Manchester United and Bayern Munich opened the defence of their respective league titles with draws, prompting worried looks among supporters.
Normally it would be silly to judge a side on the first match of the season, but in United’s case there was clearly something missing in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle…a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
United fans will be relieved that he is only absent through injury and not because of a departure to Real Madrid.
However, the lack of a cutting edge in the final third and Chelsea’s impressive 4-0 drubbing of Portsmouth has heralded renewed calls for United to up their efforts to sign Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov.
Bayern were equally unconvincing in a 2-2 home draw with Hamburg in Juergen Klinsmann’s first league match in charge. Supporters are already counting the days until injured duo Luca Toni and Franck Ribery are back fit.
Real Madrid, who start their title defence at the end of the month, lost the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup 3-2 at Valencia.
Is the world order about to change? Let’s leave it a few more games to decide.
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11 comments so far
Honestly, I’d rather draw against Newcastle, than lose against Reading in the first game of the season. We kept our composure, scoring minutes after Martins header, and had many chances to score again. If there’s any good to take away from the game, it’s the fact that Campbell looks very promising, with Raphael Da Silva right behind him. Once Ronaldo & Tevez are back in the squad, opposing teams will be left in the dust!
- Posted by DarrenCORRECTION: …with Fabio Da Silva right behind him.
- Posted by DarrenIts just a pity that United cannot do nothing without a C.Ronaldo. Lets pray C.Ronaldo leaves for Real Madrid which will mark the end of United reign as champions.
As in the case of Bayern, unfortunately they need to step up their gaves though we need not rest our case by judging on this first games.
Poor Real Madrid what else do they need to excel, maybe the bite was in Baptista who i now enjoying himself at Roma
Guna4liv
- Posted by KelechiI dont think that changing one player thats C.Ronaldo will make some difference to the team.. Manchesters are good and will be with or without C.Ronaldo. There are many more players for MANU to play rather than that C.Ronaldo.
- Posted by mackanrowYa its true that one cant judge the team by the first match of the team.. so its better to watch the other games and then judge….
- Posted by mackanrow[...] Source Blogs reuters Share and Enjoy: [...]
- Posted by Are United and Bayern already under pressure? : Soccer News[...] It’s never too early to sound the alarm. (Reuters Soccer Blog) [...]
- Posted by Daily Dose: 08.18.08 | The OffsideBayern is a team that is under a new coach who has introduced a new system that can’t be grasped in a short time. Its going to take it sometime before all the players feel comfortable with this new system. Remember Germany had to lose and draw matches with minnows cause the system Klinsmann had introduced was still difficult to grasp, but when they did they were the favourites for all. So give Bayern time you will see the results
- Posted by EmmySo a team being under a new coach cannot be ready so soon as far as the team has been practicing with the players, so there should be some problems with the players in the beginning.
- Posted by mackanrowMan Utd shouldn’t draw, I personaly believe it worries them much. Last season they started low but improved soon. Anyway, last season is gonne far away and it’s never the same again and again. They will play Liverpool on 13Th Sept and Chelsea after. It’s a must beat Portsmouth this week-end if they want to keep the title!
- Posted by MomiI predicted long before the season kicked off we would struggle to repeat last season’s peformances and results. If the Newcastle game is anything to go buy, iy will be a mountain to climb. The Ronaldo saga has inevitably rocked the entire club and Fergie had to spend the entire summer trying to keep Ronnie at OT instead of signing reinforcements.
- Posted by Red Devil