Real Madrid have suffered another major injury blow as striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s season looks to be over after it was announced that he will undergo an operation to correct a problem with his right knee. The reigning Spanish champions already have Arjen Robben and Mahamadou Diarra out of action due to calf and thigh problems, while Rubén de la Red is still recovering after fainting on the pitch on 30 October. de la Red’s football future is in doubt after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon revealed to a Spanish radio station that the Spain international could be suffering from a heart problem. de la Red will not return to action unless doctors are certain that his health is not in danger.

The 32-year-old former Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven star damaged his knee during Real’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Juventus in October. He travelled to the United States last week and underwent exploratory surgery. He is being treated by Dr. Richard Steadman, who previously operated on van Nistelrooy in 2000 prior to his move to Manchester United FC from PSV Eindhoven. Along with damaged cartilage, a cyst on the players’ cruciate ligament was discovered, leaving club doctors in no doubt that the player required an operation.

Despite being troubled by the problem all season, van Nistelrooy made six league appearances for Madrid, scoring four times as well as firing in another three goals in four UEFA Champions League games. He is the second top-scorer in Champions League history with 60 goals.

Dr Richard Steadman will be a busy man as he will also be treating Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves will not play again this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee with a further operation to follow on the left.

The Guardian details that Steadman has developed special surgical techniques which allowed several United States Ski Team members to return to competition and win Olympic medals. In 1976 he was named Chief Physician for the United States Ski Team and in 1989, his work was recognised with his election to the US National Ski Hall of Fame.

Hargreaves has not played since September 21st because of the persistent tendinitis which has restricted his opportunities at Old Trafford since his 2007 move from FC Bayern München. United are also missing Paul Scholes through a knee injury though he should return to action much sooner than his colleague.

Dynamo Kyiv’s substantial injury list has grown by one more. Defender Olexandr Romanchuk has been ruled out for at least six months with a double fracture of his left leg sustained in a Ukrainian Cup quarter-final match. Kyiv look like they will also be missing midfielder Milos Ninkovic, centre-back Taras Mikhalik and goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy ahead of their important MatchDay 5 fixture with Arsenal.

Villarreal’s leading scorer Joseba Llorente will not be available for the Spanish club’s two remaining fixtures in the Champions League as he needs approximately a month to recover from a tear in his right thigh. Llorente had been enjoying a good start to his career at Villarreal, scoring six times in eleven league games so far this season.

He joined the Yellow Submarines on a four-year contract from Real Valladolid in the summer after scoring 16 times in 39 appearances during the 2007-08 season. After coming on as a substitute, he scored a second-half hat trick against Aalborg BK in Villarreal’s memorable 6-3 win on October 21st.

Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina will miss up to three months after undergoing surgery on an inflamed tendon in his left leg.

CFR 1907 Cluj will be without striker Didi and defender Gabriel Muresan is a doubt for the visit of AS Roma next Wednesday. Didi suffered a recurrence of a problem with his left knee in a league game against FC Unirea Urziceni while Muresan is struggling with a muscle strain.

I thought I would share with you some of the articles that have caught my eye over the past couple of days:

• Kartik of Major League Soccer Talk argues that Landon Donovan’s trial with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich is a good move for the player.
• Kudos to Werder Bremen for taking a tough stance on extremist fans
• Congrats to Rubin Kazan – Russian Premier League champs
• How FourFourTwo selected their Top 100 players on the planet.
• Some bad news for one of my favourite players, Owen Hargreaves, the England international and Manchester United midfielder whose season is done and speculation is that his career may be in jeopardy as well.
• Juan Arango of La Liga Talk covers the historic Copa del Rey defeat suffered by Real Madrid at the hands of Real Unión, a Segunda B (third division) side. What is it with Spanish Primera teams losing to Segunada B teams this year? There are more second legs to come today but unless they have a massive turnaround Villarreal will go out at the hands of Club Polideportivo Ejido, who won the first leg 5-0.
• Not helping his case at all, Real Madrid boss Bernd Schuster said he had “no idea” why his team leaked 6 goals over two legs to a third division side.
• This article is a bit older but Sid Lowe of the Guardian wrote a nice piece on how Pep Guardiola has Barcelona looking like champions again.

