Huge second round set up
The UEFA Champions League hosted its last set of group stage matches this week and the list of teams that progressed to the Round of 16, as well as those that will join the Europa League have already been decided. Here are the highlights of this week’s matches:Manchester City 4-2 MonchengladbachBayer 1-1 Barcelona Group winners: Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Vfl Wolfsburg, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, FC Zenit and Manchester City.
On Tuesday the Santiago Bernabéu was set ablaze as Real Madrid destroyed Malmo FC 8-0. Karim Benzema continued his goal scoring streak, netting a hat-trick, while Mateo Kovacic found the net once. In addition to that, Cristiano Ronaldo scored four goals and set the record for the most goals in the Champions League group stages. Despite the tremendous number of goals being scored the match was said to be just a tad boring due to being one-sided. This is perhaps understandable as Real Madrid has been trying to make up for all their recent mistakes and Malmo FC has long been eliminated from the competition, and therefore had no inclination to scramble for the three points.
Tuesday also saw the exit of Manchester United from the competition. Manchester United was unable to come away with the three points as Wolfsburg beat them 3-2. Manchester United kicked off the scoring first with a goal from Anthony Martial but Wolfsburg fought back just three minutes later with a goal from Naldo. By half-time Manchester United was 2-1 under, as Wolfsburg’s Vieirinha ensured the lead. Things seemed as though they were turning around for Man Utd when Marouane Fellaini equalised but Wolfsburg took the lead not long after, effectively knocking Manchester United out of Europe’s top competition. Manchester United will now join Shaktar , Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, Porto, Galatasaray, Valencia and Sevilla in the Europa League.
Other scores for Tuesday include:
Paris Saint Germain (PSG) 2-0 Shakhtar
PSV Eindhoven 2-1 CSKA Moscow
On Wednesday, a hat-trick from Olivier Giroud squeezed Arsenal into the Round of 16 despite the odds against them. The Gunners came away with three points after blanking Olympiacos 3-0. Despite the scoreline Olympiacos were not a passive team and threatened the Arsenal defense many times. Arsenal has qualified for knockout round for the 16th year in a row.
Wednesday also saw the qualification of another English team. Chelsea beat Porto 2-0, notably improving in the midfield. Fans were lucky to see a glimpse of the old Chelsea, with an own goal from Ivan Marcano and a goal from Willian, the club’s top scorer for this season.
Other scores for Wednesday include:
Dinamo Zagreb 0-2 Bayern Munich
Valencia 0-2 Lyon
The teams that have advanced to the knockout stage are as follows:
Second Place: PSG , PSV , Benfica , Juventus, AS Roma , Arsenal , Dynamo Kyiv and KAA Gent
The draw for the Round of 16 will be done tomorrow, Monday December 14, 2015.
