Away is good

Home field is no longer the determining advantage in Champions League matches

1. Barcelona

3. Stuttgart

In five matches of Tuesday's Champions League program, away teams achieved positive results for themselves. Fenerbahçe drew the match with CSKA, and Barcelona, Sporting, Arsenal and Rangers returned from visiting with even more significant baggage.

Lyon fans left the Gerland stadium in the worst mood. The French champions suffered their second defeat in a row, and again with a large score. And if the loss to Barcelona could be considered a baptism of fire in the Champions League for the new Lions coach Alain Perrin, then the defeat inflicted on the French by the Scottish Rangers is difficult to justify due to the young coach’s limited experience. The hopes that Lyon is about to wake up and, like in the old days, go smash one opponent after another, are fading with every match. And if previously the ambitious French champion’s quest for the European title ended somewhere in the Champions League playoffs, this time the “lions” can drop out of the race after the group stage. Rangers are too good and calculating to miss out on second place in Group E. The first one seems to have already been staked out by Barcelona.

In the match against Lyon, Rangers, who had not won away in the Champions League since 2000, played pragmatically. Waiting out bursts of activity from the hosts in the deep defense, the Scots made forays into the opponent’s goal during quiet periods, three of which ended in goals. Lyon had only one real chance to change the course of the match - just before the break, with the score 0:1, Juninho hit the crossbar with his signature free kick. The captain, like the entire team, has not been doing well lately. Added to the failures at the start of the season were problems in the relationship with the head coach. And Lyon has almost no time left to find a way out of the tournament impasse.

Perhaps by the match with Stuttgart, the French champions will regain their former confidence. Moreover, the winner of the German championship is not yet coping with the role of the flagship of the Bundesliga. Stuttgart's home defeat to Barcelona could have been even worse, and the efforts of Gomez alone were not enough for the German team to even score a prestige goal.

The Dynamo players in Group F also behaved hospitably. The Kiev team, having replaced Anatoly Demyanenko with József Szabo as coach after the opening defeat to Roma, again failed to achieve results. Although both the hosts and the guests could have won the match between Dynamo and Sporting. The Portuguese were simply a little more careful with their scoring chances.

The Manchester United players were just as zealous, for whom victories with a minimum score of 1:0 become their trademark. This time the only goal for the Mancunians was scored by Rooney, who curled the ball into the far corner. Roma, which experienced a recession after an active start to the season, could not find a worthy answer.

In Group G, Inter, through the efforts of Ibrahimovic, beat PSV and redeemed themselves for the defeat in Istanbul. The victory of the next opponent CSKA over the Dutch was achieved easily, even despite the fact that for almost half an hour after Kivu was sent off, Inter played in the minority. The hosts pumped up the match with nine of them - already in stoppage time Suazo saw a red card in front of him.

In Group H, Sevilla, having dealt with Slavia, broke the series of failures. Alexander Kerzhakov watched from the bench as his competitors for a place in the starting lineup dealt with the goalkeeper of the Czech team. But Steaua failed to create a mini-sensation and defend a goalless draw with Arsenal.

Champions League. Group stage . 2nd round. Group "E" . "Lyon" - "Rangers" - 0:3, (McCulloch 23, Cousin 48, Beasley 53) , "Stuttgart" - "Barcelona" - 0:2 ( Puyol 53, Messi 67 ) . Group "F". "Dynamo" K - "Sporting" - 1:2 (Vashchuk 28 - Tonel 14, Anderson Polga 38) , "Manchester United" - "Roma" - 1:0 (Rooney 70 ). Group "G". Inter - PSV - 2:0 (Ibrahimovic 15 pen . , 31) , CSKA - Fenerbahce - 2:2 (Krasic 49, Vagner Love 53 pen. - Alex 9, David 85) . Group "H". Steaua - Arsenal - 0:1 (van Persie 76) , Sevilla - Slavia - 4:2 (Kanute 8, Luis Fabiano 27, Escude 58, Kone 69 - Pudil 19, Kalivoda 90) .

Group "E" I V N P M O

Group "F" I V N P M O

Group "G" I V N P M O

Group "H" I V N P M O

Andrey VDOVIN