Champions League Matchday 6: Barca and Roma Sail On

By: Bob | December 5th, 2006

There was the potential for today to be a huge day in the Champions League with a couple of heavyweights on the verge on being knocked out of the competition. In the end, both Barcelona and AS Roma advanced, while Spartak Moscow and Shakhtar booked their spots in the UEFA Cup, and a number of teams already through to the knockout round simply went through the motions. Below is a recap of the Champions League matchday 6 day that was.

Barcelona 2 Werder Bremen 0
This was the game we were all looking forward to, but didn’t live up to expectations in terms of suspense. With all the pressure in the world on their shoulders, Barcelona played a dominant first half against a Bremen side that looked like they were so scared by the moment that they had soiled their shorts. Ronaldinho scored on a free kick that slid right under the wall and Eidur Gudjohnsen knocked home a perfectly played cross to put the game out of reach practically before it even started. The tournament holders live to see another day while the German club will have to get their Werder on in the UEFA Cup.

Chelsea 2 Levski 0
Remember when Chelsea signed Andriy Shevchenko? Of course you do. When they signed him for massive money one of the justifications was his tremendous track record of scoring goals in the Champions League. Today he did just that and helped his club finish atop Group A. Levski played in six Champions League group play matches and they finished with the same number of points as your Sunday league team, zero.

Sporting 1 Spartak Moscow 3
The team from Russia came away with a dominant, impressive win on the road to book a spot in the UEFA Cup. Sporting continued their run of poor play and will be kicking themselves for blowing it at home, but I am most impressed with the heart of this Spartak side. They are a team to watch in future years.

Bayern Munich 1 Inter Milan 1
The two top teams in Group B squared off with Bayern walking away with the group’s top spot thanks to a goal by Roy Makaay. Patrick Vieria got the equalizer one minute into added time in the second half to send Milan fans everywhere into a frenzy. Oliver Kahn celebrated his 100th Champions League game in goal by giving nightmares to anyone who watched the match on high definition television.

Galatasaray 3 Liverpool 2
Liverpool was assured of the top place in Group C before the match even started and frankly played like they would have rather been at home surfing the Web for pictures of Peter Crouch’s hot girlfriend. Galatasaray walks away with the win but they won’t advance to play in the next round or the UEFA Cup or with Peter Crouch’s hot girlfriend even.

PSV Eindhoven 1 Bordeaux 3
PSV gets today’s top prize for uninspired play. Assured of second place in Group C, the Dutch team played a bunch of young kids who you have never heard of but some day will be playing for other big clubs in Europe. Bordeaux showed excellent form and will have a grand old time playing in the UEFA Cup.

Olympiacos 1 Shakhtar 1
Shaktar needed to win and for Roma to lose in order to advance to the next round. Neither of those things happened and as a consequence they will have to rock the Shaktar in the UEFA Cup. Olympiacos finishes their Champions League run with three points and the knowledge that they didn’t suck as bad as Levski.

Roma 1 Valencia 0
Valencia was locked into first place in Group D. Roma needed at least a point to advance. If I was a gambling man, I would have looked under my sofa cushions for loose change and put a bet on Roma to win. They did just that and in the process they joined Seria A mates Inter Milan and AC Milan in the knockout round.

Wednesday, December 6
Dynamo Kiev v Real Madrid
Lyon v Steaua
Manchester United v Benfica
Copenhagen v Celtic
Porto v Arsenal
Hamburg v CSKA Moscow
Anderlecht v AEK
AC Milan v Lille