UEFA Champions League: Manchester City’s exit made official

Porto were never going to have very much trouble with beating Dinamo Zagreb at home, and, surprise! they did not. One 3-0 win later and we’re more or less back to status quo in Group A, with the Primeira Liga side ahead of Paris Saint-Germain by a lone point and nobody else in a position to qualify.

The only strange part was that Zagreb nearly took the lead at the Dragao, hitting the post via Jorge Sammir six minutes before Lucho Gonzalez slammed Joao Moutinho’s cutback past Ivan Kelava for a 1-0 lead. Once ahead, the hosts were never likely to drop points, and a pair of second-half goals sealed Dinamo’s fate.

Despite a fairly relaxed start from the visitors at the Olympic Kiev Stadium, it was clear that the could step it up a gear whenever they felt like it, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic did just that when he slipped Lavezzi in on goal with halftime looming. The former Napoli man wasted no time in slipping the ball past Maxim Koval to make it 1-0. And Kiev’s job was made even more difficult in the 52nd minute when a sloppy backpass allowed Blaise Matuidi to square to ‘El Pocho’ for his second. There was no reply from Dynamo, whose Champions League adventure will be over after their final match against Dinamo Zagreb in a fortnight.

The first half was rather uneventful, but it didn’t take very long for the Gunners to break the deadlock and take control of the match in the second half. Giroud found Wilshere in the center of the box early on in the period, and the midfielder chipped over Geoffrey Jourdren to score his first goal in two years, while putting his team up 1-0 after 49 minutes.

Lukas Podokski sealed the Gunners’ victory with his best goal in an Arsenal shirt to date, taken on the volley from the edge of the penalty area. Montpellier, with little to play for but pride, had very little to offer going forward and never looked like fighting their way back into the match.

With City able to control the game, things quietened down, but they were also unable to force the issue. Javi Garcia’s introduction at Aleksandr Kolarov’s expense was an overdue one, though it was Maicon who continued to provide the threat. He set up a perfect chance for Sergio Aguero to score the equaliser, but the Argentina contrived to put the ball directly at Iker Casillas from close range.

City were soon to get a stroke of luck, however. Referee Gianluca Rocchi had attracted Mourinho’s ire before after the Portuguese boss accused him of “wanting Inter to lose” when his side won a derby despite an amazing 3 red cards, and he did not endear himself to the away fans all evening. After letting Manchester City away with a string of fouls, the Italian then gave City a questionable penalty after Alvaro Arbeloa appeared to lose his footing in the box, with Sergio Aguero going down with him. Arbeloa was duly sent off, and Aguero coolly dispatched the penalty to give City a late shout.

Milan booked their place in the Round of 16 with a 3-1 defeat of Anderlecht. The Italians were horrible in the first half, but a goal two minutes after the second half whistle and a red card against Bram Nuytinck were too much for the Belgians to overcome.

Just a minute later Dennis Praet got off a shot from outside the box that had Abbiati beat, but the ball went just wide of the post.

Borussia Dortmund defeated Ajax 4-1 in Amsterdam with a comprehensive performance that guaranteed them a spot in the Champions League Round of 16. How good was Dortmund? They finished the match with five shots on goal and four of them went in.

The story of the first half was all about Ajax having the lion share of the ball, doing nothing with it, and failing to defend well in those moments where Dortmund were able to attack.

Kiev’s Nico Kranjcar, who has started several games, was doubtful before the match and didn’t make the starting lineup. Despite his absence, it’s a familiar group that starts for Kiev with Ideye Brown leading the attack. Maksym Koval is back in goal again, after having been replaced by Oleksandr Shovkovskiy for a couple earlier group stage matches.

Porto have not risked their recovering players but name an otherwise strong side despite having already qualified to take on Dinamo Zagreb at the Estadio do Dragao.

Jackson Martinez and James Rodriguez both start for the hosts, along with Joao Moutinho and Steven Defour in midfield. All are key players for the Portuguese club and it is a surprise that they’ve been risked in such an unimportant (and likely easy) game. Abdoulaye Ba makes a rare start, along with Eliaquim Mangala.

With a chance to wrap up qualification for the next round of the UEFA Champions League, Schalke are likely to come out guns blazing at home against Olympiakos. Without some key players, the Greek side is playing with a slightly defensive-minded midfield, and they might end up playing more of a 4-1-4-1 than a 4-3-3 during this match. Lewis Holtby, who has had a great season so far, is going to see a lot of defensive anchor man Dimitris Siovas.

Schalke starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Lars Unnerstall; Christian Fuchs, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Joel Matip, Benedikt Howedes; Roman Neustadter, Jermaine Jones; Julian Draxler, Lewis Holtby, Jefferson Farfan; Klass-Jan Huntelaar

With Zenit’s defeat against Malaga earlier today, things are wide open for Milan and Anderlecht. A win by either side would put them in the driver’s seat to advance going in to the final day of group stage play.

Anderlecht starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Silvio Proto; Guillaume Gillet, Bram Nuytinck, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Olivier Deschacht; Lucas Biglia, Sacha Kljestan; Massimo Bruno, Dennis Praet, Milan Jovanović; Dieumerci Mbokani.

