Champions League Matchday 5: Bremen and Barca, Baby!

By: Bob | November 22nd, 2006

The fifth go around of Champions League group play came to a close today and it has set the stage for what will be a dramatic and exciting final matchday in a fortnight with six spots in the next round still up for grabs. Tournament holders Barcelona stayed alive, but they are facing a real challenge from a spunky Bremen side. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Inter Milan booked their tickets to the knockout round, while the jockeying for UEFA Cup positions continued. Here is a rundown of the day’s action.

Werder Bremen 1 Chelsea 0
Per Mertesacker headed home the game’s lone goal in the first half to give Werder the win. Chelsea fans can’t really despair, their team advances to the next round with the loss and they can still finish first in the group win a win at home against hapless Levski Sofia. For Bremen, it doesn’t get any bigger than this. A win or draw against Barcelona at the Nou Camp will secure their spot in the knockout stage. More to come on the Chelsea Offside.

Levski Sofia 0 Barcelona 2
Playing in a must win situation, Barcelona came through with a win on the road against an overmatched Sofia side. Ludovic Giuly and Andres Inesta were the heroes for Barca who will need to beat Bremen at home on Matchday 6 to stay alive in the competition. Levski Sofia is deader than dead and won’t even have the fun of playing in the UEFA Cup thanks to their last place finish in the group.

Inter Milan 1 Sporting Lisbon 0
All Hernan Crespo does is score and his goal today was enough to lift Inter to victory and to secure a spot in the knockout round. The loss ends Sporting’s Champions League hopes, but with a third place finish in their group the side from Portugal will still be allowed to play with the other kids in the UEFA Cup.

Spartak Moscow 2 Bayern Munich 2
The Spartak players were able to avoid Moscow’s notorious traffic this go around by leaving 8 hours early for the match, but the result was largely the same with the Russian side salvaging a draw against a less than inspired Bayern side. Spartak remains at the bottom of the group table, while Bayern was through to the next round before they even stepped foot on Russian soil.

Liverpool 2 PSV Eindhoven 0
Steven Gerrard decided to do something about all that criticism he has received of late by scoring Liverpool’s first goal and assuring that they will finish first in their Champions League group. Peter Crouch added the assurance goal late in the match as the conundrum known as Liverpool continues to sparkle in Europe while stumbling in the Premiership. Ouch, Liverpool did lose Xavi Alonso, Mark Gonzalez and Jermaine Pennant to injuries in the match. More to come on the Liverpool Offside.

Bordeaux 3 Galatasaray 1
The French side put a hurting on the Turkish side in a match featuring two teams already eliminated from the Champions League. As a result, Bordeaux will get to take part in the reindeer games of the UEFA Cup, while Galatasaray will have to be content with winning their domestic league.

Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Roma 0
Roma had a chance to advance, but a second half goal by Ciprian Marica lifted Shakhtar to victory and kept the dream alive for the team from the charming city of Donetsk. Roma will play host to Valencia on Matchday 6, while Shakhtar will need to win at Olympiacos.

Valencia 2 Olympiacos 0
Valencia has looked nothing short of outstanding in this year’s Champions League, but that might have something to do with the general level of suckiness of their group. Today they beat up on an Olympiacos side that is on the bottom of the table and shit out of UEFA cup luck.

Teams that have Advanced
Real Madrid
Lyon
Bayern Munich
Liverpool
PSV Eindhoven
Valencia
Celtic
AC Milan
Chelsea
Inter Milan

Teams that have been eliminated
Dynamo Kiev
Steaua Bucharest
Sofia
Spartak
Bordeaux
Galatasaray
Hamburg
Copenhagen
Anderlicht
Sporting Lisbon