Here’s what happened on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it…
The results
Watch match highlights: AS Roma 0, Manchester City 2 || Barcelona 3, Paris Saint-Germain 1 || Chelsea 3, Sporting 1 || Athletic Bilbao 2, BATE Borisov 0 || FC Porto 1, Shakhtar Donetsk 1 || Maribor 0, Schalke 1 || Bayern Munich 3, CSKA Moscow 0 || Ajax 4, APOEL 0
The main talking points
Fabulous performance from Man City: You can make the argument that Manchester City was lucky to even be in a position to claim a Round of 16 berth on Matchday Six. You could also argue, although with far less conviction, that the Blues didn’t deserve to go through based on their overall form in the group stage. But you can’t deny that the English champions put it in fabulous performance Wednesday in a 2-0 win over Roma to book their place in the knockout round.
A Matchday 4 loss at home to CSKA Moscow left the English champions’ hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads. When they managed to defeat Bayern Munich on Matchday 5—albeit courtesy of two goals gifted to them by the Germans—they were still many doubters. And when Sergio Aguero picked up a knee injury on the weekend that ruled him out for four to six weeks, City was all but written off.
But Manuel Pellegrini’s side showed that it is more than just a one-man team that relies on Aguero, going into the Italian capital and claiming three points in a game it had to win in order to avoid another first-round exit. Joe Hart was fantastic in the Manchester City goal, making some key stops to thwart the Italians early on. Labeled as temperamental by many critics, Samir Nasri displayed a great deal of maturity in marshaling an efficient City attack.
Overall, it was a wonderfully balanced performance by the Premier League title holders, made all the more impressive when you consider the absences of Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompnay through injury, and the suspension of influential midfielder Yaya Toure.
All this being said, City will have to bring more—a lot more, in fact—in the next round in order to avoid elimination.
Saurez fitting in at Barcelona
He only has one goal in seven competitive appearances for Barcelona, but Luis Suarez is fitting in quite nicely in the Catalan capital. The Uruguayan hitman lit up the Premier League with Liverpool a season go when he bagged 31 goals for the Reds. Lost in the hoopla surrounding his goalscoring exploits, though, was his ability to create scoring chances for others.
Suarez can score, but he is also a talented playmaker, as evidenced by his six assists for Barcelona, one of which came in the Catalan’s win over PSG on Wednesday. Suarez set up Lionel Messi, allowing Barca to level the score after Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave the French club the lead.
Suarez has had to take a secondary role since joining Barcelona—he’s not the go-to-go Barca looks to for goals when they’re in a pinch. That’s hardly a surprise for a team featuring Messi and Neymar. But Suarez hasn’t missed a beat, adapting to his new surroundings and his new role with aplomb. And his goal against PSG, scored off a rebound from a Neymar shot, showed that his predatory instincts remain honed.
Goal of the day
Save of the day
In the fifth minute, Roma defender Jose Holebas latched onto a great pass from Francesco Totti and hit a low shot from in close. Joe Hart, though, got just enough on it to block it.
Match of the day
Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain featured goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. Not bad.
Six pack of stats
Roma have conceded 18 goals in their last six Champions League home games.
Chelsea have scored more goals (17) than any other side in the Champions League this season.
BATE Borisov have set a new record for goals conceded (23) in a single Champions League group stage.
Lionel Messi has equaled Raul’s record of 75 goals in Europe’s major club competitions.
Thomas Müller has scored his 24th Champions League goal for Bayern Munich to set a new club record.
Chelsea have been awarded more penalties (four) than any other team in the Champions League this season.
** Stats courtesy of Opta
Best moment of the day
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring for PSG against Barcelona in the 15th minute to silence the Camp Nou—temporarily.
He said it
“We were a bit surprised by team (Barcelona coach Luis Enrique put out, but I don’t think their system made difference tonight. We lacked a bit in attack.” – PSG coach Laurent Blanc
Burning question
3 stars
1) Samir Nasri: Scored a screamer and then set up Pablo Zabaleta’s goal that sealed Manchester City’s fate.
2) Marco Verratti: The Italian was a bulldog in midfield as he ran himself ragged for PSG.
3) Joe Hart: Made some key saves in the first half that kept Manchester City in the game.
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