MAN UTD WERE ATROCIOUS AND CHELSEA WERE LUCKY
D. Ray Morton, 27th February 2014.
It's no secret by now that Manchester United are having a nightmare season, unprecedented in this era but their performance against Olympiakos on Tuesday night might have been their most degrading yet. After watching their team get eliminated from two domestic cup competitions by unfancied smaller sides and languishing well outside the top four in the league, United fans were clinging on to the Champions League as their great hope for the rest of the campaign. With their 2-0 away defeat, they now have a lot of work to do to save the tie and many would question whether they are capable of turning it around.
It is difficult to analyse such a weak, disjointed performance. Olympiakos looked hungrier and had a more effective gameplan where they were able to focus on United's weaknesses, capitalising on their poor passes and taking their chances very well. Argentine Alejandro Dominguez gave the home side the lead after 38 minutes with a neat technical finish after some woeful defending in the United penalty area.
The second half got worse as United continued to give the ball away and struggled to deal with the Greeks' pressing game. Costa Rican international (watch out England!) Joel Campbell extended their lead with a sublime strike ten minutes into the restart. As the ball flew into the back of David de Gea's net from distance, you could sense the collective sigh of despair from the red half of Manchester.
To make matters worse, £300,000 a week man, Wayne Rooney had an awful game where he was continuously frustrated by the home side, thoroughly man-marked and given some rough treatment which the referee would not sympathise with in front of such a hostile crowd.
Robin van Persie chipped in on the torturous spectacle with a terrible late miss which, based on his comments to members of the Dutch media, may have been about teammates occupying his preferred positions on the pitch. David Moyes' post-match interview was more of the same worn-out clichés and meek optimism that surely United fans are sick and tired of by now.
Moving on to Chelsea...
They rode their luck somewhat against Galatasaray after starting very positively with Fernando Torres getting on the scoresheet after nine minutes. On paper, a tough place to go, Chelsea will still feel a little disappointed not to have killed the game off and allowing the Turkish side to get back into it with Aurelien Chedjou's 65th minute equaliser. As time ran out, Roberto Mancini's men started to look superior to Jose Mourinho's and Chelsea should be glad they did not concede again during the late onslaught. They are likely to sort out this tie at Stamford Bridge however and are looking like they might be the only English team left in the competition come the quarter-finals.
In the other games, Borussia Dortmund thumped Zenit St. Petersburg 4-2 away on Tuesday in what was somehow an awful game despite its goals. The game was played on a poor surface and the Russian side did not look up for it, paving a way to the next round for the German side who have not been at their best this season. Real Madrid were the heroes of this week however, as they hammered Schalke 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen. Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo all bagged braces in what was a flawless attacking performances and makes Real many peoples' favourites to win the tournament outright.
