UEFA Champions League roundup: Arsenal, Chelsea progess with impressive victories, Barcelona held
Arsenal pulled off a miraculous victory has they blanked Greek champions Olympiacos 3-0 in their final Group F Champions League encounter at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis on Wednesday. The Gunners are now through to the knockout stages of the UCL in second place in the group at the expense of Olympiacos.
Fellow Premier League side Chelsea produced a dominant display to beat Portuguese giants FC Porto 2-0 on the night. With this victory, the Blues now top their group and head to the next round with a mostly favourable draw waiting for them in the round of 16. Porto, on the other hand, crashed out of the UCL as group rivals Dynamo Kyiv beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-0 to qualify ahead of the side from Portugal.
A considerably weakened Barcelona side were held to a 1-1 draw by Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena. This outcome meant the German side missed out on a chance to progress and are now demoted to the Europa League. Meanwhile, Group E rivals AS Roma limped to a 0-0 draw against BATE Borisov to scrape through to the next round ahead of Leverkusen.
There were no surprises as Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich strolled to a comfortable 2-0 away victory over Dinamo Zagreb to finish at the top of Group F with 15 points.
Elsewhere, Belgian side KAA Gent produced a shock 2-1 victory over Zenit Saint-Petersburg to qualify for the knockout stages in second place from Group H. Gent also inflicted Zenit’s first defeat in this season’s Champions League. Also, Gary Neville’s Valencia were dumped out of the UCL as they suffered a humiliating 2-0 loss at home to Lyon.
Group E
Bayer Leverkusen went down fighting against a weakened Barcelona side as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw on the night. Needing a victory against the defending champions, the Germans were handed a blow as the returning Lionel Messi struck with a trademark goal in the 20th minute. However, Bayer hit back within three minutes of going down through the impressive Javier Hernandez.
The Bundesliga club piled on the pressure on the Barca goal but keeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen was in inspired form as he thwarted everything that was thrown at him. The Blaugrana held on to seize a point and knock the hosts into the Europa League.
Italian side AS Roma scraped through to the knockout round at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen as they were held to a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Olympico by BATE Borisov. They ended up level on points and an inferior goal difference compared to the German side but still progressed due to their better head-to-head record.
| Teams | P | W | D | L | +/- | Points |
| Barcelona | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | |
| AS Roma | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -5 | 6 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| BATE Borisov | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -7 | 5 |
Group F
Having come into the game needing a big win and a crippling injury crisis, Arsenal produced one of their best performances yet this season as they trounced Olympiacos 3-0 at their own backyard. Weathering an initial Olympiacos storm, the Gunners grew into the game and began to seize control.
The much-maligned Olivier Giroud turned out to be the saviour for Arsene Wenger’s men as he notched a timely and well-taken hat-trick to ensure a berth in the knockout stages. Meanwhile, the Greeks were condemned to a place in the Europa League after the demoralising loss.
Bayern Munich however, had no such compulsions as they emerged with a 2-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb. Robert Lewandowski scored twice in the second half to reinforce their position as group leaders with 15 points from 6 games.
| Teams | P | W | D | L | +/- | Points |
| Bayern Munich | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | |
| Arsenal | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| Olympiacos | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -7 | 9 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -11 | 3 |
Group G
Chelsea, who are currently struggling in the Premier League, put on a solid display to send FC Porto crashing out of the UCL. The Blues secured a 2-0 victory at the Stamford Bridge to qualify to the knockout stages as group winners. Chelsea took the lead as the returning Diego Costa forced an own goal from Marcano in the first half.
The hosts doubled their advantage in the second half through Willian on 52 minutes to effectively kill the tie and Porto’s hopes of making it to the next round. Porto will now have to contend with a Europa League berth.
Dynamo Kyiv snuck ahead of Porto as runners-up in the group as they narrowly beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv at 1-0 at home. A first half strike from Denys Garmash was enough for the hosts to get into the knockout stages much to the delight of the home support.
| Teams | P | W | D | L | +/- | Points |
| Chelsea | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| FC Porto | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -15 | 0 |
Group H
Russian side Zenit Saint-Petersburg could not maintain their perfect record of five wins from five games in the group stages as they succumbed to a shock 2-1 loss away to KAA Gent. With this victory, the Belgian side emerged as the surprise runners-up from the group.
Goals from Depoitre and Milicevic on either side of the halftime whistle was enough for the hosts to qualify for the knockout stages even as Dzyuba pulled one back for the visitors in the 65th minute.
Gary Neville suffered a humiliating night as Valencia manager as they crashed out of the UCL with a 2-0 loss to French side Lyon at the Mestalla. Standing in his first match as the club’s manager, Neville could only watch as goals from Cornet and Lacazette gave bottom-placed Lyon an unlikely victory over his side.
The Englishman will now face the prospect of the Europa League as he attempts to rebuild the Spanish club after a dismal start to the season.
| Teams | P | W | D | L | +/- | Points |
| Zenit St Petersburg | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 15 |
| Gent | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Valencia | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 6 |
| Lyon | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 4 |