Match Day 6 was an insignificant occasion for some of Europe’s top sides but interest in this round of fixtures couldn’t have been higher from some areas of the UK.
Good Week For: – PSG, Borrusia Dortmund, Schalke (Finished top of their groups), Celtic (Qualified for the knockout rounds for the first time in five seasons)
Bad Week For: – Manchester City (Out of Europe without a win), Arsenal (In danger of a tough draw after finishing second in their group) Chelsea (Fell into the Europa League)
Reigning Premier League Champions, Manchester City, fell out of Europe without a fight against a better Borussia Dortmund side.
Roberto Mancini fielded a slightly weaker team than usual but will probably have had one eye on the Manchester derby on Sunday. Rumours circulating behind the scenes suggested that Mancini might not want to qualify for the Europa League because of the added strain of playing on Thursdays as well as Saturdays and that certainly seemed the case with the performance his team gave in the game.
Dortmund displayed all the hallmarks of a team who will probably go far in Europe this season; they maintained and regained the ball very well, were typically efficient and always looked dangerous despite the weakened team they fielded. Julian Scheiber struck in the second half to break City hearts and dump them out of Europe yet again. Mancini’s job has always seemed safe but I think he’ll need a win on Sunday against Manchester United to show the board he’s still the man to lead City to the next level.
Arsenal also struggled with a tough trip to Olympiakos. Arsene Wenger’s side took the lead courtesy of a Tomas Rosicky goal but a second half fight-back from the Greeks saw the away side lose 2-1 and slump to a second place finish in their group.
Arsenal fans will rue their team’s performances against Schalke earlier on in the competition as this ultimately cost them their chance to be top of the group. Wenger’s side are now in the firing line of some European powerhouses in the next round.
Manchester United also fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Cluj but the result was a bit of an insignificance from United’s standpoint as they’d already qualified as group winners. Sir Alex Ferguson rung the changes with only Wayne Rooney keeping his place from the weekend’s clash with Reading. A first Champions League goal for Luis Alberto, and it was a stunning one at that, was enough to separate the two sides as Cluj just missed out on second place in the group to Galatasaray.
Another side who missed out on second place in the group was Rafael Benitez’s Chelsea. The Blues absolutely destroyed Nordsjaelland by 6 goals to 1 at Stamford Bridge with a resurgent Fernando Torres starring for the home side. Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Torres ran riot for the home side as they made light work of the challenge ahead of them.
However it was to no avail as Juventus had beaten Shaktar in the group’s other fixture leaving Chelsea to settle with a Europa League place. Despite the slightly lower status of the opposition, Chelsea fans can take encouragement from this performance as their team looked really dangerous throughout – maybe ‘Rafa’ can get the best out of Torres and Co after all.
Some good news did materialise for British football fans from this week’s fixtures however as Celtic managed to qualify for the knockout rounds. Celtic went into the game knowing they had to better Benfica’s result against Barcelona in order to qualify and since Benfica could only manage a draw, all eyes turned to Parkhead
. A deserved 2-1 win decided by a Kris Commons penalty saw the Bhoys qualify for the business end of the Champions League for the first time in five years. Celtic have done astoundingly well so far this term, completely exceeding expectations, however fans of the Scottish side must now be hoping for this form to translate to their League campaign.
So just three of the five British teams qualified for the knockout rounds and only one of which finished top of their group. Does this signal a decline in British football? How will the remaining British teams fare in the upcoming draw? Check back with us on the day of the draw to find out!
Results:-
Barcelona 0 – 0 Benfica
Bayern Munich 4 – 1 BATE Borisov
Braga 1 – 2 Galatasaray
Celtic 2 – 1 Spartak Moscow
Chelsea 6 – 1 Nordsjaelland
Lille 0 – 1 Valencia
Manchester United 0 – 1 Cluj
Shaktar Donetsk 0 – 1 Juventus
AC Milan 0 – 1 Zenit St. Petersburg
Borussia Dortmund 1 – 0 Manchester City
Dinamo Zagreb 1 – 1 Dynamo Zagreb
Malaga 2 – 2 Anderlecht
Montpellier 1 – 1 Schalke
Olympiakos 2 – 1 Arsenal
PSG 2 – 1 FC Porto
Real Madrid 4 – 1 Ajax