In case you missed it, here are the highlights from Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League action.
United they stood – and delivered!
A day after English clubs suffered setbacks in the Champions League, Premiership sides Manchester United and Chelsea, and Scottish champions Celtic restored British pride with memorable victories on Wednesday.
Manchester City has been all but eliminated from the group stage after being held to a draw at home by Ajax. Arsenal, meanwhile, was humbled at the hands of Schalke in Germany, putting into question their chances of moving on to the next round.
But the Red Devils, Blues and the Hoops all posted memorable wins to bolster their Champions League campaigns and send a message that the British Isles will not go gently into that good night.
Celtic’s win over Barcelona, considered by many to be the best team on the planet, was a stunning result, a product of their defensive organisation and discipline.
Despite spending the majority of the game chasing shadows (Barcelona enjoyed 63 per cent possession), Celtic only picked up one yellow card in keeping the Catalans off the score sheet. For all of Barcelona’s domination, they lacked a cutting edge in the final third, unlike Celtic who took their two scoring chances with aplomb — Victor Wanyama headed home in the 21st minute and teenage substitute Tony Watt scored on a swift counterattack in the 83rd.
Not to be outdone was Chelsea. The reigning European champions were involved in a genuine dogfight against a dangerous and lethal Shakhtar Donetsk, and were outplayed for large stretches of the match by their Ukrainian visitors.
Willian was positively electric for Donetsk, linking up effectively with fellow Brazilian Fernandinho to torment a Chelsea back line that looked lost without the injured Ashley Cole. But the equally brilliant Oscar kept the Londoners in the game, before giving way to Victor Moses in the 79th minute.
It proved an astute switch by manager Roberto Di Matteo, as Moses headed home the winner to stun the team from Ukraine and earn a very valuable three points for the European champions.
Manchester United booked their spot in the knockout round with two matches to spare courtesy of their comeback win in Portugal over a plucky Braga side.
The 3-1 loss was harsh on Braga, and didn’t accurately reflect how close of an affair it was but United found a way to win, as is their trademark.
This marked the second time that the Red Devils came from behind to earn a result against Braga, leaving it late to earn three points – Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney and substitute Robin van Persie all scored in the final nine minutes.
Truth be told, the English giants looked tame and far from their best, much like most of this group stage. And yet they’ve already clinched their spot in the next round, despite sleepwalking their way through the group stage. Opponents, be forewarned.
– Juventus has only one loss in their last 24 matches at home in all competitions.
– Valencia’s Roberto Soldado has scored 14 goals in his last 13 Champions League starts.
– Bayern Munich has won their last six matches in European competition against French sides while conceding just one goal.
– Manchester United had scored in each of their last 20 European matches.
– Celtic has only lost two home matches in the Champions League since 1992 — both of those losses were against Barcelona.
– Shakhtar Donetsk has scored in all five of their European away matches in England, all of which have been against teams from London.
– Galatasaray has earned just four points from their last nine group stage games away from home.
– Spartak has drawn none of their last 31 away Champions League matches, suffering 22 losses.
Oscar’s goal from distance was a sight to behold:
The story of the day was Celtic’s stunning upset of Barcelona, but Chelsea’s thrilling and dramatic 3-2 win over Shakhtar Donetsk was the best match on Wednesday. They were off and running early, with both teams finding the net within the opening nine minutes. Oscar scored a wonder-goal just before halftime to give Chelsea the lead, but Willian responded with his second of the match just after the restart. The game looked to be headed towards a stalemate when substitute Victor Moses scored a header deep into injury time off a corner kick to end a magical night at the Bridge.
Oscar’s fourth goal of the competition was a beauty. Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov came well out of his area to make a headed clearance. But the Chelsea star fired a half volley from long distance over the head of Pyatov and into the back of the net in the 40th minute.
With Juventus up two goals and looking to take a commanding lead, Nordsjaelland goalkeeper Jesper Hansen flew to his left to parry away a thunderous Claudio Marchisio drive from the edge of the box in the 33rd minute.
Matthew Stanger of Football365.com "brings the funny" after Bayern took a 5-0 lead over Lille in the first half:
A Lille less conversation, a Lille more action please. — Matthew Stanger (@MatthewStanger) November 7, 2012
A Lille less conversation, a Lille more action please.
— Matthew Stanger (@MatthewStanger) November 7, 2012
How long before a team from England or Spain makes a transfer bid for Willian and is able to pry the Brazilian star away from Shakhtar Donetsk?
What’s Chelsea’s plan to find a backup for Ashley Cole?
How much did the departure of Eden Hazard to Chelsea have to do with Lille’s disastrous campaign?
Will Celtic be able to build upon this stunning win over Barcelona? Or was it just a one-off?
Was this the Juventus we can expect to see in the next two matches? Or will the Italians revert to the unsure form they displayed in their first three games of the group stage?
1) Claudio Pizarro: A career game for the Bayern Munich forward, whose 15 minute hat-trick against Lille was the fourth fastest in Champions League history.
2) Willian: Shakhtar Donetsk’s sensational Brazilian bagged a brace against Chelsea and consistently troubled the Blues defence with his pace and deft touch.
3) Arturo Vidal: The Chilean showed again why he is one of the best midfielders in the world, scoring one goal and playing a starring role in Juventus’ potent attack against Nordsjaelland.