well just the sort of weather the fans were hoping for this evening it's absolutely ideal i'm derek
ray joined in the commentary position by lee dixon and this is where it all starts in the
uefa champions league the group stage and match day one my goodness so much to look forward to
this ought to be a fantastic watch league it's very important that you're not playing catch
up in the group stages match day one imperative you get off to a good start
it's the opening match day champions league group stage match day one underway the initial 11 today
for the hosts avoid check shenzheny between the posts juan cuadrado starts with federico chiesa
on the flanks and the front pair cristiano ronaldo starts together with parody bala
and milan's lineup looks like this the goalkeeper is chippy and tatarushanu teo hernandez starts
with davide calabria in the fullback positions and lining up and it's teed up for ronaldo
well he stumped it out of there without much fuss
artur and he read it well defensively
cristiano ronaldo one of the greatest players of the current era and you'd have to suspect lee that
he's going to have some sort of role to play well when you're playing against a player sometimes
you're trying to look at what his qualities are is he a good hold up player is he quick is
he this is he that but when somebody tells you he's a finisher you know you're in big trouble
ibrahimovic waiting foiling them effectively
federico
cristiano ronaldo
madrado and showing fine vision that's excellent defending following the cross and he struck the
post well i suppose derrick technically that's as close as you can get without it going in the goal
oh and a goal from cristiano ronaldo cometh the hour cometh ronaldo
well we've got a better angle of it here he was aiming pretty high
goalkeeper no chance when you go that high in the net
slightly different vantage point in terms of the goal that was scored
one nil then
ibrahimovic
rahim diaz now read it well
modrado
after pass keeping their opponents moving tybala plenty of players waiting in the middle
and a goal here but it took a definite nick and nothing the keeper could do about it whatsoever
well my initial opinion was to blame the goalkeeper but here we get a better angle
of it absolutely nothing it can do a huge deflection keeper no chance
now let's have another view of that goal
so toe nail now
the hosts have had the lion's share of possession if you don't control the ball in midfield it's
very difficult to have enough of the ball to create chances for your strikers and really
has been a dominant performance oh what's an opportunity just cleared away in the nick of time
good defending
crisp tackling
calabria and santa marcos has it it might be perfectly set up for the counter attack you know
ibrahimovic beautifully weighted ball that's all they can conjure for now
the room to roam on the wing
there will be one minute added on at the end artur well possession seeded
and the whistle is sounded for half time in this game
well he's one of the greatest talents of his generation zlatan ibrahimovic but
even the most creative have off days yeah definitely derek has been below par today
not tested the keeper enough the team do rely on him as well and he's not done it
and so the second half of this champions league group stage match day one contest commences
hernandez well he's going to be disappointed with that pass
otto has it well sitting deep like this might be a dangerous game keolini
the ball with kieza cristiano ronaldo might be onto something with that ball
well they couldn't take advantage of the opportunity alex sandro federico
and a fine tackle
ronaldo cuadrado might want it just couldn't get it through
the attack continues they're making considerable progress
davide calabria on the ball sanderbackers
ibrahimovic alert defending breaking at pace
can they keep it going and he's got the beating of his opponents and the goalkeeper up to the
task well yeah it's a decent save but if he lets that in you'd be asking questions
federico
arturo has it kieza
and the ball back with milan now
it's a matter of what occurs in the final 15 minutes
the rossoneri pushing forward with options available
and take it away
it's with ibrahimovic losing possession a bit easily
federico can they do something positive on the counter attack
could play it in
and it's a case of just five minutes left
and it's ibrahimovic finding a forward gear can he produce federico
and just like that they've lost possession davide calabria
in just one minute of stoppage time say the officials
so full time as is and the morale boosting three bites on the board to begin their
european campaign well it's everything you want from the start of match one good
strong start that result will give everybody confidence especially the players well done
cristiano ronaldo usually excels and tonight no exceptionally well that was a really really
good performance from the lad and a goal to boot really delighted with that goal i'm sure he is