here is the article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1056578/Wenger-set-make-January-Barca-star-Toure.html

100% with you on that. There was an ACTUAL penalty about 30 seconds prior, which should have been whistled, but instead Eto’o was awarded for what other refs would probably caution as a dive. But whatever, the penalty was earned, if not by Eto’o. He certainly didn’t mind taking all the credit, though.

And though Kieta did have a great game, I’d give the match (brace yourselves for some serious roja bias) to Iniesta, for the reasons Ramzi listed above. Absolutely brilliant play by SPF, even firing a couple close shots from outside the box. While Kieta ensured the ball would stay up front, Iniesta was what made the rest of the parts click.

Perhaps that’s because space was created around him because Sporting was, for some strange reason, respecting Eto’o’s wing play but wasn’t really respecting Henry’s (thus leading to a more cluttered box for Eto’o to wander through). Perhaps it’s because he’s better in the CL. I don’t know. But he came off far too quickly, so he wasn’t really able to prove his worth there. Not that he’s a “9″ power striker or anything, but he knows how to exploit space in Europe better than anyone I’ve ever seen.

As for the Pedro sub…I can understand it if you’re removing Henry, but I don’t understand removing Henry in that situation. I know Iniesta created the third goal, but hindsight is 20/20; he wasn’t really doing much on the wing until that moment. Keep Henry in the middle and put Bojan on for Iniesta instead of Pedro for Henry. That’s what I was hoping to see. Once you make the Pedro move, though, Sylvinho on for Puyol was a smart move. El Capitan just doesn’t have the wheels left to go a full 90 as a left back (also, I almost pointed out before the match began that it was probably going to be Puyol on the left, but then thought there was no way he’d get put over there, then I thought, sure, he’s the one who plays on the left side of central D, so he’ll be good — and he was! — but I decided it would be Pique over there).

So once Pedro was on, Bojan never had a shot of making it on the field, but I expect to see him against Sporting Gijon this weekend.

Messi was very good, but actually a bit selfish. It’s like he’s taken Maradona’s statements and decided that he would punish insolent questioning of the way he plays. At least twice he had wide open teammates and he took the much harder route to goal. Other than that, though, great game by Little Leo.

Awesome to see Marquez scoring, awesome to see Eto’o happy (but that penalty was pure bullshit, a total makeup call for several other fouls outside the box before that), and just too great to see Xavi score the third goal.

So I got the scoreline and two of the scorers right (and the first letter of the other one’s last name!), which is great for me cause I like being right. Better than the alternative, at least.

Aguero bags two to make this an interesting contest as Atleti cruised 3-0. Roma was defeated 2-1 by CFR Cluj-Napoca. That’s right, CFR Cluj-Napoca.

ramzi: they were taking there shots from outside the box.

henry played in the middle and proved he is a strong striker. he got the ball with his back to goal, made space turned and fired.

i was worried we wouldnt see any goals from open play but we did! thank god.

weird to see puyol on the left.

keita played a great game, he is very reliable and him and yaya together is excellent. nothing gets by them.

messi looked a bit tired towards the end. the way he missed that toe poke just looked lazy.

i agree that they should have kept henry on because he was looking sharp tonight.

cesar, (from the valencia blog?)its me andrew from the pickup in central park. whats up?

and finally… WE WON!!!!! and we looked good too especially in the first half.

Yaya is a monster. our midfield is on such lockdown when he’s on the pitch, and his outlet passing is unerring. Keita is excellent as well, but he’s more like the bolts; Yaya is the manhole cover.

Pedrito is *not* *ready* for the *Champion’s* *League*. read my lips. what does Pep have against Bojan? if he had been on the pitch we’d have had another goal and at least a couple more good opportunities.

Henry looked more energetic on the left, and he played well, but i still want to see him in the center.

Messi didn’t have a great game, i think he’s still looking for his rhythm. when he finds it, everyone better look out. maybe the haircut?