Tuesday 20 November 2012

Chelsea Bound For Europa, Celtic Face Showdown, United Lose

Group E: Chelsea are in a must win situation against Nordsjaelland if they are to avoid falling into the Europa League. The defending champions suffered their first three goal defeat for the first time in the 21st century. Fabio Quagliarella put Juventus ahead seven minutes before half-time in the Delle Alpi, his third goal of the tournament. Arturo Vidal doubled their lead just after the hour mark, also his third of the competition, before Sebastian Giovinco completed the victory in injury time with his second goal of the format.
Shakhtar Donetsk are through after twice coming from behind to beat Nordsjaelland. Morten Nordstrand put the Danish hosts ahead on 24-minutes before Adriano equalised two minutes later. Nordsjaelland had the lead again on the half hour mark courtesy of Kasper Lorentzen but Willian would equalise in first half injury time. Willian then doubled his goalscoring tally for the tournament before today, now four, by giving Shakhtar the lead five minutes after the restart. Adriano made it 4-2 three minutes later before completing his hat-trick and Shakhtar's progression nine minutes before the end.
Chelsea are now two points behind Juventus in the battle to join Shakhtar. Fortunately for Chelsea, they face Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge and should win. Meaning that Juventus have to get something against Shakhtar in the Ukraine which will not be easy, so Chelsea do still have a good chance to qualify. Table:
1. Shakhtar Donetsk 10
2. Juventus 9
3. Chelsea 7
4. FC Nordsjaelland 1

Group F: A point for Bayern and Valencia is enough to ensure they are both through and can battle it out in the final match for the outright winner. The pair met in the Mestalla and Valencia got off to a bad start when Antonio Barragan was sent off on 33-minutes. But it didn't deter the Spaniards and they actually took the lead on 77-minutes when Sofiane Feghouli netted for the third time in this tournament. But Thomas Muller was on hand with his second goal of the competition eight minutes from time to steal the draw.
Their progression was only sealed because Bate had already lost to Lille before they kicked-off. Lille finally get their first points of the competition in a match that saw Djibril Sidibe suffer a mixed match. It was Sidibe who opened the scoring after just 14-minutes before Gianni Bruno made it 2-0 on his European debut just after the half hour mark. Sidibe was then sent off on 75-minutes to mar a good result for Lille. Table:
1. Bayern Munich 10
2. Valencia 10
3. Bate Borisov 6
4. Lille OSC 3

Group G: Celtic's potential progression is left on a knife-edge after suffering defeat to Benfica. Ola John put the Portuguese side ahead after seven minutes. Giorgos Samaras scored his third goal of the tournament to equalise for Celtic on 32-minutes. But Benfica took all three points thanks to Ezequiel Garay's 71st-minute goal.
Barcelona are now guaranteed their progression after a comfortable win over Spartak Moscow. Dani Alves put Barcelona ahead in Russia after 16-minutes. Lionel Messi then made it 2-0 on 27-minutes before adding a third 12-minutes later. This takes his tally to five for the tournament and is now just 15-goals behind Raul's all-time Champions League record. Celtic and Benfica go into the final game level on points and also goal difference. Fortunately for Celtic, Benfica must travel to Camp Nou while they host Spartak, slightly making them favourites to progress. Table:
1. Barcelona 12
2. Benfica 7
3. Celtic 7
4. Spartak Moscow 3

Group H: Manchester United surrender their 100% record in Turkey. With progression as group winners already guaranteed, United used this as the perfect opportunity to rest the big names and bleed a few of the youngsters in. For the most part this worked well but they couldn't beat Fernando Muslera. It comes as no surprise that the only goal of the game came from Burak Yilmaz nine minutes into the second half. Yilmaz now has five for the tournament and is still the only Galatasaray player to score this season in Europe.
Cluj are now in a straight battle with Galatasaray to join United after beating Braga in Romania. Rui Pedro opened the scoring after just seven minutes before making it 2-0 on the quarter of an hour mark. Alan scored his fifth of the competition on 17-minutes to pull a goal back but Pedro was on hand to complete his hat-trick on 33-minutes. Any hopes of a Braga comeback were dashed when Douglao was sent off just before half-time. Cluj and Galatasaray are locked together on points but Cluj have a one goal advantage. But the Romanian side have to travel to Old Trafford while Galatasaray will be paying a visit to Portugal. Table:
1. Manchester United 12
2. CFR Cluj 7
3. Galatasaray 7
4. SC Braga 3

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