UEFA Champions League (Official Thread)

[Smudger]

Barcelona in imperious form once again in Moscow up 3-0 at the half against Spartak Moscow & looking quite well to win the group. Today's Benfica-Celtic should be a big one as Benfica desperately need a win to tie Celtic on points heading into the final game at the Camp Nou if they're to have any chance of advancing.


Juventus-Chelsea game at 2:45 should be quite an affair with both teams needing a result as well. Lille is currently up 2-0 at BATE Borisov, so the Valencia-Bayern Munich game should be a big one too. Group H is a battle for 2nd place as Galatasaray host already advanced Man United & Cluj hosts Braga in another vital game of a close battle for 2nd place (Galatasary & Cluj both at 4 points & Braga at 3).

 

[Merih]

The Chelsea Juve game has me wringing my hands. Rumors of playing a false nine up front (Hazard) to off Torres and add more defensive discipline to midfield in Bertrand. Also rumors of Sturridge playing and Torres dropped to the bench.

I can't take this.

 

[Merih]

Confirmed. Chelsea will line up without an out and out striker.

Hazard
Mata - Oscar - Azpilicueta
Mikel - Ramires
Cole - Luiz - Cahill - Ivanovic
Cech​

Subs: Turnbull, Bertrand, Romeu, Marin, Piazon, Moses, Torres

No Sturridge due to injury (or so it says). Torres benched. I am worried that we will get waxed tonight. Even if not, this is not a sustainable lineup. :(

 

[tAFKaT]

Confirmed. Chelsea will line up without an out and out striker.

Hazard
Mata - Oscar - Azpilicueta
Mikel - Ramires
Cole - Luiz - Cahill - Ivanovic
Cech​

Subs: Turnbull, Bertrand, Romeu, Marin, Piazon, Moses, Torres

No Sturridge due to injury (or so it says). Torres benched. I am worried that we will get waxed tonight. Even if not, this is not a sustainable lineup. :(

They have a fullback playing as an attacking mid?

 

[Merih]

They have a fullback playing as an attacking mid?

Azpilicueta is by trade a RB but has played winger before.

Updated I guess it's more of a 5-2-3 like this:

Mata - Hazard - Oscar
Ramires - Mikel
Cole - Luiz - Cahill - Ivanovic - Azpilicueta
Cech​

With Cole and Azpilicueta supporting Ramires and Mikel with Juventus' midfield and bombing down the flank to support.

I don't feel good about this at all. Parking the bus vs a team with 5 midfielders and a lock picker like Pirlo.

 

[tAFKaT]

That back line is a red card and/or a penalty waiting to happen.

 

[Merih]

As I feared.

RDM was a bit rash with his team selection in this game.

Maybe he caught a bad break with Danny's last minute injury but if our setup was to have a striker from the beginning then he would've went to Torres from the start as opposed to going "False 9."

I think it was too much change, too quickly. Without something positive to build upon the team's uncertainty began to show. Then Juve smelled blood.

 

[Smudger]

Group E-H Standings through five of six games:

Group E

1. Shakhtar Donetsk - 10 Points
2. Juventus - 9 Points
3. Chelsea - 7 Points
4. Nordsjaelland - 1 Point

Group F

1. Valencia - 10 Points (+6 Goal Differential)
2. Bayern Munich - 10 Points (+5 Goal Differential)
3. BATE Borisov - 6 Points
4. Lille - 3 Points

Group G

1. Barcelona - 12 Points
2. Celtic - 7 Points (Even Goal Differential)
3. Benfica - 7 Points (Even Goal Differential)
4. Spartak Moscow - 3 Points

Group H

1. Manchester United - 12 Points
2. CFR Cluj - 7 Points (+1 Goal Differential)
3. Galatasaray 7 Points (Even Goal Differential)
4. Braga - 3 Points

Chelsea host Nordsjaelland in a must win game next matchday, however, it might not be enough if Juventus get at least a draw when they travel to Shakhtar Donetsk & Chelsea don't get more than a 3-0 scoreline. Difficult prospects for Chelsea, but anything is possible & Shakhtar Donetsk have been great all season, so it's no give me game for Juventus.

Bayern Munich & Valencia have already qualified, so it's essentially a battle for who wins the group. Bayern get BATE Borisov at home & while down a goal on differential, you'd have to think they have the better prospects for winning the group with Valencia heading to Lille on the final group matchday. Still wouldn't count on it though, because Valencia have been more than able to score goals this season.

