Champions League Groups A, B, C and D produced an exciting night of action on Tuesday.
Tottenham Hotspur finished in first place of Group A after an entertaining 3-3 draw at FC Twente. Inter Milan qualify in second place despite a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Werder Bremen.
FC Schalke 04 wrapped up top spot in Group B with a 2-1 win at Benfica. Olympique Lyonnais qualify in second place, after a late equalizer by Alexandre Lacazette gained them a 2-2 draw with Hapoel Tel-Aviv and condemned the Israeli team to last place in Group B.
Manchester United gained the point they needed to top Group C after a 1-1 draw with Valencia at Old Trafford. Bursaspor tied 1-1 with Glasgow Rangers to earn their first point of group play.
FC Copenhagen guaranteed their qualification with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos, while FC Barcelona finished in first place and beat Rubin Kazan 2-0.
FC Twente, Benfica, Glasgow Rangers and Rubin Kazan all finished third place in their respective groups and will receive a Europa League berth.
Glasgow Rangers have wrapped up a Europa League berth, and ended group play with a 1-1 tie at Bursaspor. Kenny Miller opened the scoring for Rangers, before Sercan Yildirim equalized to give Bursaspor their first point in Group C play.
Both teams threatened in the early stages, but were unable to produce the finishing touch in the final third. Rangers took the lead when a low cross from Steven Whittaker was latched onto by Miller, who crashed a powerful shot high into the net.
Bursaspor came out strongly in the second half and produced a number of goal scoring chances. Pablo Batalla and Bekir Ozan fired off target, before Federico Insua went close with a 75th minute free kick.
Yildirim equalized in the 79th minute as he fired home after collecting Ozan Ipek’s pass. Yildirim had a late chance to win the game but his finish was off target.
Already assured of top spot in Group D, FC Barcelona fielded a youthful side and still won 2-0 to end the qualification hopes of Rubin Kazan. Goals by Andreu Fontas and Victor Vazquez gave Barca the win that means Rubin must settle for a Europa League berth.
Barcelona struggled to win the possession battle early doors and it was the visitors who almost went into the lead. Cristian Ansaldi got free on the left and forced an excellent save from Jose Pinto.
Barca took a 51st minute lead when Fontas scored with the help of a massive deflection to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Lionel Messi was brought on in the 63rd minute and helped Barca gain the upper hand before they doubled their lead in the 83rd minute. Adriano played a good through ball to Vazquez who calmly finished past Sergei Ryzhikov for the final 2-0 scoreline.
FC Copenhagen beat Panathinaikos 3-1 to become the first Danish team to qualify from group play in the Champions League era. Strikes from Martin Vingaard, Jesper Gronkjaer and a Djibril Cisse own goal gave Copenhagen a 3-0 lead, before Cedric Kante netted an injury time consolation for the visitors.
Vingaard showed his intent by firing wide in the opening minute, before he gave Copenhagen the lead with an excellent low driven strike from outside the penalty area. Copenhagen played well in the first half as a Claudemir strike was saved by Alexandros Tzorvas, and Gronkjaer headed wide from a corner.
Copenhagen doubled their lead from the penalty spot five minutes after the restart. Gronkjaer was fouled by Nikos Spyropoulos, and the former Chelsea winger got up to convert the resulting spot kick.
Dame N’Doye missed a golden chance to add to the lead when he rounded Tsorvas only to hit the goal post. The lead did become 3-0 after 73 minutes when Cisse headed a Vingaard corner into his own net.
Kante headed home in injury time but it was little more than a consolation for Panathinaikos who finished last in Group D.
Manchester United wrapped up first place in Group C when the gained the point they needed in a 1-1 draw with Valencia. Pablo Hernandez opened the scoring for the Spanish team, before Anderson equalized for United in the second half. Valencia finish in second place and will progress to the last 16.
United started the better on a cold night at Old Trafford, with Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov drawing saves from Vicente Guaita. The Spanish goalkeeper then produced another sharp save to keep out a Park Ji-Sung volley.
