Champions League Matchday 4: A day of shared spoils

Games of Matchday 4 was one that would decide the fate of many teams in the UEFA Champions League. The game had encounters between teams in the Group of Champions in the Champions’ League and hence rightfully the big matches were between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City and Ajax Amsterdam.

Group A

Dynamo Kiev vs FC Porto

In a match that Kiev had to win to have any outside chance of progressing they had to settle for a goalless draw. Despite the draw Porto remain atop the group table after winning their three previous matches. Kiev still have an outside chance of making it to the next round if they can win their next two matches and hope that other results go in their favor. They now have 4 points from 4 matches. Porton have 10 from 4 matches.

Paris Saint Germain vs Dinamo Zagreb

Zlatan Ibrahimovic showed why he is one of the best in the world when he set up all four of PSG’s goals against Zargeb. The result means that Zagreb are now out of this year’s champions league and now have a chance to fight for the third spot and go to the Europa League. PSG have 3 wins in four matches and are second in the group and look set to go to the next round.

Group B

Schalke 04 vs Arsenal

Arsenal had a chance to take revenge for the embarrassment Schalke caused at the Emirates. They looked set to achieve that after going up by two goals early in the first half. Walcott scored the opener when he took too touches to bring the ball past the goalkeeper who had committed himself to stop Giroud who was through on goal. Then 8 minutes later Giroud doubled the lead when he headed the ball in wonderfully after Podolski set him up. Arsenal gave away a goal right at the end of first half after Carzola gave away the ball and Hunterlaar was brilliantly set up. The Dutchman finished clinically. Schalke were determined not to lose as the equalized in the 67th minute through Farfan. Arsenal had a chance to get the win in the dying seconds of the match when Walcott was through on goal and he had Giroud on his side. Walcott decided to take the shot himself and shot it straight at the advancing goalkeeper.

Schalke still lead the group with 8 points and Arsenal are a point behind with 7.

Olympiacos vs Montpellier

The French champions did not look like Champions on the field as they were humbled by a strong Greek side.  Olympiacos won the match 3-1 to go third in the table with 6 points and one point behind Arsenal. They now have a chance to go through to the next round if they can come up with good performances against either Arsenal or Schalke. Monpellier whereas have just one point and will be playing  for pride in the coming matches.

Group C

AC Milan vs Malaga

Milan as usual did not look like seven time winners as they could just manage a draw against Malaga at home. Milan went behind in the first half after a goal from Eliseu. Milan fought for the equalizer and it finally came from the man who has had trouble keeping himself on the pitch – Pato. Malaga are still the table toppers with 10 points and the conceded their first goal of the tournament yesterday and Milan are second with 5 points. Malaga are now certainly through to the next round.

Anderlecht vs Zenit

The big spending Russian side were humiliated by a much smaller Anderlecht side as they lost 1-0 to the hosts. Zenit had to win the match to have a better chance of advancing and now have a mountain to climb. Milan Zenit and Anderlecht all have chances to go to the next round of the competition. Anderlecht have 4 points and Zenit have 3. Zenit were without star forward Hulk. Hulk missed the match after his sister was kidnapped recently.

Group D

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

When Dortmund came into the Champions League as the German Champions last year they had a year to forget after exiting in the group stages as last in the group. Now they have a memorable one as they are most likely to go to the next round as table toppers after almost claiming a victory at the famous Bernabau. Dortmund defeated Madrid for the first time ever when they played the Spanish Champions at home during the last Gameweek. They looked set to make it back to back wins after taking the lead through Marco Reus. Reus had a volley fired in beating Iker Casillas from a tight angle. Pepe then equalized for Madrid through a header to make it 1-1. Just before half time Madrid were once again caught out on the counter attack after a brilliant play by Dortmnd . Arbeloa stuck out a leg and so did Mario Gotze but eventually the ball hit the Madrid man’s leg and went in. Nevertheless Dortmund were ahead. Madrid looked out of sorts in the first half and made amendments in  the second half by replacing Modric with Essien –  A proper defensive midfielder and then Higuain with Callejon. Higuain looked injured in the first half. A brilliant Dortmund defense had shut down the dangerous Christiano Ronaldo and in the second half when Callejon came on. Ronaldo played the more central role and Callejon moved to the left. Calljeon made an almost instant impact as his movement at tha back caused problem for the Dortmund defense. He scored but the linesman called an offside very late. Madrid kept on attacking and giving through balls only for an alert defense to cope with them. Subotic was brilliant in the match. He made an excellent interception in the match, if he had not slid in to tackle the ball Di Maria would have scored. With time against them Madrid decided to take the risk with three at the back and substituted Arbeloa. The Brazilian Kaka came in for him. Kaka made a very good impact and almost made an assist with his first touch. He set up a brilliant cross for Ronaldo to just tap in only to see Ronaldo fire it straight at the goal keeper. Kaka then tried to get the rebound and was handled by the Borussia defense well to keep the ball out. The referee denied the penalty claims that followed and rightfully so. Madrid then had once more great chance to go level only to see the ball cleared off the line by a defender. With the match reaching its climax Madrid won a free kick and the angle was perfect for a left footer and Ozil took it instead of Ronaldo and fired in a goal so very close to the post.

Madrid deserved the equalizer for all their effort in the first half and Dormund deserved the one point at Madrid for their brilliant display. Dortmund now lead the table with 8 points and Madrid follow them with 7 points.

Manchester City vs Ajax

In a match that City had to win to have any chance of advancing to the next round City could only manage a draw. Ajax were once again brilliant and went ahead by two goals in a matter of 17 minutes with De Jong scoring both the goals. Yaya Toure scored the first for City in the 22nd minute and then Aguero equalized in the 74th minute to make it 2-2. City had a lot of chances to go ahead but it wasn’t their night to win as the match ended 2-2. Ajax are now third with 4 points and City are last with just 2 points and just 6 points to play for.

Tags: AC Milan, Ajax, Anderlecht, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Dinamo Zagreb, Dynamo Kiev, FC Porto, Malaga, Manchester City, Montpellier, Olympiacos, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Schalke 04, UEFA Champions League, Zenit