UEFA Champions League: Blues on the brink of European exit

Luiz Adriano’s questionable goal against Nordsjaelland still counts and will count forever, but he hasn’t gotten away with his unsportsmanlike behavior. UEFA handed down a one-game suspension to the Shakhtar Donetsk striker on Tuesday, and he will be ruled out of his team’s final Champions League group stage match against Juventus. He has also been ordered to perform one day of community service.

In last week’s Champions League match between Shakhtar and FC Nordsjaelland, following a stoppage of play by the referee, Shakhtar’s Willian kicked the ball back towards Nordsjaelland goalkeeper Jesper Hansen to give possession back to the hosts. Either because he did not recognize the situation or because he was looking to take advantage of a goal-scoring opportunity any way he could, Luiz Adriano ran onto the ball as defenders stood and watched him round Hansen, then score to level the match.

CFR Cluj’s knockout stage hopes are still alive, while Braga are out of Europe all together. Thanks to a brilliant first half hat trick by Rui Pedro and a needless red card by Braga’s Douglao, Cluj were able to coast to a victory, playing themselves into second place in Group H.

Rui Pedro’s first goal came via a brilliant flick by Rafael Bastos, which played him through on goal before he applied the finish. He struck again just eight minutes later, cleaning up the garbage after a poor clearance by the Braga defense, and Cluj were up by two goals just 15 minutes in.

Going into halftime, the story of Nordsjaelland and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Champions League match appeared to be an apparent unsportsmanlike act from Luiz Adriano. In the middle of the first half, he ran onto what looked to be a pass from Willian back to the Nordsjaelland keeper after an injury stoppage, though he didn’t view it that way. He ran by a sleeping defense before rounding the keeper and scoring, controversially putting his team ahead.

Thankfully, it wasn’t the difference in the match. Nordsjaelland equalized before the halftime whistle, then fell apart in the second half as Shakhtar went on to a convincing 5-2 victory. They now need just a draw in their final match to advance, and can go through with a loss if they stay ahead of Chelsea on goal differential. Nordsjaelland have been knocked out of Europe with this result.

Galatasaray is a soccer club from Turkey. They beat Manchester United in Champions League action on Tuesday. Their fans are terrifyingly organized. That is all you need to know, really.

Actually, there’s a bit more you could stand to know, from their meeting in 1993:

Celtic put up a valiant effort but ultimately couldn’t shut down Benfica’s attack, falling 2-1 at the Estádio da Luz. Goals from Ola John and Ezequiel Garay led Benfica, preventing Celtic from clinching a spot in the Round of 16 and setting up an exciting final match day in Group H.

Benfica got off to a dream start, taking the lead in the 7th minute thanks to Ola John. The initial cross in from the right was deflected in to the center of the box where Óscar Cardozo tried, but failed to get control off the ball. Fortunately for Benfica, Celtic couldn’t clear the danger and the ball trickled back to John whose low shot tipped off Artur’s fingers and in the back of the net.

A second half goal was enough for Galatasaray to earn the victory over Manchester United and put their Round of 16 qualification chances firmly in their own hands.

Despite the fact Manchester United are through to the next round, fielding a weaker lineup and playing a Galatasaray side that needs to win, they’re having the better of the play. While the Turkish side certainly had more possession and generated more chances, it was United that had the better opportunities and more dangerous chances on goal. Of course, part of the reason

Despite the cold weather and plastic pitch, the match got off to a spirited start. Barcelona nearly opened the scoring in the 12th minute as Xavi found Pedro in the box with a pass over the top. Pedro deftly chested the ball down and volleyed the ball on frame from about 6 yards out. Fortunately for Spartak, Andriy Dykan was in the right place and parried the ball away.

Spartak came right back, earning a corner. The ball was curled right to Dmitriy Kombarov in space, but his shot went over the cross bar. They would pay for the missed chance.

Substitutes from: Thomas Villadsen, Henrik Kildentoft, Anders Christiansen, Oguzhan Aynaoglu, Mark Gundelach, Mario Ticinovic, Kamal Issah.

Shahktar Donetsk (4-2-3-1): Andriy Pyatov; Razvan Rat, Yaroslav Rakitsky, Olexandr Kucher, Darijo Srna; Taras Stepaneko, Fernandinho; Willian, Henrikh Markhitaryan, Alex Teixeira; Luiz Adriano.

CFR Cluj (4-2-3-1): Mario Felguerias, Ionut Rada, Felice Piccolo, Cadu, Ivo Pinto; Gabriel Muresan, Luis Alberto; Camora, Rui Pedro, Modou Sougou; Rafael Bastos.

Substitutes from: Eduard Stancioiu, Vasile Maftei, Matías Aguirregaray, Viorel Nicoara, Nicolas Godemeche, Pantelis Kapetanos, Sasa Bjelanovic.