Valancia took the lead in the 32nd minute and Alejandro Dominguez was at the heart of the move. The Argentinian forward dispossessed Michael Carrick before advancing and playing a good ball to Hernandez who fired Valencia into a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first United had conceded in six Group C games.
The Red Devils almost leveled before half-time when Wayne Rooney fired against the crossbar, and Nani dragged the rebound just wide.
United poured on relentless pressure in the second half, with Berbatov going close three times with headers on goal. Rooney also failed to score with two efforts, before United deservedly leveled matters in the 62nd minute. Park had his shot saved by Guaita, only for Anderson to score from the rebound.
Guaita kept scores level with a sharp save from Berbatov, and Nani fired the rebound high over the bar. Both teams had chances to win but the game ended in a hard fought draw.
FC Schalke 04 cemented top spot in Group B with a 2-1 victory at Benfica. Jose Manuel Jurado and Benedikt Howedes put Schalke ahead 2-0, before Luisao netted a late consolation for the Portugese. Benfica were handed a Europa League berth courtesy of Lyon’s late equalizer against Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Benfica dominated possession in the early stages but it was Schalke who took a 19th minute lead. Ivan Rakitic sent over a cross that was cleverly knocked down by Raul Gonzalez for Jurado to fire the German side ahead.
Javier Saviola thought he had equalized four minutes before half-time, only for his strike to ruled out for offside.
Schalke started the second half brightly, and 10 minutes after the restart Peer Kluge came close to doubling the lead when he shot wide after being set up by Raul. Howedes did put the Germans 2-0 up with only nine minutes remaining as he fired home a loose ball from a Rakitic corner.
Luisao set up a dramatic finale as he headed home in the 87th minute, and David Luiz went agonizingly close to equalizing, only to see his injury time free kick bounce back off the goal post.
Last placed Werder Bremen finished Group A play on a high note with a 3-0 victory over defending Champions Inter Milan. Inter had already qualified for the last 16 but Rafael Benitez will be disappointed with his team’s performance as they were comfortably beaten in Germany.
In cold conditions in Germany, goals from Sebastian Prodl, Marko Arnautovic and Claudio Pizarro were enough to give Bremen a win and end Inter’s hopes of winning the group.
Bremen started well and almost took the lead when Hugo Almeida had his volley well saved by Paolo Orlandoni. The home side took the lead six minutes before half-time when Prodl rose highest to plant a deflected header home from a Torsten Frings corner.
Bremen came out fast after half-time and doubled their lead within five minutes after the restart. Almeida received the ball wide left and his cross was firmly volleyed past Orlandoni by Arnautovic for a 2-0 lead.
Inter had a good chance to halve the deficit but Goran Pandev’s shot bounced back off the goalpost and Esteban Cambiasso squandered a good chance from the rebound. Pandev later hit another threatening shot that was saved low by Tim Wiese.
Bremen were stung into action and Per Mertesacker and Aaron Hunt struck the woodwork. Pizarro rounded off the scoring with an excellent goal in the 88th minute. The Peru forward received the ball with his back to goal and turned well before firing past Orlandoni.
A late Alexandre Lacazette equalizer earned Olympique Lyonnais a 2-2 draw with Hapoel Tel-Aviv and denied the Israeli club a UEFA Europa League berth.
Lisandro gave Lyon a second half lead, before Ben Sahar and Eran Zahavi put Hapoel Tel-Aviv on course for a win that would have lifted them into third place. However, Lacazette popped up with only two minutes remaining to salvage a draw for Lyon and condemn Tel-Aviv to last place in Group B.
Lyon started brightly as Lisandro fired into the side netting and Bafetimbi Gomis had his headed goal disallowed for offside. Jean Makoun and Gomis both had shots saved by Vincent Enyeama before Cris had a header cleared off the goal line by Gil Vermouth.
At the other end Lyon goalkeeper produced good saves from Toto Tamuz and Sahar to keep the game scoreless going into half-time.
