Arsenal lose but through, Real Madrid hammer Ajax as Man City’s European dream extinguished
The first half of Champions Leagues fixtures for Match Day 6 have been complete with no real surprises in terms of teams progressing to the Round of 16.
The first half of Champions Leagues fixtures for Match Day 6 have been complete with no real surprises in terms of teams progressing to the Round of 16.
In Group A, Paris Saint-Germain finished top courtesy of their 2-1 home win over second-placed FC Porto thanks to goals from Thiago Silva and Ezequiel Lavezzi whilst Dynamo Kyiv moved into the Europa League after drawing 1-1 with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia.
Group B saw Arsenal lose 2-1 at Olympiakos after leading at the break but they were able to finish second behind Schalke who drew 1-1 with Montpelllier in France.
Malaga remained top of Group C after their 2-2 draw with Anderlecht whilst AC Milan stuttered through to the next phase despite losing 1-0 at home to Zenit St Petersburg.
And in Group D, Premier League champions Manchester City finished dead bottom without a win after losing 1-0 at Borussia Dortmund whilst Jose Callejon netted a double along with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka as Real Madrid ended up second with a 4-1 home victory over Ajax.
Tomorrow night’s fixtures should provide plenty of action as reigning champions Chelsea look to keep their title defence alive by beating Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge and hope that Group E leaders Shakhtar Donetsk can take care of second-placed Juventus.
In Group G, Celtic need to better what Benfica produce at Barcelona when they host Spartak Moscow as the already-qualified Manchester United can breathe easy in Group H as third-placed Cluj attempt to knock them off for a place in the Round of 16.
Elsewhere, Lille host Valencia, BATE Borisov are away at Bayern Munich as Galatasaray look to join United in the next phase when taking on Sporting Braga.