Argentina’s Galletti was the first to score with less that a minute played. The midefielder is one of Olympiako’s best players and he showed it for the 70 minutes that he played today. Other than his quick goal, Galletti also assisted two other goals. The young Brazilian striker Diogo Luis Santo scored two magnificent goals to add to those goals scored by Patsatzoglou and Fernando Belluschi.

Olympiakos played an incredible game with continuous pressing, excellent passing, and perfect finishing. Benfica was at a complete loss very early in the game as the Greek team managed to go ahead 3-0 in only 24 minutes of play. Considering the overall excellence in play by the Greek side, it is hard to imagine how any other team could have resisted them. Benfica were unfortunate to have a game against a team thirsty for success in European competitions. Don’t forget that Olympiakos has won the Greek championship 11 times in the last 12 years and they are ahead of the pack in the standings this year as well. I am curious to see if the team can continue to perform this well throughout the season.

In spite of the scrutiny, Manager Dick Advocaat pushed his side to play hard and it paid off. The end result left the thousands of Rangers’ fans at the stadium in a speechless state of sorrow. Rangers’ coach, Walter Smith, was disappointed to lose after such a great season, but he commended his players on their hard work nonetheless.

Zenit was able to win by having good control over the ball and a clutch attitude. The team was working very well as a unit, with some spectacular passes. The defense was organized and effectively shut down all scoring attempts by the Scottish team. Zenit stayed calm throughout the contest and hung in there until they finally got a score over 70 minutes into the game. It was shortly followed by their second goal, which basically put the game away.

The game was a great contest between the two teams and it really could have gone either way. Zenit just came out as the better team and an offensive revival gave them an edge over their opponents. And with that the Russians left with their first ever European Cup, and the Scots will have to wait one more year to try and get another one (their last was 36 years ago.)

This is going to be the very first time these two teams face-off against each other in European action. Both teams have had very successful campaigns and have already won a trophy each this year. It should make the game exciting but I think Rangers should prevail in this match. If you look at the stats both teams have done incredible jobs but the Rangers have the more successful stats this year.  The Rangers have only lost one match in Europe this year which happened in the second round way back in March. Since then they haven’t lost and haven’t given up a goal. The scoring also hasn’t been there for the squad but I think when it counts they will come through. Zenit won only three of their last five matches in the cup, and although that’s not bad it isn’t really that great either.

With Zenit missing their top scorer for the match I don’t see them having the power to pull a win off on the Rangers. You never know what could happen but if the stats prove to prevail then Zenit is in trouble. I predict a very low scoring game with the Rangers coming on top with a 1-0 victory.

Instead of winning and finishing off Zenit they managed only a 1-1 draw and now will face them again in the second leg on the semi-final where the two teams will need to decide a winner. I think Bayern will come out on fire in the second leg after being crushed emotionally when the game they had locked up was given away on an own goal.

It’s never good when you’re favored to win the game and you’re in fact winning the game only to give up an own goal. You see it in soccer quite often though and I suppose you can’t solely blame Lucio for the draw. They had many more chances to score and just couldn’t capitalize on any of the chances. If Zenit were to win the next match I would be really shocked and can’t quite see it happening.

Today’s performance was simply great, with Valencia going up 2-0 within the first twelve minutes. Getafe was able to hold the opposition off for a while after that, with a solid defense in the second half. Despite their efforts Valencia still managed to score once more, which basically put the game in the bag for them. Furthermore, Getafe’s offense was unable to get anything done due to Valencia crowding midfield. Near the end they were finally able to break through the midfield clamor, but failed at bringing their team back from the deficit. As Valencia and its fans started their ecstatic celebration, the Getafe players left the field in dismay for their second big stumbling in one week (they lost to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup earlier.)

Valencia has been a powerhouse in their region for quite a while and this year has been disappointing to say the least. This was their one glimmer this year and their new coach will need to keep this momentum going if he wants to be with the team for a long time.