Lloris saved well from Vermouth early in the second half before Lyon took a 62nd minute lead. Enyeama saved at the feet of Jimmy Briand and the loose ball fell to Lisandro who tucked it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Tel-Aviv responded in style and were in the lead only seven minutes later. Within one minute of falling behind Zahavi played in Sahar who finished well to draw the teams level, and six minutes later Sahar turned provider. The former Chelsea striker was played in down the left and hung over a cross for Zahavi to give Tel-Aviv the lead with a magnificent overhead kick.
Lyon pushed for an equalizer but Enyeama, who scored in the reverse fixture was in good form and saved well to deny Anthony Reveillere and Lisandro. The Israeli teams hearts were broken two minutes from time though as Lacazette beat Enyeama with a well-placed shot.
Tottenham Hotspur finished in first place of Group A after an entertaining 3-3 draw at FC Twente. Spurs took the lead three times, first through a Peter Wisgerhof own goal, and then through two second half Jermain Defoe strikes. FC Twente found an equalizer every time through Denny Landzaat, Roberto Rosales and Nacer Chadli.
Spurs took a 12th minute lead in bizarre fashion as Wisgerhof played a back-pass to Sander Boschker. The 40 year-old goalkeeper swung and missed at the rolling ball and it went into the net for a 1-0 Spurs lead.
FC Twente drew level 10 minutes later from the penalty spot. Benoit Assou-Ekotto handled a Rosales shot and the penalty was awarded. Landzaat scored but was asked to retake the penalty due to player encroachment. The former Wigan Athletic midfielder kept his nerve and scored again from the retake to bring the scores level.
Twente played well after their goal and Marc Janko fired just wide when he was presented with an opportunity to give his team the lead just before half-time.
Tottenham came out strongly for the second half and found themselves ahead within two minutes of the restart. Aaron Lennon split the Twente defense with a clever through ball and Defoe finished well underneath Boschker for a 2-1 lead.
Twente drew level once again in the 56th minute as Rosales plated a header into the top corner from a Theo Janssen cross. As this back and forth contest continued apace Tottenham were back ahead only three minutes later.
Boschker saved from Wilson Palacios but Defoe was on hand to poke home the rebound for a 3-2 lead. Tottenham’s lead this time would last only five minutes as Chadli curled home a wonderful 64th minute free kick for the final 3-3 score line.
FC Schalke 04 wrapped up top spot in Group B with a 2-1 win at Benfica. Olympique Lyonnais qualify in second place, after a late equalizer by Alexandre Lacazette gained them a 2-2 draw with Hapoel Tel-Aviv and condemned the Israeli team to last place in Group B.
Manchester United gained the point they needed to top Group C after a 1-1 draw with Valencia at Old Trafford. Bursaspor tied 1-1 with Glasgow Rangers to earn their first point of group play.
FC Copenhagen guaranteed their qualification with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos, while FC Barcelona finished in first place and beat Rubin Kazan 2-0.
FC Twente, Benfica, Glasgow Rangers and Rubin Kazan all finished third place in their respective groups and will receive a Europa League berth.
Glasgow Rangers have wrapped up a Europa League berth, and ended group play with a 1-1 tie at Bursaspor. Kenny Miller opened the scoring for Rangers, before Sercan Yildirim equalized to give Bursaspor their first point in Group C play.
Both teams threatened in the early stages, but were unable to produce the finishing touch in the final third. Rangers took the lead when a low cross from Steven Whittaker was latched onto by Miller, who crashed a powerful shot high into the net.
Bursaspor came out strongly in the second half and produced a number of goal scoring chances. Pablo Batalla and Bekir Ozan fired off target, before Federico Insua went close with a 75th minute free kick.
Yildirim equalized in the 79th minute as he fired home after collecting Ozan Ipek’s pass. Yildirim had a late chance to win the game but his finish was off target.
Already assured of top spot in Group D, FC Barcelona fielded a youthful side and still won 2-0 to end the qualification hopes of Rubin Kazan. Goals by Andreu Fontas and Victor Vazquez gave Barca the win that means Rubin must settle for a Europa League berth.
Barcelona struggled to win the possession battle early doors and it was the visitors who almost went into the lead. Cristian Ansaldi got free on the left and forced an excellent save from Jose Pinto.