With World Cup qualifying on, its been a little slow for UEFA club competition news but here are some stories around the web that I thought you’d find interesting.

• ESPN Soccernet details the problems at Fenerbahce
• Bundesliga Talk has posted a quick update on every club in the league
• Owen Slot, Chief Sports Reporter for the Times, offers 10 ways football can ride out the credit crunch
• The Daily Mail reports that Real Madrid are planning to make Carlos Tevez in January
• Juventus boss Claudio Ranieri says that Xabi Alonso was passed over as they felt he was ‘too slow’ ; the article also suggests that Ranieri may be out and replaced with Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez

A few quick injury notes before I sign off. Expect to hear more coaches complain about fixture congestion, etc

• Celtic have been dealt a blow with the news that Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is set to miss key games in both the SPL and the Champions League. Vennegoor of Hesselink looks certain to sit out Tuesday’s much-anticipated Champions League clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
• Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is set to miss the club’s next three matches through injury. Torres strained a hamstring during Spain’s 2-1 win over Belgium and is expected to be out of action for 10 days. The Reds might also be without Dutch winger Ryan Babel, who sustained an ankle injury after a clash with Blackburn Rovers’ winger Morten Gamst Pedersen in the world Cup qualifier against Norway.
• Villarreal midfielder Sebastián Eguren will be out of action for up to five weeks after tearing his left hamstring during Uruguay’s World Cup qualifying loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
• FC Shakhtar Donetsk have lost defender Ilsinho for the rest of the year and striker Luiz Adriano until November, with the UEFA Champions League Group C visit of Sporting Clube de Portugal looming next Wednesday.
• Real Madrid full-back Miguel Torres has been ruled out for about three weeks after tests confirmed he suffered a tear to his left thigh muscle during the Spain Under-21s’ victory over Switzerland in Lorca on Tuesday.
• Arsenal were hit heavily as William Gallas (hamstring) and Bacary Sagna (knee) suffered knocks while playing for France and Nicklas Bendtner (ankle) was injured representing Denmark. The trio will miss the trip to Fenerbahce, while Cesc Fàbregas (broken nose), Robin van Persie (muscle strain) and Johan Djourou (concussion) are awaiting tests on their ailments.

Just a quick editorial note to start, I had hoped to complete my Group Previews before Matchday 1 but that was not the case. I will still be pushing those out, hopefully finish before Matchday 2 hits. Now, on to last night’s action.

After absences last season for perennial Champions League participants Bayern Munich (pictured at the right) and Juventus, both clubs returned to action with wins yesterday as Groups E-H were in action. Bayern, who played UEFA Cup football last season after a run of ten consecutive appearances in the Champions League competition, are hoping to reclaim their place amongst the ‘big’ clubs of Europe. Juventus, who were absent for three seasons because of their demotion to Serie B for match-fixing, are also looking to re-establish themselves as one of the elite clubs in Europe.

However, we start our review of Wednesday’s action in Group E where scoreless draws were the order of the day. Celtic were held by Aalborg BK as goalkeeper Karim Zaza not only saved Barry Robson’s penalty in the first half but also produced a number of other great saves to keep the Scottish champions at bay. Aalborg got what they needed from this away match at Celtic Park, the point will be valuable as they battle in hopes of at least making a UEFA Cup spot. Celtic had another great chance to score 13 minutes from time when Samaras burst through on goal, only to be brought down by defender Michael Beauchamp, which earned him a red card. However, Zaza again kept out the resulting free-kick from Nakamura. A bit of a disappointment for Celtic one would figure and they will now need to get something from their return match with Aalborg if they hope to progress to the knockout rounds.

