Champions League Matchday 6: Done and Dusted

By: Martha | December 13th, 2007

Govou yays

As Chris pointed out in his preview, several of the matches yesterday were either mostly or entirely meaningless, determining seeds at best. There were, however, a few important matches, and the biggie turned out to be a barn burner.

Group E

Through: Barca, Lyon

Barca already had to the top spot locked up going into their match with Stuttgart, but Rangers and Lyon were tied on seven points, as Lyon went to Scotland looking for revenge for the horrible home loss Rangers had handed them on Matchday 2. And boy howdy, did they get it — 3-0, total domination (though Inara says Lyon weren’t even that good on the day), and another €250,000 added to the price on Karim Benzima’s head.

Group F

Through: Man United, Roma

Neither game in this group mattered even a little, and it was obvious. United and Roma played two mostly JV sides and, while more starters entered the pitch in the second half, the 1-1 was draw was of little consequence, and did nothing more than give both coaches a chance to give some under-used players a runout. In the other match, Dynamo Kyiv lost heavily to Sporting and proudly go home as the only team to finished the group stage with zero points. Well done, gentlemen.

Group G

Through: Inter, Fenerbahçe

Second place was up for grabs here but since PSV needed a win and a Fenerbahçe loss (and were played Inter), the Turkish side were always more likely to go through, particularly against group punching bag CSKA Moscow. And, when PSV had a man sent off just 30 minutes in, their fate was pretty much sealed; they ended up losing 1-0 while Fenerbahçe won, so the Dutchmen are UEFA Cup-bound.

Group H

Through: Sevilla, Arsenal

Going into the day, either team could have finished top, but Arsenal needed help from Slavia and didn’t get it — the Czech side were crushed by Sevilla, so Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Steaua didn’t matter at all. Honestly, though, it’s hard to imagine Arsene Wenger caring much about having to face a group winner in the next round — his team of midgets can beat anyone in Europe, and they know it.

So, with the group stage over, here’s how it ended (the draw for the knockout round is next weekend):

Group Winners: Porto, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Inter, Sevilla
Runners Up: Liverpool, Schalke, Olympiakos, Celtic, Lyon, Roma, Fenerbahçe, Arsenal
UEFA Cup: Marseille, Rosenborg, Bremen, Benfica, Rangers, Sporting, PSV, Slavia
A Whole Lotta Nothin’: Beşiktaş, Valencia, Lazio, Shakhtar, Stuttgart, Dynamo Kyiv, CSKA Moscow, Steaua