Barca took a 51st minute lead when Fontas scored with the help of a massive deflection to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Lionel Messi was brought on in the 63rd minute and helped Barca gain the upper hand before they doubled their lead in the 83rd minute. Adriano played a good through ball to Vazquez who calmly finished past Sergei Ryzhikov for the final 2-0 scoreline.
FC Copenhagen beat Panathinaikos 3-1 to become the first Danish team to qualify from group play in the Champions League era. Strikes from Martin Vingaard, Jesper Gronkjaer and a Djibril Cisse own goal gave Copenhagen a 3-0 lead, before Cedric Kante netted an injury time consolation for the visitors.
Vingaard showed his intent by firing wide in the opening minute, before he gave Copenhagen the lead with an excellent low driven strike from outside the penalty area. Copenhagen played well in the first half as a Claudemir strike was saved by Alexandros Tzorvas, and Gronkjaer headed wide from a corner.
Copenhagen doubled their lead from the penalty spot five minutes after the restart. Gronkjaer was fouled by Nikos Spyropoulos, and the former Chelsea winger got up to convert the resulting spot kick.
Dame N’Doye missed a golden chance to add to the lead when he rounded Tsorvas only to hit the goal post. The lead did become 3-0 after 73 minutes when Cisse headed a Vingaard corner into his own net.
Kante headed home in injury time but it was little more than a consolation for Panathinaikos who finished last in Group D.
Manchester United wrapped up first place in Group C when the gained the point they needed in a 1-1 draw with Valencia. Pablo Hernandez opened the scoring for the Spanish team, before Anderson equalized for United in the second half. Valencia finish in second place and will progress to the last 16.
United started the better on a cold night at Old Trafford, with Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov drawing saves from Vicente Guaita. The Spanish goalkeeper then produced another sharp save to keep out a Park Ji-Sung volley.
Valancia took the lead in the 32nd minute and Alejandro Dominguez was at the heart of the move. The Argentinian forward dispossessed Michael Carrick before advancing and playing a good ball to Hernandez who fired Valencia into a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first United had conceded in six Group C games.
The Red Devils almost leveled before half-time when Wayne Rooney fired against the crossbar, and Nani dragged the rebound just wide.
United poured on relentless pressure in the second half, with Berbatov going close three times with headers on goal. Rooney also failed to score with two efforts, before United deservedly leveled matters in the 62nd minute. Park had his shot saved by Guaita, only for Anderson to score from the rebound.
Guaita kept scores level with a sharp save from Berbatov, and Nani fired the rebound high over the bar. Both teams had chances to win but the game ended in a hard fought draw.
FC Schalke 04 cemented top spot in Group B with a 2-1 victory at Benfica. Jose Manuel Jurado and Benedikt Howedes put Schalke ahead 2-0, before Luisao netted a late consolation for the Portugese. Benfica were handed a Europa League berth courtesy of Lyon’s late equalizer against Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Benfica dominated possession in the early stages but it was Schalke who took a 19th minute lead. Ivan Rakitic sent over a cross that was cleverly knocked down by Raul Gonzalez for Jurado to fire the German side ahead.
Javier Saviola thought he had equalized four minutes before half-time, only for his strike to ruled out for offside.
Schalke started the second half brightly, and 10 minutes after the restart Peer Kluge came close to doubling the lead when he shot wide after being set up by Raul. Howedes did put the Germans 2-0 up with only nine minutes remaining as he fired home a loose ball from a Rakitic corner.
Luisao set up a dramatic finale as he headed home in the 87th minute, and David Luiz went agonizingly close to equalizing, only to see his injury time free kick bounce back off the goal post.
Last placed Werder Bremen finished Group A play on a high note with a 3-0 victory over defending Champions Inter Milan. Inter had already qualified for the last 16 but Rafael Benitez will be disappointed with his team’s performance as they were comfortably beaten in Germany.
In cold conditions in Germany, goals from Sebastian Prodl, Marko Arnautovic and Claudio Pizarro were enough to give Bremen a win and end Inter’s hopes of winning the group.