Barcelona have already won the group so they will likely field a B team (They've done so in years past when they've already won the group) when they host Benfica, but it still looks daunting for the Portuguese side to progress with Celtic hosting Spartak Moscow. They're both tied on points & goal differential, so Celtic appear to be the favorite to advance in this case, but I don't think it's as close of a lock as many would think.

United have already won the group & host CFR Cluj, while Galatasaray head to Braga in the final group matchday. Cluj & Galatasaray are currently tied on points, but Cluj hold the edge with a +1 goal differential to even. This one is a complete toss up with both prospective group runners-up playing on the road, with one heading United (Group Winner) & the other heading to playing for pride, Braga.

 

[Smudger]

Madrid up 1-0 early at The Emirates. Benzema latched onto a Di Maria cross after Maicon just completely stopped trying to defending. That was probably one of the worst examples of defending I've ever seen. Even if Maicon didn't know Benzema was sneaking in behind him, he still gave ZERO effort to deal with the cross. P.A.T.H.E.T.I.C.

Borussia Dortmund are up 1-0 early at Ajax courtesy of Marcos Reus.

 

[Smudger]

Halftime scores:

Dynamo Kiev 0-1 PSG
Porto 1-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Arsenal 0-0 Montpellier
Schalke 0-0 Olympiakos
Anderlecht 0-0 AC Milan
Ajax 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Man City 0-1 Real Madrid

Zenit St. Peterburg & Malaga played out to a 2-2 draw earlier.

 

[TooTall]

PSG up 2-0 now in the 60th minute. Streaming the game, yet somehow missed both goals.

 

[Smudger]

Penalty to City & Arbeloa sent off with a 2nd yellow. Aguero buries it. 1-1, 73rd minute.

 

[Smudger]

That's all she wrote for Man City. They bow out of the competition with a 1-1 draw. The referee was quite contentious on a number of very weak fouls that were called. Then again, City didn't do themselves any favors by completely failing with the midfield link up constantly sending hopeful long balls & foolish long passes. Overall poor game by them & they're out.

Today's Full time results:

Dynamo Kiev 0-2 PSG
Porto 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Arsenal 2-0 Montpellier
Schalke 1-0 Olympiakos
Zenit 2-2 Malaga
Anderlecht 1-3 AC Milan
Ajax 1-4 Borussia Dortmund
Man City 1-1 Real Madrid.

 

[Smudger]

Group A-D Standings through five of six games:

Group A

1. FC Porto - 13 Points
2. PSG - 12 Points
3. Dynamo Kiev - 4 Points
4. Dinamo Zagreb - 0 Points

Group B

1. Schalke - 11 Points
2. Arsenal - 10 Points
3. Olympiakos - 6 Points
4. Montpellier - 1 Point

Group C

1. Malaga - 11 Points
2. AC Milan - 8 Points
3. Zenit - 4 Points
4. Anderlecht - 4 Points

Group D

1. Borussia Dortmund - 11 Points
2. Real Madrid - 8 Points
3. Ajax - 4 Points
4. Man City - 3 Points

All of these groups have been essentially decided with the only remaining possibilities lying between who will be the group winner & runner-up.

 

[Smudger]

So looking forward to the knockout round, here are the teams that have already qualified.

Group A - FC Porto, PSG
Group B - Schalke, Arsenal
Group C - Malaga, AC Milan
Group D - Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid
Group F - Valencia, Bayern Munich
Group G - Barcelona
Group H - Manchester United

Group E remains completely up for grabs with Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus & Chelsea all in contention, however, it looks likely that Shakhtar Donetsk & Juventus will advance with Chelsea needing Juventus to win at Shakhtar Donetsk next matchday & for them to win by more than three goals when they host Nordsjaelland. Definitely a possibility for Chelsea to advance, but I wouldn't exactly count on it at this point.

Group G is a battle for 2nd place with Celtic & Benfica tied on 7 points. Celtic have the better prospects of advancing as they host Spartak Moscow on the final matchday, while Benfica head to the Camp Nou & face the already advanced group winners Barcelona. While Barcelona will more than likely field a B team in a meaningless match to them (Have done so in recent years), it will be tough for Benfica to get the better result, but anything is possible in this competition.

Group H is in the same boat as Group G with two teams being tied on 7 points in a battle for 2nd place. CFR Cluj head to already advanced group winners Manchester United up one on goal differential, while Galatasaray head to Braga. Tough to call this one at this point, but I'm tentatively going to go with Galatasaray having the better chances to progress.