UEFA Champions League Wednesday only built upon the fun of Tuesday-unless, of course, you happen to be an MŠK Žilina supporter. The Slovakian side lost 0-7 at home to Marseille, with four goals scored in the first half. A hat-trick by André-Pierre Gignac helped Marseille to the biggest away defeat in the history of the Champions League. Poor Žilina has yet to achieve a point their first Champions League tournament, and are now out of contention.
UEFA Champions League Wednesday: Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Real Madrid All Secure Passage To Next Round
Romanian side CFR Cluj also had a tough time of it, losing 0-4 at home to Bayern Munich. Mario Gómez scored the hat-trick in this match, with two of the goals coming before the 25th minute. Credit goes to Hamit Altıntop and Bastian Schweinsteiger, however, with Schweinsteiger in particular doing the dirty work, placing perfect passes to enable Gómez to simply knock the ball in net. Bayern are now through to the knockout stages, and need just a point against AS Roma to take first in Group E.
Roma made hard work of their match, going up 2-0 at the break through a Jérémy Menez shot and a Francesco Totti penalty before allowing Basel a comeback in the second. The home side were determined to make a go of it, with the pressure paying off halfway through the second when Alexander Frei headed the ball into the empty Roma net. Substitute Leandro Greco responded with Roma's third goal shortly after, and although Basel were able to pull back another through Xherdan Shaqiri, in the end they fell 2-3.
The home defeats continued with Partizan Belgrade losing 0-1 to SC Braga, thus ending the Serbian side’s run in the Champions League. A Luis Aguiar free-kick to the right side of the penalty area met the head of Moisés for the match’s only goal. The Portuguese side then closed ranks and refused to let Partizan penetrate their defenses.
Arsenal went to Shakhtar Donetsk likely expecting an away victory and came away with their first loss in the competition, 2-1 to the home side. Theo Walcott opened the scoring with a ridiculous goal, chasing down a pass from Jack Wilshere and driving it past the Shakhtar keeper. Shakhtar were determined to avenge their 5-1 loss at the Emirates, however, and soon leveled the score line-although it was Arsenal's Craig Eastmond that headed the ball into his own net. But it was ex-Arsenal player Eduardo that found the win for Shakhtar, putting the ball in the net just before the half.
Auxerre found their first points in the competition, beating Ajax 2-1. Frédéric Sammaritano opened the scoring in the ninth minute, but Ajax came back to level with a 79th minute goal by Toby Alderweireld. Just five minutes later, substitute Steeven Langil sent the ball past Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to give Auxerre the win.
Chelsea kept things interesting by refusing to capitalize on their many first-half chances in their home match against Spartak Moscow. The visitors threatened plenty in the first half but gave way in the second, allowing Nicolas Anelka to score just three minutes after play resumed. Didier Drogba converted a penalty before Branislav Ivanović headed in a corner kick from the Ivorian minutes later. Then Spartak found a consolation goal through Nikita Bazhenov, who was clearly offside, before Ivanović slotted in another to give Chelsea the 4-1 lead and put them through to the knockout stages.
Real Madrid also booked their place in the final 16 via a 2-2 draw with AC Milan. Madrid took the lead just before the break through a shot by Gonzalo Higuaín, but Milan answered in the second with a brace by substitute Filippo Inzaghi. Pippo completed his double in ten minutes, giving the veteran his 70th goal in UEFA competition. The Rossoneri surely thought themselves free and clear as the match went into extra time, but Pedro Léon struck the equalizer in the 94th minute to grab a point for Los Merengues.
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