So, the Group Stages of this season’s UEFA Champions League have come to an end and the final positions all decided.  16 teams move on into the knock stages of the competition that will resume in February next year, 8 further teams head to the UEFA Cup and the remaining 8 teams ride off into the sunset and will play no further role in Europe this season.

We start our review of the final groups games on Tuesday night and with the battle to top Group D which Liverpool finally claimed ahead of Atletico Madrid.  Liverpool fielded a slightly under strength side against PSV Eindhoven yet still managed to produce a fairly impressive 3 - 1 away win despite going a goal down.  PSV on the other hand are one of the eight teams that are now totally out of European competition.

That opening goal from PSV was scored by Danko Lazovic goal which came from a corner that should never have been.  The ball was guided out of play by Dossena only for the Russian linesman to flag for a corner to the total disbelief of just about everyone in the ground.  The decision totally incensed Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager, especially after PSV scored from it and he had to be spoken to by the referee.  But you had to see his point.  The linesman was 2 yards away from the incident yet still couldn’t see it was a goal kick.

However, it all came to nothing in the end.  Ryan Babel headed in an equaliser for Liverpool in first half injury time.  Then in the second half an absolutely superb 25 yard rocket from Albert Riera put the former champions in control before youngster David Ngog’s sealed, what was an easy win overall, with his first senior goal for the club.

So that all meant that Atletico Madrid had to at least equal or better Liverpool’s result to finish top of the group.  However, all they could manage was a 0-0 draw away to Marseille.  The point for Marseille was sufficient for them to claim one of the eight spots in the UEFA Cup.

Unlike Group D, the final standings in Group C had already been finalised before kick off on Tuesday evening. It was therefore no surprise that first-placed Barcelona fielded a somewhat weakened side at a rather empty looking Nou Camp.  The decision to field the weakened side saw Barca lose their 20-match unbeaten run by losing 2 - 3 to Shakhtar Donetsk who end up in the UEFA Cup. 

Swiss team Basle ended their miserable European campaign with a single lonely point after they were defeated 1-0 at Sporting Lisbon. Sporting, who won thanks to Yannick Djalo’s first-half goal, finished second in the group behind Barcelona on 12 points.

It was a dull and dreary first half in Germany but Claudio Pizarro put Bremen ahead then Markus Rosenberg made it 2-0.  Inter did pull a goal back through Zlatan Ibrahimovic who started the game on the bench.  He curled in a fantastic 25-yard shot but it turned out to be nothing more than a consolation.  The result meant Werder Bremen held on to seal a place in the Uefa Cup.

The Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, who have surprised me a little in this season’s competition, their first, actually  came into this final game against Panathinaikos with a chance of progress to the knock out stages.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t live up to the expectation and didn’t even make it through to the UEFA Cup.

GROUP B FINAL POSITIONS

In Group A it was Roma who finally claimed top spot beating Borbeaux 2-0.  As a result the French side were knocked out of Europe completely this season.  It was Brighi who slotted in a low cross from Perrotta that broke the deadlock just after the hour mark, then Roma legend Francesco Totti fired in from the edge of the box to secure the win and top spot.
Chelsea welcomed back Didier Drogba, albeit he was on the bench to start, however overall Chelsea didn’t look too convincing against the Rumanian side Cluj even though they won 2- 1 thanks to Drogba.  The result was slightly academic with Roma clinching first place and the Rumanians already out of Europe

Scolari’s Chelsea did need to win to secure their passage to the last 16 and it was left to the talismanic Drogba to come off the bench and seal the win with an excellent finis,h for the Brazilian manager

Chelsea’s win means both England and Spain will contribute four teams to the knock out stages.  It is the very first time two nations have achieved the feat in the same season. 

1 Roma 12 pts

2 Chelsea 11 pts

3 Bordeaux 7 pts

4 CFR Cluj 4 pts

In Group E Manchester United were, rather surprisingly, held to a 2-2 draw by Aalborg.  However, it didn’t stop the current champions from finishing their group in first place because Celtic managed secure their first victory in this season’s competition by beating Villareal 2 - 0 at Park Head.

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Utd’s Argentine striker Carlos Tevez gave them the lead after just three minutes and everybody thought there was going to be a goalfest but to Aalborg’s credit they equalised when Michael Jakobsen headed home.

Even better was to come from the underdogs as Jeppe Curth’s header right on the stroke of half-time gave Aalborg, what can only be described as a shock lead.  It was left to England striker Wayne Rooney to save Utd from what would have been a slightly embarrassing defeat when he produced a trademark powerful finish.

Villarreal had of course been hoping against the odds that Man United would somehow slip up against Aalberg so they could finish top of the group instead, however they couldn’t even win their own game as Gordon Strachan’s men finally produced a win in this season’s campaign.  Unfortunately, the win was too little to late for the Glasgow side who are now out of Europe altogether.  No disrespect to Aalberg but I wouldn’t have put any money on them not finishing bottom of the group when they were drawn all those months ago.

GROUP E FINAL POSITIONS

1 Man Utd 10 pts

2 Villarreal 9 pts

3 Aalborg 6 pts

4 Celtic 5 pts

The German giants Bayern Munich finished their group in first place after a good 3-2 away win at French champions Lyon.  The result mean Lyon had to happy with finishing second.

Germany forward Miroslav Klose put Bayern in front before Luca Toni set up Ribery for their second.  Ribery then turned provider for Klose as Lyon fell apart.  Lyon fought back though with Govou pulling a goal back Karim Benzema added a second.  But they could draw level and Bayern clung onto their victory.  

In the group’s other game Alberto Gilardino headed in the only goal to give Fiorentina victory over Steaua Bucharest and with it a place in the Uefa Cup.  Steaua on the other hand finished the group rock bottom ending their campaign with a solitary point.

Gilardino headed into the far right side of the net after a corner from Juan Manuel Vargas before Steaua were reduced to 10 men when Pawel Golanski was sent off in the 72nd minute for a second yellow card.

GROUP F FINAL POSITIONS

1Bayern Munich 14 pts

2 Lyon 11 pts

3 Fiorentina 6 pts

4 Steaua Bucharest 1 pt

 

It was a bad night for Arsenal as they failed to take the point they needed that would have seen them finish top of their group.  Arsene Wenger sent out a young side offered little resistance and were outplayed by Porto, who went on to win the game 2-0 and with it leapfrogged over the Gunners into first place.

Porto’s goals come from Bruno Alves who headed Portuguese side into the lead before Lisandro Lopez doubled the lead with a cool finish.

In the group’s other game Roman Eremenko scored a first-half goal that gave Dynamo Kiev a 1-0 win over Fenerbahce and with it saw them claim the last remaining place in the Uefa Cup.

The midfielder collected Artem Milevskiy’s reverse pass from the left and struck a precise left-footed shot that went between the legs of Volkan Demirel.

GROUP G FINAL POSITIONS

1 Porto 12 pts

2 Arsenal 11 pts

3 Dynamo Kiev 8 pts

4 Fenerbahce 2 pts

The draw for the knock out stages takes place on the 19th December and they way the group standings have panned out, it is bound to throw up some really intriguing ties to look forward to.  I don’t know about you, but i cant’t wait!

I’ll be bringing you the ties on the 19th.  Put it in your diaries!

Cheers

Rik

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