Translated material
Champion crisis
Manchester United, Stuttgart and Lyon started the new season with failures
The gold medals from previous national championships turned out to be difficult. Under their burden, since the start of the new season, the champions of England, Germany and France have dropped to the middle of the standings.England. Manchester United cannot win for the third match since the start of the championship. This has not happened to the Red Devils since the 1991/92 season. Before the Mancunian derby, Manchester United was extremely determined. Despite Wayne Rooney's injury, which turned out to be so serious that he will not be able to take part even in the England match against Russia on September 12, and Cristiano Ronaldo's disqualification, Sir Alex Ferguson was preparing only for victory before the game with Manchester City. And in the first minutes there was not even a shadow of doubt that United would finally win it. But the only counterattack of the “citizens” during the half was effective. At this point there was a rebound, but this can hardly console goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
The second shot on target came in the middle of the second half. And all the time between these episodes, Manchester United did not stop the siege of the penalty area of their fellow countrymen for a minute. But Kasper Schmeichel, son of the legendary Peter Schmeichel, was impeccable. The 20-year-old City goalkeeper over and over again coped with the blows of the players of the team for which his father once played, and, maintaining the City's minimal advantage, became the hero of the match.
At the same time, Ferguson could not make a claim against any of his players. “I looked at the pitch and didn’t see who I needed to replace,” Sir Alex said after the match. - All the guys performed excellently, and each made a significant contribution to the game. Now we need to get together and start winning. We have no other options and I hope that next time luck turns our way, we will be ready to receive Tottenham well.”
One way or another, Manchester City won the third match, and the return of its coach Sven-Göran Eriksson to England turned out to be truly triumphant. “Perhaps if we had been a little luckier, the result would have been even better,” the Swede is not going to stop there. - My team can do a lot. Not all the players are one hundred percent ready yet, and besides, we are still going to acquire a couple of great players before the end of August.”
Eriksson may have been referring to Moroccan defender Badr al-Qaddouri and Italian goalkeeper Marco Amelia. By the way, Russian clubs also wanted to see both of them, but the leader of the English championship, of course, has priority.
It is unknown, however, how long City will remain at the very top of the standings. Chelsea intends to take advantage of Manchester United's failure and break away from their rival. So far, Jose Mourinho's plan is working - points were lost only in the away match with Liverpool. But the 1:1 draw was also an acquisition for the Blues. Liverpool conceded only after a dubious penalty. “45 thousand people saw that there was no penalty and are firmly convinced of this,” Reds coach Rafael Benitez was indignant at the referee’s decision. And his colleague Mourinho was naturally pleased with the result: “We took a point, and that’s two points lost for Liverpool.” I knew that Arsenal drew and Manchester United lost. So this draw is good for us.”
Germany. Stuttgart has even less chance of defending its title than Manchester United. It is unlikely that the German champion could count on success in the away match with Hertha. Stuttgart last won in Berlin in 1991. But Armin Fe’s team could well have thought about a draw. Especially after they opened the scoring in the 16th minute. However, the Hertha players quickly realized that Stuttgart was not the same as before, and they dealt with the champion.
Bayern returns to Stuttgart's leadership after a one-year break. The second victory in a row with a big score clearly demonstrates the furious attitude of the Bavarians. Following Hansa, one of Bayern's offenders, Werder Bremen, was defeated, last season one step higher than Ottmar Hitzfeld's team. Bremen, of course, can blame the fact that they no longer have Miroslav Klose in their squad, who just moved to Bayern. By the way, the forward played poorly against his former team and was replaced during the break. But even without his participation, the guests, in whom Franck Ribery again shone, treated the hosts “rudely”, defeating Werder Bremen - 4:0.
Only Schalke can keep up with this kind of Bayern. After a draw with Stuttgart in the opening round, the sister team of Zenit defeated Borussia Dortmund 4:1. This match, however, was remembered for a scandal: Schalke striker Gerald Asamoah said that Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller called him a “black pig.” Weidenfeller, however, denies his guilt, saying that “he doesn’t know such words.” But the German football association will still investigate the incident.
France Lyon, which has had no equal in France for seven years, is suffering its second defeat in four rounds. This time the champion lost to Lorient, who had taken the lead, 1:2. “Luck is just not on our side right now,” Lyon coach Alain Perrin, who took charge of the team on the eve of the season, found an excuse for another misfire.
Club president Jean-Michel Olhas has his own explanation for what is happening. According to him, a conspiracy has been organized against Lyon, in which referees and almost officials of the French federation participate. The purpose of the conspiracy is good - to slow down the team on the way to the next championship title and thereby give impetus to the development of football in France. But Jean-Michel Olhas has already taken retaliatory measures: it is likely that Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, whose transfer is estimated at 10 million euros, will arrive to help Lyon.
English Championship. 3rd round . Portsmouth - Bolton - 3:1, Fulham - Middlesbrough - 1:2, Reading - Everton - 1:0, Birmingham - West Ham " -- 0:1, "Wigan" -- "Sunderland" -- 3:0, "Tottenham" -- "Derby County" -- 4:0, "Newcastle" -- "Aston Villa" -- 0:0 , Manchester City - Manchester United - 1:0, Blackburn - Arsenal - 1:1, Liverpool - Chelsea - 1:1. Leading: Manchester City - 9 points, Chelsea - 7, Wigan, Everton - 6 each.
German Championship. 2nd round . Karlsruhe - Hannover - 1:2, Schalke - Borussia D - 4:1, Werder - Bayern - 0:4, Hertha - Stuttgart " -- 3:1, "Arminia" -- "Eintracht" -- 2:2, "Hansa" -- "Nuremberg" -- 1:2, "Duisburg" -- "Wolfsburg" -- 1:3, " Hamburg - Bayer - 1:0, Energie - Bochum - 1:2. Leading: Bayern, Hamburg - 6 points each.
French Championship. 4th round. Sochaux - Monaco - 0:3, Auxerre - Cannes - 1:0, Saint-Etienne - Bordeaux - 0:0, Toulouse - " Strasbourg - 1:3, Metz - PSG - 0:0, Lorien - Lyon - 2:1, Le Mans - Lille - 1:1, " Lens - Valenciennes - 0:0, Nice - Rennes - 1:1, Marseille - Nancy - 2:2. The leaders are: Le Mans, Lorien, Nancy - 10 points each.