In a Champions League that has given us many surprises thus far,
last night gave us the most surprising result we have seen for a while in Europe. Celtic’s victory against Barcelona was a victory
for organisation and discipline over complacency. Here’s a look at the night’s
results and what they mean for the group tables with two games left.
Group E
This group is shaping up very nicely for a nail-biting final-match-day
finish. Juventus have at last found the form that they have been showing in the
league so far this season coming ironically, but perhaps not surprisingly,
after their first league defeat of the season. Meaning that the boys from Turin
are still yet to win a Champions League game and a league game in the same
week, perhaps they’ll manage it come this weekend. This game against
Nordsjaelland was as routine as it should have been, but we have been proven
wrong 101 times so far this season so Juve will be glad to have overcome this
obstacle without any trouble. Three first half goals, including an absolute
peach from Sebastian Giovinco on 37 minutes, ensured that at half time there
would be no way back for the Danish champions, and Fabio Quagliarella added one
late on to put the final nail in the coffin.
Chelsea and Shakhtar played out an interesting tie in London with
the Blues looking to reverse the defeat of a fortnight ago. Things started well;
with Torres, still trying to find his feet this season, scoring after only 6
minutes. The Spaniard showed the kind of determination that gets you goals when
you’re not on top form by charging down Shakhtar keeper Pyatov’s clearance for
a shambles of a goal from the point of view of the Ukranians. Chelsea held
the lead for only 3 minutes however; as Fernandinho waltzed his way into the Chelsea box to pull back
for Willian to slot home with a goal that Petr Cech will not be happy with, the
ball squirming through him before reaching the net. Pyatov will feel
disappointed again with his contribution for the second Chelsea goal, coming out well to beat Branislav
Ivanovic to the ball but then heading it straight to Oscar who did extremely
well to chest the ball down and drive it into an empty net from around 40 yards out. Willian
again levelled the score, making a run into the box unchecked from midfield and
latching onto a Darjio Srna cross from seven yards out past the flailing Cech.
Di Matteo must be worried that for the second time none of the Chelsea players picked up the Brazilian
midfield maestro. Chelsea
were not finished, however, and a headed goal from Victor Moses sealed all
three points for the home side with just minutes to go.
Shakhtar now only sit 1st by virtue of away goals in the
head-to-heads with Chelsea, which could prove to be the extra point come the 5th
of December. Chelsea have to go to Turin and face Juventus
while Shakhtar have the Italians at home, which will be a much less daunting
task. Because of this and the better head-to-head I fancy Shakhtar to finish
top and Chelsea
second. Juventus into the Europa League.
Group F
It seems as if normal service has been resumed in group F with Valencia and
Bayern pulling away at the top, both recording comfortable wins. Valencia’s win
over BATE Borisov was a touch uncomfortable for about 3 minutes when, after
going 3-0 up in 51 minutes they conceded two goals, the second with only 7
minutes to go, only to then score again 3 minutes later to put the match to
bed. Sofiane Feghouli was Valencia’s
man of the match with two neat finishes either side of the BATE mini-comeback.
In the other Group F match Bayern gave Lille an absolute thumping after going 5-0 up
after just 33 minutes. Claudio Pizarro scored the third fastest hat-trick in
Champions League history with three striker’s goals along with a classy free
kick from Bastian Schweinsteiger and a lucky one from Arjen Robben to give Lille no hope at half
time. Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes would have been disappointed at not keeping
a clean sheet at home had it not been for the fact that Salomon Kalou’s goal
was a peach in off the crossbar. Toni Kroos added a 6th for the
Germans with 25 minutes to play, but this game was dead long before that.
This pushes Valencia
and Bayern top with 9 points each the most important match coming in two weeks
time at between these two at the Mestalla. I fancy Bayern to qualify top and Valencia to
beat BATE to the second qualification spot.
Group G
Group G saw Celtic achieve one of their greatest nights in the
history of the club by recording a win against mighty Barcelona, a result which will provide total
catharsis after losing so heart-breakingly in the Nou Camp a fortnight ago.
