, the other minnow playing yesterday with a chance to escape the group stage for the first time, well they were sad in the first half, and not much better in the second. Sporting stacked 9, 10, 11 men behind the ball, and still inexplicably allowed Lionel Messi space to abuse them on the right side, and Thierry Henry openings on the left to get off quality chances. Rafa Marquez's goal in the first half was an abomination of poor defense, yet Sporting was down only 1-0 at the half.

In the final 45, things perked up a bit, but Samuel Eto'o earned and convered a penalty kick for a 2-0 edge before Tonel booted home a Miguel Veloso free kick; why did Veloso and Helder Postiga begin the game on the bench? This team had not played since Sept. 1. Xavi's goal late put the game away and made the 3-1 final.

It was a topnotch performance for Barca and a cliched, pitiful showing for Sporting. Intimidated from the start, they played as if they were intruding on hallowed ground and certainly did not play for any sort of result.

LINKAGE
Oh You Beauty has the goods on Liverpool's 2-1 win over Marseille.
Chelsea FC Blog recaps, well, you can figure it out...
Mcalcio takes you inside Inter's road win at Panathinaikos.
Soccer By Ives has the whole deal.

Champions League: Can Real Overtake Roma?

Real Madrid is seriously hobbled going into to morrow's second leg of its Champions League round-of-16 tie with Roma. About the only positive in Real's corner is that La Liga's leaders are home today--oh yeah, they get Robinho back too.

Roma edged Real in the first leg, 2-1, but today it won't have Ruud VanNistelrooy, nor Arjen Robben, both out with injuries.

Robinho returned over the weekend, and scored in Real's 3-2 win over Huelva. But the hotter team has to be Roma, which demolished Parma, 4-0, and now trails Inter Milan by six points in Serie A.

Roma is in great shape, and is a darkhorse to win the whole thing. It's all about timing when you get to knockout rounds; and aside from Manchester United, there may not be a hotter team in Europe than Roma.

Champions League: Roma vs. Real Madrid Starting Eleven

Roma
No.	NAME	POS
32	Alexander Doni	(G)
2	Christian Panucci	(D)
5	Philippe Mexes	(D)
77	Marco Cassetti	(D)
4	Juan	(D)
14	Ludovic Giuly	(M)
20	Simone Perrotta	(M)
7	David Pizarro	(M)
16	Daniele De Rossi	(M)
30	Alessandro Mancini	(M)
10	Francesco Totti	(F)

Real Madrid
No.	NAME	POS
1	Iker Casillas	(G)
16	Gabriel Heinze	(D)
5	Fabio Cannavaro	(D)
4	Garcia Sergio Ramos	(D)
22	Miguel Torres Gómez	(D)
11	Arjen Robben	(M)
6	Mahamadou Diarra	(M)
14	Jose Maria Guti	(M)
8	Fernando Gago	(M)
17	Ruud van Nistelrooy	(F)
7	Gonzalez Raul	(F)

Champions League Draw: Knockout Round-of-16

Now it gets good.

The Champions League round-of-16 draw is out and there are some juicy ties awaiting us in February. I'll do a separate post on England's teams. For now, here's a look at the rest of the draw:

Roma-Real Madrid: Roma is the team no one wants to face. Roma is cursed with some odd luck in terms of teams it draws. In Serie A, it's looking up at Inter Milan, which is running away with the Scudetto with 40 points and a seven-point lead over Roma. In its the group stage, Roma ran into Manchester United, which is on an absolute tear and has not lost a game in three months. Francesco Totti has seven goals this season and is among the leaders in Italy. This should be the tie to watch. Real leads La Liga by two points over Barcelona, whom it plays Sunday in the Spanish classico. Real has been nothing if not consistent this season and both teams figure to have their hands full in this tie.

Celtic-Barcelona: Ho-hum, Celtic leads the Scottish Premier League, what else is new? If you dont' follow Celtic or Rangers, what's the interest in Scottish football? Someone enlighten me, please? Either way, Celtic held off Benfica for second in its group and fell two points short of AC Milan. Barcelona may not have Leo Messi back in time for this tie, which could draw these two closer. Barcelona did not lose during the group stage and beat back Lyon to win by four points.

Schalke 04-F.C. Porto: How odd that Germany's best hope for European silverware, heck Germany's best team, is in the UEFA Cup? Schalke has the Bundesliga's top scorer in Kevin Kuranyi and is in fifth right now, six points back of Bayern Munich. Porto is a tall order indeed. Porto has not lost in Portugal and nicked Liverpool by a point to win its group. Porto has Lucho Gonzalez and Lisandro Lopez, a far cry from the Mourinho days, but still formidable.

Fenerbache-Sevilla: Sevilla, two-time UEFA Cup winners, are after the big prize in Europe this team. The Spanish side is strong right up the middle with Luis Fabiano the leading scorer in Spain, Sergio Duda in midfield and Morgan De Sanctis at stopper. Sevilla beat Arsenal in its group. The Turks, meanwhile, were second to Inter Milan and are realtive newcomers to the knockout stages.

Serie A on Borrowed Time?

A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the Inter-Lazio game last weekend in Italy. A Lazio supporter was murdered--accidentally--by a policeman touching off a terrible night of violence in Italy and plummeting Calcio back into the abyss.

The wounds of the bribery scandal that sent Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina to Serie B and stripped other top clubs of points in the standings still sting. And now this terrible tragedy compounds things to new depths.

But this tragedy has nothing to do with the inner workings of football. There was no match-rigging conspiracy at play here. There was no network of club officials pulling strings to ensure favorable refereeing at their matches. This was the case of an officer pulling the trigger on an innocent man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gabriele Sandri's biggest crime was stopping for gas nearby where Lazio and Juventus supporters were slugging away at each other in a fit of testosterone rage over club and country.

So who's to blame. Well, Michel Platini is pointing a finger at the Italian government. He says they need to step in much the way the English did to clean up hooliganism at clubs. Sandri's death was the second football-related death in Italy this year. Enough.

"(Platini's) view is that soccer is not to blame, nor the majority of real Italian soccer fans, but it is a minority of extremists who take over fans clubs and are not interested in football who are to blame. The Italian authorities need to clean up these supporters clubs, otherwise the small minority is going to continue to ruin the game for the majority of Italian supporters who are terrific fans of the game," says William Gaillard, special adviser to Platini.

Right now, local authorities essentially act as security at stadia in Italy and Platini would like to see it centralized. Football is critical to the economy of Italy and it needs to be policed with the highest of scrutiny. Dedicated training of authorities is required, much the way the English handle it.

It's time for Italy to rein in this "small minority" of fans. If the Italian government cannot handle it, get help from the EU. Football is a pastime, but it's a financial, social and cultural center as well. Grown men do no weep when the dollar falls against the Euro, but they do if Roma falls to Lazio. That emotional attachment is why fans adore football. To have it ruined by selfish pigs with an evil agenda is evil itself.