Big Clubs Stay On Course In Wednesday Champions League Action

While only Barcelona clinched first place in their group today, all but one knock-out stage spot available from groups A through D were decided on Wednesday. Three teams were eliminated from Europe all together, while two teams know they’ll be relegated going to Europa League.

We start in Group A, where Tottenham and Internazionale remain atop the group, each now having 10 points. Tottenham beat Werder Bremen 3-0, locking the Germans into fourth place, putting Spurs a win in Enschede away from winning the group. They hold the tiebreaker on Inter thanks to a superior goal difference in head-to-head matches, though the holders stayed even on points thanks to a 1-0 win over Twente at the San Siro.

It’s been a frustrating day for Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United striker having plenty of chances to give his team the lead at Ibrox. Ultimately, he needed help from Rangers to break through, scoring from the penalty spot in the 87th minute after Steven Naismith fouled Fabio da Silva. While the Scottish champions were minutes away from another 0-0 against their English counterparts, now Manchester United looks set for victory.

For Rooney, it is his second goal of the season (first in Champions League), with both goals coming from the spot. Today’s goal was powered home after sending Allan McGregor the wrong way, sparking a wild celebration.

Barcelona can breathe a bit easier in Athens, now having some breathing room over Panathinaikos. While Barça’s completely dominated their hosts, outshooting them 16-3 through 69 minutes, they had only a one goal lead to shot for it. That is until Lionel Messi got on the board in the 62nd minute, and with Pedro completing a brace seven minutes later, today’s match in Athens has turned into a typical Barcelona affair.

Messi’s sixth goal of the tournament came from Adriano, getting a surprise start. The Brazilian put a ball in from the left side for Messi, who finished from just inside the six yard box.

Inter Milan has gone up on FC Twente at the San Siro, with Esteban Cambiasso putting the Nerazzurri ahead in the 55th minute. The Argentine midfielder rolled home the scraps off a Wesley Sneijder free kick, giving the defending champions a 1-0 lead in UEFA Champions League play.

Inter had been the better of the sides throughout the first half, but as was the case in Enschede, the Dutch champions were giving the holders as much as they could handle. Unfortunately for Twente, Theo Janssen has not been able to save them this time, with Internzaionale holding their 1-0 lead at the 65 minute mark.

Internazionale has been the slightly more dangerous team in the first half, forcing Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov into five first half saves. Still, after 45 minutes at the San Siro, Inter Milan and the Dutch champions are scoreless.

Inter came into this match even on points with Tottenham Hotspur, but thanks to Spurs’ tiebreaker advantage, the defending champions were in second in Group A. With Spurs up 2-0 on Werder Bremen at White Hart Lane, Inter’s chances to come back and win the group look slim. But with the Nerazuurri on almost on a month without a win, embattled coach Rafa Benítez should be as concerned with getting Inter back in the win column as he is tracking down Tottenham.

A typically controlling half of football from Barcelona has been met with few scoring opportunities, but nearly 75 percent of the match’s possession has not gone without reward. In the 27th minute, right back Daniel Alves got a ball through the box to Pedro, who ran onto the pass and finished past Alexandros Tzorvas, giving Barça a 1-0 lead.

With a win, Barcelona will clinch Group D, with Rubin Kazan having defeated second place Copenhagen earlier in the day. With a loss, Panathinaikos will have last place confirmed, sitting four points behind Rubin coming into today’s game.

It’s been a terrible Champions League for Bursaspor, one which the Turkish champions may want it all to end as soon as possible. At the Estadio Mestella today, Bursa’s allowed four goals within 37 minutes, obviously putting today’s match out of reach (they don’t have Gareth Bale) and bringing them to 13 goals allowed (with none scored) in this year’s Champions League.

The lambs started crying in the 17th minute when Juan Mata, who wasn’t supposed to play, converted from the spot after Artiz Aduriz was pulled down by Omer Erdogan. Four minutes later, Roberto Soldado scored off some good work from Mata, doubling Valencia’s lead. In the 30th minute, it was Aduriz’s turn, with the Valencia striker needing two cracks to score off a Jordi Alba cross. Finally, it was Joaquin, also via a pass from Alba, who scored after his shot from distance deflected off Ibrahim Ozturk.

Schalke 04 has used early goals from Jefferson Farfan and Klass-Jan Huntelaar to take an early 2-0 lead on visiting Lyon. Farfan’s 13th minute goal came as the Peruvian converted the rebound of a Raúl shot, while Huntelaar converted seven minutes later, running onto a through ball from Peer Kluge.

Schalke comes into this match two points behind Olympique Lyon in Group B. Lyon won their clubs’ previous meeting in France, a 1-0 victory that say Schalke play the final 62 minutes down a man. That narrow margin of victory could see Schalke holding the tiebreaker between these two sides, should the Germans win today by at least two goals.

Tottenham Hotspur is up early on visiting Werder Bremen, with center half Younes Kaboul getting his second goal in as many games, putting Spurs up 1-0.. Taking an Aaron Lennon pass following a corner kick, Kaboul beat goalkeeper Tim Wiese low and to the right, giving the hosts a sixth minute lead.

Spurs took an early lead in Bremen during the clubs’ first meeting, going to halftime up 2-0. Werder would score twice early in the second half to gain a draw. Since, the two clubs have gone in different directions.

Rubin Kazan has their first victory of this season’s UEFA Champions League after their 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen in Tartarstan. A spot kick conversion from Ecuadorian midfielder Christian Noboa gave Rubin the lead just before halftime, and with the two teams combining for just three shots on goal, the Russian’s victory was rarely in doubt.

With the win, Rubin is within one point of second place Copenhagen and four points ahead of last place Panathinaikos, pending Pana’s 2:45 p.m. Eastern match with Barcelona. Rubin will advance to the knock-out stage is the get three points at the Nou Camp on December 7 while Copenhagen drop points to Pana.

Twenty-four hours ago, I was bemoaning the lack of marquee matches for the restart for UEFA Champions League The best match, on name value, was Real Madrid at Ajax, but we all knew how that would end up (says the person who predicted 0-1 in a match that ended 0-4). Roma and Bayern was also notable, but Chelsea, Milan, and Arsenal were all without major challenges.

Of course, Arsenal ended-up losing. Again. The Gunners have lost two in a row at clubs that, in bygone years, we would have thought out of their league. Shakhtar Donetsk derailed Arsenal three weeks ago, and yesterday Arsène Wenger’s charge allowed two late goals, losing at Sporting Braga, 2-0. Now Arsenal finds itself destined for second place in Group H.