Beatdown: Manchester United 5 - Bayer Leverkusen 0 -- Game Recap and Player Ratings

Photo by Andrew Plante on Flickr

Three days off a disappointing draw in the Premier League, Manchester United traveled to Germany Wednesday night and shook off all their problems -- at least temporarily -- with a 5-0 hammering of Bayer Leverkusen to generate their biggest away win ever in the Champions League competition.  Wayne Rooney turned in a dominating performance, playing a crucial part in four of his team's five goals, on what turned out to be a glorious evening for the English champions.  Ryan Giggs also had an exceptional night out, bringing insight and virtuoso skills to a central midfield that has been sorely lacking both qualities this season.

As if serving to remind viewers of their past glories, and with their former manager watching from the stands high above, the Red Devils swaggered their way through the BayArena, silencing the home crowd and leaving a devastated and demoralized Leverkusen side in their wake.  Herewith the individual player ratings from the Red Devils' most comprehensive victory of the young season:

De Gea: A virtual spectator in the first 45, and only marginally more involved after the interval. 7.0

Smalling: His pressure on the offensive side of the ball led to an own goal and an early 2-0 lead, and his tap volley emphasized the gap in quality between the two sides at 4-0. 7.5

Ferdinand: Beaten much too easily by Stefan Kiessling on two occasions. 6.5

Evans: Crucial challenge to deny Kiessling and keep the home side off the board in the first half. Was rewarded for his efforts with a second half tap in for the third goal. 8.0

Evra (C): A big part of his side's early offense on the break. His header led to his defensive partners' second half goal. 7.0

Giggs: A playmaker in the middle who looked full of invention tonight, crystallized in the moment he picked out Nani for the evening's final tally.  Looked years younger than 40 tonight. 8.5

Jones: Did his job and broke up play well; never let Leverkusen get up a head of steam. Almost added a fifth goal near the end of the contest. 7.0

Attack Attack Attack: Player Ratings -- Manchester United 4 - Bayer Leverkusen 2

photo by riptheskull	via PhotoRee

David Moyes served up an attacking eleven for his initial foray into the Champions League, choosing to hand both Shinji Kagawa and Marouane Fellaini their starting debuts, and  was rewarded for his aggressiveness as United punished their German visitors 4-2  in a compelling Tuesday night Champions League match at Old Trafford.  The home side settled the crowd’s nerves early on as Wayne Rooney bounce-volleyed Patrice Evra’s cross into the net for a 1-0 first half lead, although the Reds' opener owed at least as much to Antonio’s Valencia’s potential obstruction of Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno as it did to Rooney’s skill.

The visitors fought back to tie the game after the interval, as Simon Rolfes’s long range shot deflected off an unfortunate Michael Carrick to leave David De Gea in no man’s land, and punish the Reds for an earlier blown opportunity to stretch their lead.  Robin Van Persie restored the one goal advantage with a side-legged volley before Wayne Rooney put the result beyond doubt by bending the ball past Leno after receiving a fine distribution from De Gea.  The home side padded their lead to three with a counter attack that’s been too rarely seen in recent times, with both Ashley Young and Rooney assisting Valenica’s confident finish. Although the Germans pulled back a late goal, the only effect of the final margin was to take a bit of the gloss off what was a  very enjoyable victory by the home side.

Herewith our thoughts on the players' individual performances:

De Gea:  Virtually uninvolved in the first half -- if he did any less he would have to be described as a spectator.  Left rooted to the ground for Rolfes’ equalizer, but held on well when needed, and his long ball to Rooney led directly to the third goal of the evening. Will be disappointed with his effort on Leverkusen’s second goal of the evening. 7.0

Smalling: His height made it difficult for Leverkusen to penetrate from the left and gave United another threat on set pieces.  Advanced the ball decently but didn’t present the same offensive threat as Rafael.  7.0

Ferdinand:  On cruise control for the first half, but somehow managed to miss a clearance that led to Leverkusen’s first real shot of the evening. 6.5

Vidic: Ever dangerous on set pieces and saw more action in front of the Leverkusen net than United's during the first half.  Will not be pleased with the defense’s inability to clear the ball at times in the second half. 7.0

Evra: A beautiful cross led to United's opening goal but the Frenchman was less involved on the offensive end than usual tonight. 7.0

Valencia: While the majority of his first half play was marked by less-than-accurate crosses, the Ecuadorian did offer a valuable assist during the first 45 minutes – in the form of his body block on (and in) Rooney’s goal.  Valencia significantly upped his game for the second half, offering the ball that RVP buried to restore the home side’s lead, and the winger will be more than pleased to have scored an emphatic goal that accounted for United’s final score on the evening.  He played as if the Manager asked him for more at the break, taking on defenders in ways we haven’t seen in months.  8.5

Carrick: Afforded loads of time on the ball by the visitors, but was the unfortunate victim of a deflection on the equalizer. 6.5

Kagawa: The Japanese international was handed his home debut this season, and split open Leverkusen’s back line near the half but United were unable to take advantage of Kagawa's skill.  Will be disappointed not to have scored before the break after displaying fine skill while chesting down Valencia's cross. 7.5

Game, Set, and Match: Barcelona 3 - Bayer Leverkusen 1

photo by Evil Erin	via PhotoRee

Barcelona traveled to Germany to take on Leverkusen last night as the Champions League started up again, the latest round a visceral reminder of the early and unexpected exit that Manchester United was dealt when this tournament was last played. Without a rooting interest to compel me to watch the proceedings, I adopted more of a neutral stance when choosing which game to watch this round, and found myself viewing Barca's visit to Germany in search of an answer the age old question: does speed beat height?

There have been several truisms in the Pep Guardiola era at Barcelona: one is the almost universal admiration for the "Barcelona way" of football, a 21st century re-boot of Johan Cruyff's Clockwork Orange.  A lesser known but equally valid truism, however, is that Barcelona has struggled on the road in the Champions League over the past several years.  And if their problems on the road in this competition weren't enough, all is not necessarily well for the Blaugrana even in La Liga these days, with Barca  falling ten points off the pace set by their arch rivals from Madrid after their latest loss this weekend. Would that poor road record and weak run of league form carry over into the team's performance on Tuesday -- could there be another shock Champions League exit in store? -- or were the Blaugrana merely playing possum, waiting to turn on the afterburners only when needed?

Barcelona saw plenty of possession as the game kicked off, weaving their way in and around their taller Teutonic counterparts, while stringing their tiki taka passing game along, the ball moving this way and that, one ball following the other as regularly as the beat of a metronome.  At the halfway point of the game's first 45 minutes, Barcelona's possession bordered on 80%.  For their part, Leverkusen countered with their irregular and lurching runs forward, often forgetting to take the ball along with them.  The Germans were rudely and repeatedly reminded of the importance of that latter action as they were forced to beat hasty and rather regular retreats to stop yet another Barcelona attack on the home side's goal.

If the 30,000 German fans had come to see the visitors play football, then surely they were sated by the 40th minute, having watched the men in green complete approximately seven passes for every one completed by the home side.  But if Leverkusen thought they had held their visitors' dominating ball retention to an interesting but ultimately meaningless statistic, they were sadly mistaken: with less than four minutes to go in the half it took only one Lionel Messi flick of the foot to find Alexis Sanchez goal bound, as the visitors finally found a point to go along with their statistical domination of the proceeding so far.