Manchester United and Villarreal also played out a stalemate at Old Trafford. The boost United received from Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to action in the second half was not enough as the Spanish-based club defended determinedly. United created a good number of “half-chances” and a few clear-cut scoring opportunities but do not look quite settled yet. Yesterday’s result is not a good omen for United as the last time Villarreal gained a draw at Old Trafford, three seasons ago, United did not make it out of the group.

In Group F, Bayern Munich overcame a stubborn Steaua Bucharest winning 1-0 to kick off their Champions League campaign on a good note. Bayern defender Daniel Van Buyten scored the game’s only goal in the first half before the visitors held off a second-half onslaught in the Romanian capital.  An accurate cross from Bastian Schweinsteiger found Van Buyten, who directed a header into the bottom left corner beyond the reach of Steaua keeper Robinson Zapata. After a solid start from Bayern, the German-based giants fell a step behind to end the first half and that continued into the second half Steaua can feel hard done by to not have claimed a point from the match. All in all, this was a good match with plenty of chances at both ends and both teams playing positively.

The other match in Group F was also an entertaining affair with Lyon coming back to tie Fiorentina 2-2. Fiorentina were denied a win on their return to the Champions League after a nine-year absence by a determined Lyon side. Jean-Alain Boumsong showed some of his old uncertain Newcastle form as his poor clearance allowed Zdravko Kuzmanovi? to cross for Gilardino to glance in from close range and give the visitors an early lead. Gilardino scored again to close out the first half after Adrian Mutu delivered a cross that he steered inside the far post. Lyon had turned around a two-goal deficit against Nice five days earlier and they turned the trick again last night. Benzema, as he was all match long,  was the catalyst for Lyon. He squared the ball for Piquionne to tap in Lyon’s first goal on 73 minutes and then scored from a set-piece in the 86th to give the French champions a valuable point. Fiorentina have to be disappointed in not closing out the win and it has to be viewed as points dropped for the Italians.

Group G saw FC Porto defeat last season’s surprise side Fenerbahce by a 3-1 scoreline while Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kyiv. Porto’s win is not surprising when you consider that they had lost just one of their preceding 20 Champions League home games. Goals in rapid succession from Lisandro and Lucho had the home team flying early. Fenerbahce’s big summer signing, striker Daniel Guiza, nabbed a goal on the half-hour but Porto tightened up defensively after that and added a goal late in injury time to secure their first Matchday 1 win since 1999.

Arsenal endured a tough trip to the Ukraine as FC Dynamo Kyiv scrapped out a 1-1 draw. Dynamo seemingly took a page from the Arsenal playbook as they had plenty of possession but created few clear-cut scoring chances. They finally made a breakthrough in the 64th minute after Bacary Sagna wrestled Ognjen Vukojevic to the ground to concede a spot-kick. Ismael Bangoura converted and it looked like Kyiv’s run without a group-stage win was about to end. However, William Gallas popped up in the area to turn home Theo Walcott’s low ball across the face of goal, earning Arsenal a point and extending Kyiv’s winless run to 14 group stage matches. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stated after the match that he felt Kiev captain Andriy Nesmachniy “tried to destroy” Walcott, his star 19-year-old forward, and added that the left-back could have been shown the red card on a number of occasions.

Finally in Group H,  Sergio Ramos and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored for Real Madrid as they handled debutants BATE Borisov, winning comfortably by a 2-0 margin. BATE had chances to nick a goal from some of their set pieces but were lacking that little bit of quality that might have seen them take something positive from this match.

The glamour matchup of the group saw Juventus eke out a narrow win over UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg. Alessandro Del Piero scored from a free-kick to take all three points for the Italian club. I still think Zenit will be in the running for a top spot in this group and I look for an even better performance in their next match against Real Madrid.

(Note: Thanks have to go to 101greatgoals.com for the video links)