Tito Vilanova decided to leave Gerard Pique on the bench after coming back from
injury and thus played with Marc Bartra and Javier Mascherano in defence.
Playing centre-midfielders in defence has worked for Barca before but the lack
of height, Bartra is 6ft and Mascherano is 5ft 9, proved to be the Catalonians’
greatest weakness again as Victor Wanyama rose at the back post to meet a
Charlie Mulgrew corner and headed home after just 21 minutes. Unsurprisingly Barcelona had the better
of the attacking possession, hitting the woodwork twice; first from Messi, who
blasted a shot over via the bar, and then Alexis Sanchez saw his header bounce
onto the post. But this was to no avail and Celtic scored again with less than
10 minutes to go. I don’t think Tony Watt will ever have a better moment in his
life, coming on as a substitute as an 18 year old to score what will eventually
be the winning goal against Barcelona on your Champions League debut. Unbelievable
stuff. Lionel Messi added a consolation for Barcelona but by this time the game was all
but over, giving Celtic a historic win.
Also in Group G was Benfica v Spartak Moscow, a game which Benfica controlled
for large periods and got a deserved win, 2-0. Despite dominating for the first
period it was 0-0 at half time but the home side proved to be too much for
their Russian opposition, with 24 shots in the game that is hardly surprising.
Half-time substitute Oscar Cardozo bagged two and could have had a hat trick 13
minutes from time, but blasted his penalty against the bar.
This leaves Barcelona
top only two points ahead of Celtic but still firm favourites to qualify in
first place. After their win against Barcelona Celtic will feel on top of the
world but will have to put in some solid performances against Benfica and
Spartak to ensure that they are not dragged back down to earth.
Group H
Once again Manchester United came from behind to snatch a win
leaving them as the only team in the competition with a 100% record and making
them the first to qualify for the next round. It was a far more difficult night
than the 3-1 score-line would suggest and United really are going to have to up
their performances to beat whoever they meet in the first knockout round.
United were being dominated almost all match but holding out until a 50-50
penalty decision, which saw Jonny Evans
knock Custodio to the ground, was awarded by German referee Felix Brych. Evans
might feel he could have done nothing to get out of the way, but when it comes
down to it he stopped Custodio in the box and that’s all that mattered to the
referee. Alan had no problem converting from the spot to make it a thoroughly
deserved 1-0. About 15 minutes later the lights went out for 12 minutes for
reasons unknown, so the players had a second half time. United then staged a
late comeback, scoring three goals in the last ten minutes. Van Persie
capitalised on a mistake from Braga
goalkeeper Beto when he came out of his goal only to realise he would never make
it to the ball and the Dutchman casually lifted the ball just over the stranded
keeper. Rooney then earned and scored a penalty of his own. In doing so he did
nothing to ease the fears of United’s penalty takers as he slipped and kicked
the ball against his own left foot which then floated into the top right-hand
corner, which I think is against the rules, but no one noticed it and it
wouldn’t have been given anyway. Despite the two strange United goals thus far
it’s possible that United’s third was even stranger. Hernandez received a cross
unmarked at the back post, decided to take round the keeper instead of
shooting, then still didn’t shoot, finally managed a lame shot which got passed
back to him from the defender on the line and he eventually lashed it into the
roof of the net while falling over. All in all a truly bizarre game of
football.
The other match in the group was contested by Cluj and Galatasary.
The Turkish side put themselves ahead thanks to a great glancing header from 14 yards out by Burak
Yilmaz. After this Galatasaray seemed to be very much on top, until the 52nd
minute when Cluj drew level thanks to some very square defending and a neat
Modou Sougou finish. Burak Yilmaz, however, was not finished and the striker
added two more goals to complete a well-earnt hat trick although owes his match
ball to some very dodgy defending from the home side.
Following this, Manchester United have qualified in first position
and the other three are left in a race for the second qualification spot which
is very difficult to call. Purely because they have already played Manchester
United twice and put up a good fight both times I’m going to tip Braga to qualify.
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