Bremen started well and almost took the lead when Hugo Almeida had his volley well saved by Paolo Orlandoni. The home side took the lead six minutes before half-time when Prodl rose highest to plant a deflected header home from a Torsten Frings corner.
Bremen came out fast after half-time and doubled their lead within five minutes after the restart. Almeida received the ball wide left and his cross was firmly volleyed past Orlandoni by Arnautovic for a 2-0 lead.
Inter had a good chance to halve the deficit but Goran Pandev’s shot bounced back off the goalpost and Esteban Cambiasso squandered a good chance from the rebound. Pandev later hit another threatening shot that was saved low by Tim Wiese.
Bremen were stung into action and Per Mertesacker and Aaron Hunt struck the woodwork. Pizarro rounded off the scoring with an excellent goal in the 88th minute. The Peru forward received the ball with his back to goal and turned well before firing past Orlandoni.
A late Alexandre Lacazette equalizer earned Olympique Lyonnais a 2-2 draw with Hapoel Tel-Aviv and denied the Israeli club a UEFA Europa League berth.
Lisandro gave Lyon a second half lead, before Ben Sahar and Eran Zahavi put Hapoel Tel-Aviv on course for a win that would have lifted them into third place. However, Lacazette popped up with only two minutes remaining to salvage a draw for Lyon and condemn Tel-Aviv to last place in Group B.
Lyon started brightly as Lisandro fired into the side netting and Bafetimbi Gomis had his headed goal disallowed for offside. Jean Makoun and Gomis both had shots saved by Vincent Enyeama before Cris had a header cleared off the goal line by Gil Vermouth.
At the other end Lyon goalkeeper produced good saves from Toto Tamuz and Sahar to keep the game scoreless going into half-time.
Lloris saved well from Vermouth early in the second half before Lyon took a 62nd minute lead. Enyeama saved at the feet of Jimmy Briand and the loose ball fell to Lisandro who tucked it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Tel-Aviv responded in style and were in the lead only seven minutes later. Within one minute of falling behind Zahavi played in Sahar who finished well to draw the teams level, and six minutes later Sahar turned provider. The former Chelsea striker was played in down the left and hung over a cross for Zahavi to give Tel-Aviv the lead with a magnificent overhead kick.
Lyon pushed for an equalizer but Enyeama, who scored in the reverse fixture was in good form and saved well to deny Anthony Reveillere and Lisandro. The Israeli teams hearts were broken two minutes from time though as Lacazette beat Enyeama with a well-placed shot.
Tottenham Hotspur finished in first place of Group A after an entertaining 3-3 draw at FC Twente. Spurs took the lead three times, first through a Peter Wisgerhof own goal, and then through two second half Jermain Defoe strikes. FC Twente found an equalizer every time through Denny Landzaat, Roberto Rosales and Nacer Chadli.
Spurs took a 12th minute lead in bizarre fashion as Wisgerhof played a back-pass to Sander Boschker. The 40 year-old goalkeeper swung and missed at the rolling ball and it went into the net for a 1-0 Spurs lead.
FC Twente drew level 10 minutes later from the penalty spot. Benoit Assou-Ekotto handled a Rosales shot and the penalty was awarded. Landzaat scored but was asked to retake the penalty due to player encroachment. The former Wigan Athletic midfielder kept his nerve and scored again from the retake to bring the scores level.
Twente played well after their goal and Marc Janko fired just wide when he was presented with an opportunity to give his team the lead just before half-time.
Tottenham came out strongly for the second half and found themselves ahead within two minutes of the restart. Aaron Lennon split the Twente defense with a clever through ball and Defoe finished well underneath Boschker for a 2-1 lead.
Twente drew level once again in the 56th minute as Rosales plated a header into the top corner from a Theo Janssen cross. As this back and forth contest continued apace Tottenham were back ahead only three minutes later.
Boschker saved from Wilson Palacios but Defoe was on hand to poke home the rebound for a 3-2 lead. Tottenham’s lead this time would last only five minutes as Chadli curled home a wonderful 64th minute free kick for the final 3-3 score line.
