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Del Piero – still going strong

Champions League Roundup

When it comes to November, the Champions League starts to get a bit serious as the teams realise that qualification is finally in their grasp.

Match day 4 didn’t match the number of goals that were served up in match day 3 but there were more surprise results and still a number of fantastic goals.

Group A
Suddenly Group A looks a lot more treacherous for Chelsea as Roma mauled them 3-1 in the Olympic Stadium.

Before the game, the English media were full of stories about Chelsea booking the same Rome hotel for the Champions League final in May which may cause some embarrassment to the London blues after their humiliating reversal where Roma always looked in control.

Bordeaux triumphed 2-1 away to CFR Cluj which means only one point separates the top three sides in the Group. Chelsea face an away trip to Bordeaux in their next match, whilst Roma travel to Romania seeking revenge for their previous defeat and there is a very strong chance that victories for Roma and Bordeaux could place Chelsea in an awkward position going into their final game.

Jose Stumbles Again
Inter Milan still lead the way in Group B but Jose Mourinho will not be happy with a 3-3 draw away to Anorthosis Famagusta, especially when his team had lead twice.

Inter have eight points but Famagusta have a strong five points, sitting one point ahead of Panathinaikos who were 3-0 winners away to Werder Bremen. This means the German club sit bottom of the group with 3 points and need to win their next match away to Famagusta to have any hope of qualifying.

Inter Milan host Panathinaikos in a game that they hope will allow them to seal knock out round qualification.

Barca Shocked But Still Through
A slight shock came at the Camp Nou when Steau Bucharest managed to get a 1-1 draw with Barcelona, which came after Barcelona’s convincing victory in the previous game between the two teams.

It was Basle’s first point of the campaign but it wasn't enough to stop Barcelona from qualifying for the knock out rounds as Shakhtar Donetsk and Basle are now unable to catch the Catalan giants. Sporting Lisbon are now on 9 points after a 1-0 home win over the team from Donetsk and again, this should seal their qualification in the knock-out rounds.

With Sporting having defeated Shakhtar Donetsk twice, even if the Ukranians could haul back 6 points on the Lisbon team in the final two games, the head to head between the clubs would ensure that Sporting Lisbon so only the Uefa Cup spot remains up for grabs in Group C.

Shakhtar Donetsk are at home to Basle in the next round of fixtures and this game is likely to have Group C all tied up with one game to go.

Diving Controversy at Anfield
In Group D, Liverpool showed that some of the big clubs get all of the decisions their way with a frankly ludicrous penalty decision deep into injury time to steal a 1-1 draw from Athletico Madrid. The English media consistently talk of the bad influence of foreigners diving in their game but they will probably not be as vocal in condemning Liverpool captain Stevie Gerrard for cheating to rob a point for his team. Liverpool will be delighted and will no doubt point to dubious decisions that have went against them in the past. This leaves the top two tied on 8 points whereas Marseille and PSV Eindhoven are tied on three points at the bottom of the group.

It’s still extremely likely that Liverpool and Athletico Madrid will still book their passage to the knock-out stages so the race for the Uefa Cup place may hold interest in Group D.

Both PSV and Marseille are away in their next games (versus Athletico Madrid and Liverpool respectively) and if either of them pick up anything, it could go a long way to continuing their European campaign into 2009.

Stalemate in Group E
Manchester United and Villarreal all but sealed their place in the qualifying rounds as both clubs avoided defeat on the road. United eventually nicked a late equalizer against an impressive Celtic at Celtic Park, who had led early on from a wonderful Scott McDonald lob.

With substitutes Berbatov and Rooney driving the European Champions home, their reward came in the final ten minutes when Ronaldo unleashed a ferocious shot which Artur Boruc could only palm out where Ryan Giggs bundled home the equalizer.

In Denmark, Villarreal led twice but Aalborg battled back each time to leave the two group leading teams on eight points and the bottom two on two points each. United travel to Spain in the next game whereas Celtic visit Aalborg hoping to overcome their away day hoodoo.

Group F has new leaders as Lyon have nudged ahead of Bayern although both teams are on the eight point mark. Lyon comfortably defeated Steau Bucharest 2-0 at home with Juninho scoring yet another trademark free-kick whereas Fiorentina and Bayern Munich played out a 1-1 draw in Italy. Bayern got a late equalizer through Borowski otherwise the French champions would have been clear in front and Fiorentina would have been a lot closer to the Bavarian giants. Bayern Munich are at home to Steau Bucharest in their next game which should allow them to qualify whereas Lyon have the tougher task of facing Fiorentina in Italy.

Arsenal Stutter Again
Group G remains open with three teams in with a strong chance of making the knock out stages. Arsenal top the group but they could only draw 0-0 at home to Fenerbahce, a team they demolished in Turkey a few weeks ago.

The other game saw Porto come from a goal behind in Kiev to win 2-1 against Dynamo Kiev, a result which moves the Portuguese team into second place, two points behind the Gooners. Dynamo Kiev travel to the Emirates in their next match knowing that an away victory will blow the group wide open and with Arsenals current form looking shaky, it is certainly possible for them to do so. Porto travel to Fenerbahce but after winning in Kiev they will have no fear of going on the road again.

Wonder Del Piero
All that really remains to be said about Group H is that Del Piero is still a fantastic player and he managed to silence the Bernabeu with two fantastic goals as Juventus defeated Real Madrid 2-0. This result moved Juventus onto 10 points, 4 points ahead of Real in second place with 6 points.

Zenit St Petersburg managed their first win of the group stages with a 2-0 win away to BATE Borisov and now lie only 2 points behind Real Madrid. Zenit are at home to Juventus in the next match whereas Madrid travel to BATE Borisov.

It is still likely that Real Madrid will come through the group with Juventus but until it is done and dusted, the Uefa Cup holders and European Supercup winners will keep soldiering on.

With so much still to be decided, match day 5 of the 2008/09 Champions League looks set to be explosive.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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