Wednesday 8 December 2010

Champions League Round-Up 7/12/10

The first four groups have all completed their matches and we now know at least eight teams who will be in the knock-out rounds with another four who finished third in their group, therefore qualifying for the Europa League.

Group A: With Tottenham already guaranteed progression they were battling it our for top spot. Whereas their opponents Twente were near enough guaranteed Europa League and just needed a point to be sure of it. Spurs were ahead after twelve minutes when Wisgerhof passed the ball back to debutant 40-year old keeper Boschker, the ball took a devious bobble over Boschker and went into the net. Dutchman Demy Landzaat equalised for Twente ten minutes later from the spot. Two minutes into the second half Spurs were ahead again thanks to Defoe before Twente equalised again, this time via Roberto Rosales after 56 minutes. Defoe made it 3-2 four minutes later but Twente weren't to be denied and equalised for a third time after 64 minutes through Nacer Chadli.

Inter Milan travelled to Bremen to try and win Group A, but a surprise was on the cards. Sebastian Prodl put the Germans ahead after 39 minutes. Bremen went 2-0 ahead four minutes into the second half through Marko Arnautovic before Bremen rounded the game off with a third two minutes from time via former Chelsea player Claudio Pizarro. Final Table:
1.Tottenham 11
2.Inter Milan 10
3.FC Twente 6
4.Werder Bremen 5
Group B: Four goals in the second half saw Lyon draw 2-2 with Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Three goals came within seven of each other with Lisandro Lopez opening the scoring for Lyon after 61 minutes. Former Chelsea youngster Ben Sahar equalised a minute later before Eran Zahavi gave Hapoel the lead after 68 minutes. Substitute Alexandre Lacazette equalised for Lyon with tree minutes left to play.

Shalke shock group B by winning it after beating Benfica 2-1. Jose Manuel Jurado put the Germans ahead after nineteen minutes. Benedikt Howedes made it 2-0 with nine minutes to play with Luisao pulling a goal back six minutes later. Final Table:
1.Shalke 04 13
2.Lyon 10
3.Benfica 6
4.Hapoel Tel-Aviv 5
Group C: Manchester United won the group after somehow only managing a 1-1 draw with Valencia. United dominated most of the game but found themselves behind after 32 minutes with a goal from Pablo Hernandez after a Carrick mistake. United got their equaliser from a very unlikely source in the hard working Anderson after Park's initial shot was parried on 62 minutes.

Bursaspor managed to secure their first and only point of the competition with a 1-1 draw against Rangers. Kenny Miller had given Rangers the lead after 16 minutes but Bursaspor equalised eleven minutes from time via Sercan Yildirim. Final Table:
1.Manchester United 14
2.Valencia 11
3.Rangers 6
4.Bursaspor 1
Group D: With the group settled, Barcelona put out a very second string side against Rubin. Andreu Fontas put Barcelona ahead six minutes into the second half with Victor Vazquez finishing the game off with eight minutes remaining.

Copenhagen will be the first Danish side to progress into the knock-out rounds of the Champions League and finished the group phase off with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos. Martin Vingaard put the Danes ahead after 26 minutes. Former Chelsea star Jepser Gronkjaer doubled their lead five minutes into the second half via the penalty spot, with former Liverpool star Djibril Cisse scoring an own goal after 73 minutes to make it 3-0. The Greek side scored an injury time consolation through Cedric Kante. Final Table:
1.Barcelona 14
2.FC Copenhagen 10
3.Rubin Kazan 6
4.Panathinaikos 2

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