Champions League
The group stages of the UEFA Champions League is done and dusted with Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and AS Roma sealing the last 3 qualifying spots to join FC Copenhagen who clinched their spot a day earlier.
From England, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea made it to the Round of 16 by topping their respective groups while Arsenal finished second. The four English clubs will be joined by three Spanish and Italian clubs and two clubs from France and Germany in the knockout rounds. Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Copenhagen make up the remaining clubs to go into the pot for the knockout draw on December 17th.
Werder Bremen’s 3-0 thrashing of Inter Milan meant that the Inter finished second in Group A behind Tottenham who played out a fascinating 3-3 draw with FC Twente. Bremen’s victory couldn’t fetch them a place in the Europa league as a point was sufficient for Twente to ensure them the third place. Benefica qualified for the Europa League despite losing to Schalke, who topped Group B ahead of Lyon.
Manchester United conceded their first goal of the season but Anderson’s strike fetched them a point against Valencia and ensured that they finished atop Group C ahead of the Spanish side. Russia’s Rubin Kazan had to be content with a Europa league spot from Group B as Barcelona’s young guns ran away with a 2-0 victory at the Nou Camp. The result was however immaterial as FC Copenhagen’s 3-1 win over Panathanaikos ensured that they finished second in the group.
AS Roma got the all important point against FC Cluj to finish second in Group E behind last year’s runners up Bayern Munich who won 3-0 against Swiss side FC Basel with Franc Ribery finding the net twice. Chelsea topped Group F despite losing at Marseille, who were the other qualifiers from the group.
Real Madrid, who were already assured of top spot in Group G were runaway winners against Auxerre with Karim Benzema making the most of a rare start by scoring a hat-trick. AC Milan, who were assured of qualification, were stunned 2-0 by Ajax. With three teams in contention from Group H, Shakhtar Donetsk beat FC Braga 2-0 to top the group while goals from Van Persie, Nasri and Walcott ensured Arsenal finished second.
With last year’s champions Inter Milan finishing second, they could face the dangerous prospect of meeting Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid which makes for a very mouth watering clash on the coming weekend.
List of Qualifiers:
Group A: Tottenham Hotspurs, Inter Milan.
Group B: Schalke 04, Olympique Lyonnais
Group C: Manchester United, Valencia
Group D: Barcelona, FC Copenhagen
Group E: Bayern Munich, AS Roma
Group F: Chelsea, Olympique Marseille
Group G: Real Madrid, AC Milan
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal
Tags: Arsenal, AS Roma, Champions League, Chelsea, CL, FC Copenhagen, Football, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, UEFA Champions League
