© EuroFootball.com
Approaching the start of the strongest European football leagues, the giants of the Old Continent continue to actively prepare for the new season.
Last season's English champions, Chelsea, are continuing their preparations in Portugal for the new season. Yesterday, at the "de Luz" stadium, Portuguese Jose Mourinho's London club players defeated Lisbon's Portuguese champions 1-0, coached by Ronaldo Koeman. The only goal of the match was scored by "Benfica" defender Ricardo Rocha.
R.Rocha was pressed during the attack by "Chelsea" forward Carlton Cole, so the Portuguese redirected the ball crossed by Arjen Robben into the goal. Just in his debut match, the new "Chelsea" acquisition Asier del Horno almost scored a goal, but his penalty shot bounced off the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, Hernan Crespo was able to score.
In one episode, Petr Cech stopped a shot by Beto from "Benfica" that ended up in the heart of the rare attack towards the English goal.
Starting lineup for Chelsea: Petr Cech; Paulo Ferreira, Johnson, Gallas, Del Horno; Lampard, Tiago, Jarosik; Joe Cole, Carlton Cole, Robben.
Starting lineup for Benfica: Quim; Joao Pereira, Anderson, Ricardo Rocha, Dos Santos; Petit, Beto, Karyaka; Geovanni, Simao; Nuno Gomes.
Italian champions Juventus saw the debut of Patrick Vieira. The Frenchman played the entire first half in a match against "Pavia" from "Serie C" and hit the post once.
Juventus fell behind after an unexpected goal from "Pavia" striker Fasini, but the result became equal when "Pavia" defender Gorini scored an own goal. Later, four goals were scored without response by Juventus players Z.Ibrahimovic, A.Mutu, M.Zalayeta, and Spagnoli, allowing the "Old Lady" to celebrate a 5-1 victory.
Juventus lineup in the 1st half: Buffon, Pessotto, Thuram, Tudor, Zambrotta, Camoranesi, Blasi, Vieira, Olivera, Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet.
Juventus lineup in the 2nd half: Chimenti, Birindelli, Thuram, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Olivera, Blasi, Tacchinardi, Spagnoli, Zalayeta, Mutu.
Belarusian Aleksandr Hleb made a great debut in London, scoring a goal and helping the London club defeat England's fourth division newcomers "Barnet" 4-1. The Belarusian scored a goal in the second minute with a strong shot from the penalty area.
New Arsenal captain T.Henry doubled the score after successfully converting a penalty earned by J.A.Reyes. Veteran Dennis Bergkamp scored the third goal with a curling shot, and J.Hotye added the fourth goal after M.Flamini's pass.
The entire match in the Arsenal lineup featured defender Philippe Christanval, while in the second half, Arsenal's goal was guarded by 17-year-old Italian V.Mannone, who came from Atalanta.
Arsenal lineup: Mark Howard, (Vito Mannone 45'), Justin Hotye, Philippe Christanval, Pascal Cygan (Matthew Connolly 45'), Lauren (Emmanuel Eboue 45'), Jose Antonio Reyes (Anthony Stokes 45'), Alexander Hleb (Nicklas Bendtner 67'), Mathieu Flamini (Fabrice Muamba 67'), Thierry Henry (Arturo Lupoli 45'), Dennis Bergkamp (David Bentley 45'), Robert Pires (Kerrea Gilbert 67').
Once again, Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was booed by his own fans. The defender, who had not yet signed a new contract with the Manchester club, received a negative reaction from the fans in a 5-1 victory against "Clyde".
Two goals for the winners were scored by Ruud van Nistelrooy, and one each was added by Kleberson, Paul Scholes, and Liam Miller.
In the first half, Man Utd featured newcomers goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and forward Ji Sung-Park.
Manchester United lineup in the 1st half: Van der Sar; McShane, Richardson, Pique, Ferdinand, Fletcher, Jones, Kleberson, Rossi, Saha, Park.
Manchester United lineup in the 2nd half: Howard; Bardsley, Eckersley, Smith, O'Shea, Silvestre, Miller, Rooney, Scholes, van Nistelrooy, Giggs.
Italian football giant Inter Milan crushed the "Brunico" representative team 10-0 in their pre-season matches.
Scoring two goals each for Inter were Alvaro Recoba, Matteo Momente, and Julio Cruz, while Kily Gonzalez, Obafemi Martins, newcomer Santiago Solari, and Lampros Choutos each added one.
Inter lineup in the 1st half: Toldo (Julio Cesar 30), Ze Maria , Cordoba, Mihajlovic, Wome, Karagounis, Veron, C.Zanetti, Kily Gonzalez, Cruz, Recoba (Momente 35).
Inter lineup in the 2nd half: Julio Cesar ( Carini 60), Arrieta, Andreolli, Materazzi, Favalli, Semenzato (Maa Boumsong 71), Pizarro (Belaid 72), Stankovic, Solari, Martins (Germinale 79), Choutos (Momente 71).