Is listing the lineup this way wishful thinking? Well, yes, if it’s inaccurate. This is potentially way more fun than Azpilicueta playing as a defensive winger. You can catch the game on FOX Soccer in the U.S. and ITV in the U.K.

Substitutes from: Ufuk Ceylan, Cris, Caglar Birinci, Yekta Kurtulus, Engin Baytar, Emre Colak, Umut Bulut.

Borisov were perhaps the better side in the early stages, controlling the midfield and making threatening noises whenever they got near Steeve Elana’s goal. However, their moves never really gave the keeper much to do -- they had a tendency of breaking down one or two passes before the hosts had a chance to shoot.

BATE stepped things up after that, pushing more bodies forward, but that only served to open up their back line yet further. They paid the price in the 31st minute, when left back Lucas Digne was able to surge forward and deliver a low cross through the six yard box. Bruno escaped his marker to convert from close range.

Spartak’s captain and goalkeeper Andriy Dykan makes an unexpected return after missing significant time with an injury. That should help a little for the Russian side, but considering all the other injuries, this will still be a tough match. Emmanuel Emenike was impressive when these two teams met earlier in the group stages and he’ll need to have a big day if Spartak have a chance of staying alive in the group.

Spartak Moscow starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Andriy Dykan; Juan Insurralde, Kirill Kombarov, Marek Suchý, Evgeni Makeev; Rafael Carioca, José Manuel Jurado, Kim Källström, Dmitir Kombarov; Ari, Emmanuel Emenike.

New Cluj manager Paulo Sergio will be hopeful of gaining a victory against his compatriots when Braga travel to Romania tonight.

Braga suffered defeat in the home fixture as Cluj left with an impressive victory, but the Portuguese side have regained their form since then, and after being unlucky to get nothing from their two games against Manchester United, will be determined not to slip up in Romania. Braga boss José Peseseiro said: “We will be up against a very strong opponent again, and I don’t think they will catch us unawares as they did in the home fixture. We have learned our lesson.”

Shakhtar Donetsk are expected to beat Nordsjaelland on Tuesday, and given their win over Chelsea in Ukraine and their draw at the Juventus Arena, no one expects them to lose their final match of the group stage. While the Juventus faithful, players and staff will have confidence that they can win their final match if things go wrong against Chelsea, they will put themselves in dire straits with a poor result on Tuesday. Even a draw will put them in a tough situation, and make them very much third favorites to advance.

Juventus injuries and suspensions

Since their two remarkable victories against Bayern Munich and Lille in the opening two group games, BATE Borisov have been competing for an unlikely place in the knockout stages, but will have to get a good result against Lille tonight if they are to see the dream become a reality.

BATE won the away fixture 3-1, stunning a Lille side that has been a huge disappointment and failed to pick up a single point, but have suffered consecutive defeats to Valencia since then. Having just been crowned Belarusian champions, they will hope that the high spirits can allow them to regroup to make it to the first knockout round.

Anything but a win effectively knocks Nordsjaellend out of Champions League on Tuesday, though they’re essentially just fighting to play spoiler at this point anyway. It’s difficult to conceive a scenario in which they make up their current defect on the three teams above them enough to finish anywhere but bottom of the group, but that won’t stop them from trying to shake things up against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Following their disappointing loss this weekend -- their first domestically this season -- Shakhtar will likely come out a motivated team instead of one that is complacent, and expecting a win against lesser opposition. With Chelsea and Juventus doing battle in Turin and the Old Lady coming to Ukraine in the next round, Shakhtar will see this as a must-win game to feel like they’re in position to qualify from Group E.

Manchester United travel to Istanbul to face Galatasaray having already qualified for the first knockout round of the Champions League, but Gala boss Fatih Terim is not taking anything for granted.

Galatasaray injuries and suspensions

When the group stage draw occurred earlier this year, many didn’t expect Celtic to figure in to the ultimate result in Group G. To use a tired cliche, that’s why they play the games.

Celtic are a win away from qualifying for the Round of 16, but to do it they’ll have to do it by winning at the Estádio da Luz for the first time ever. The Hoops shouldn’t be short on confidence of course after downing Barcelona two weeks ago, but every Champions League match presents a new challenge and beating Benfica at home is definitely a challenge.

Unai Emery and Spartak have a legitimate injury crisis ahead of today’s critical match against Barcelona. All three of the club’s goalkeepers are injured, so there’s a good chance reserve keeper Sergei Chernyshuk will start between the posts. Add to that issue a long list of players who will not be available and Spartak’s slim chances to surviving the group are virtually non-existent.

Barcelona will be looking to bounce back from their shocking defeat to Celtic in the last round of matches. Perhaps they took the Scottish club too lightly, perhaps they just had a bad day, whatever the issue, Tito Vilanova will expect a better performance from his players today. Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué are back healthy and have bolstered the defense, easily Barca’s biggest weakness so far this season. Sergio Busquets is available again after missing both Celtic matches serving a suspension.