UCL Match Day 6 preview: Tying up the loose ends in Groups B, E, F and H

The UEFA Champions League group stage is coming to an end on Tuesday and Wednesday and there are still some loose ends to tie up on matchday 6. While most people will be concentrating on the big Premier League teams, Manchester United & Chelsea have already qualified and look likely to win their respective groups.

We’ve got a breakdown of all the games that lead to the Champions League qualification, whoever wins in these will no doubt be on the road to glory. If you’re planning on driving anywhere to catch the game – get a quote from Express Insurance if you haven’t already.

Napoli v Arsenal

Despite amassing 12 points from their five fixtures, Arsenal are the only English side yet to cement their place in the knock out round. In truth such a task should be simple given that they only need to avoid a three goal defeat to progress. However whilst Arsenal are through, barring a meltdown in Naples, their opponents are locked on a battle with Borussia Dortmund for the second spot.  The pair sit three points behind Arsenal, meaning that if both were to win then all three would be tied on the same points and would have to be separated by their head to head records against each other.

Rafa Benitez’s Napoli side lost 2-0 at the Emirates in October, but were without the injured Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentine striker has scored three goals – all in the same side of the goal- and contributed two assists in his four Champions League appearances this season. This means that he has either scored or assisted 62.5% of Napoli’s goals in the competition this season.

Schalke v Basel

Whilst Chelsea are safely through to the knock-out stages, Schalke and Basel go head to head below them in a straight shootout to navigate their way out of Group E.  Basel currently sit second in the group, a point ahead of their opponents. Schalke started their European campaign with successive victories, but hit the rocks with back to back 3-0 defeats to Chelsea. They need to win in order to progress, but can take comfort from the fact that they defeated their Swiss opponents 1-0 in Switzerland in October. Basel may have done the double over Chelsea, but are yet to beat another team in this season’s competition.

Between them the two teams have only scored nine goals in Europe, meaning that the game is unlikely to be a goal fest. No team has been involved in fewer goals than Basel, who have scored five and conceded four, whilst Schalke have scored only four.

Galatasaray v Juventus

Juventus head to Galatasaray knowing that if they can avoid defeat against the Turkish side then they will be safely through to the next round. The Turin giants sit seven points behind group B leaders Real Madrid and two ahead of their Turkish hosts. The two sides shared a 2-2 draw in Italy, in a game that came alive in a frantic closing period that saw three goals in the last 12 minutes of the game.

Last time the sides met, Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini proved a rock in defence as he won the man of the match award. Playing on the opposite side of defence to the area tasked with marking man-mountain Didier Drogba, he won eight of the ten headed duels that he contested and completed six interceptions.

AC Milan v Ajax

Ajax produced one of the shock results of the last match-day when they inflicted a first defeat of the season upon Barcelona. The win, made all the more impressive by the fact that the Dutch side played with 10 men for 45 minutes, kept them in the race to progress out of Group H. They currently sit in third place, one point behind their Italian opponents, meaning that they will need to win at the San Siro if they are to progress.

Whilst he was quiet in the Barcelona game, attacking midfielder Lasse Schone could be the key man if Ajax are to pull off the qualification that looked remote after match day three, when they sat bottom of the table. Schone has scored twice in the competition so far, making him Ajax’s leading scorer, and laid on an assist for Stefano Denswil to score when the two sides drew 1-1 in October. The Danish midfielder has hit the target with 83% of his shots in this season’s Champions League, hitting only one of his six attempts off target.