Montpellier line up largely as expected, with rumoured Arsenal target Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa captaining their team at the heart of defence. Gaetan Charbonnier starts up front alone.

Ajax’s slim chances of getting out of the UEFA Champions League’s ‘group of death’ won’t necessarily die with a draw or loss on Wednesday, but they probably need to beat Borussia Dortmund to feel like they have a legitimate shot at going through. They’re playing a more conservative midfield than usual, but their attack is still very potent. Borussia Dortmund haven’t been terrific going forward without Jakub Blasczykowski, but they still have a very strong and balanced side.

Ajax starting lineup (4-3-3): Kenneth Vermeer; Daley Blind, Toby Alderwiereld, Niklas Moisander, Ricardo van Rhijn; Christian Poulsen, Enoch Enoh, Christian Eriksen; Siem de John, Dirk Boerrigter, Jody Lukoki

Zenit St. Petersburg avoided elimination from the UEFA Champions League with a draw on Wednesday, but they’re hanging on by a thread. Thanks to two awful errors in the first 10 minutes of their match against Malaga, they were made to fight from two goals down to scrape a 2-2 draw.

The Zenit back line completely fell apart in the 8th minute, allowing Diego Buonanotte to score the opener. Sebastian Fernandez set up the goal, and Buonanotte displayed excellent skill to get the ball under control, find a shooting lane and beet Vyacheslav Malafeev. One minute later, Malafeev gave the ball away cheaply to Roque Santa Cruz, who located Fernandez for a simple second goal.

It’s a good thing for Zenit St. Petersburg that Malaga has already qualified for the knockout stages of Champions League, because the Spanish side is resting half of their first choice team. While their lineup isn’t exactly a joke, it’s far from their best, and Luciano Spalletti will expect his team to come away with a victory at home. Nicolas Lombaerts and Hulk return to the Zenit lineup after recovering from injuries, while Viktor Fayzulin misses out on the starting XI. Danny has finally returned from nearly an entire year off.

Zenit St. Petersburg starting lineup (4-3-3): Vyacheslav Malafeev; Tomas Hubocan, Nicolas Lombaerts, Bruno Alves, Aleksandr Anyukov; Igor Denisov, Roman Shirokov, Axel Witsel; Danny, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Hulk

FC Porto are already through, top of their group, undefeated, and at home to a side that has lost 10 consecutive Champions League games. That should tell you all you need to know about this fixture.

Of course, Porto boss Vitor Pereira paid the usual lip service, saying “We know Zagreb want to end their losing streak here, so to win we’ll have to be dynamic and play with intensity... there are no easy games in the Champions League”, but he will be aware that the match is effectively a dead rubber and a near-certain victory.

Yeah, I’d expect that team to win.

Out: N/A. Doubtful: Taras Mykhalik, Nico Kranjcar.

This time around, both teams have some incentive to play a bit more aggressively. They’ll know if Zenit St. Petersburg were victorious before they take the pitch, but assuming a desperate Zenit team wins at home against a Malaga team that is resting half their squad, both of these teams will feel like they need a win to feel good about their chances going into the final day of group stage play.

Both of these teams have gone through various formation and personnel changes, due to form and injury problems this season. As a result, it’s unlikely that they’re going to field the exact same horrifically boring sides that faced off at the San Siro earlier this fall. If Milan and Anderlecht actually decide to attack, this should be a good match.

Arsenal are flying high after hammering Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby over the weekend, but they’ll need to keep that form going at the Emirates Stadium when they host Monpellier in a crucial UEFA Champions League match. The Gunners are just a point ahead of Olympiacos in Group B after emerging from their doubleheader against Schalke 04 with a home loss and then a 2-2 away draw, which means that any more poor results will put them in serious trouble.

Fortunately, Montpellier are pretty good fodder for picking up wins. So far, the defending Ligue 1 champions have managed just one draw in their Champions League game, and a pair of meltdowns against Olympicos have left the French side in a hugely sorry state. Unless something highly improbably happens here, they’re not even going to make the Europa League -- they’d have to beat Arsenal in London and then Schalke at the Stade de la Mosson and hope Olympiacos lose out. Not happening, despite their credible performance the first time these two teams met this year.

Two wins against Montpellier have left Olympiacos with a shot of overhauling both Arsenal and Schalke, but they’ll need a strong result here in order to have much of a chance. A draw (combined with the expected Arsenal victory against Montpellier) would leave them two points out of second place with one game to play, and their final matchis at home against the Gunners, not something they’ll want to rely on.

Schalke need a win here in order to keep their one-point cushion on Arsene Wenger’s side intact. Despite their indifferent home form, you should probably expect them to get it -- the last time these two sides met was a pretty straightforward win for the Bundesliga team.

Zenit St. Petersburg sit in last place in their Champions League group, but that doesn’t mean that they’re out of the running for a place in the knockout stage. They likely need to win on Wednesday to keep their hopes alive, but a victory does more than just keep them in the running. It will send them into the final day of group stage play with a great chance to advance.

Meanwhile, Malaga has no incentive to field their best team in Russia. They’ve already qualified for the knockout stage, and probably just need a draw in one of their final two matches to secure first place. While Zenit and AC Milan enter desperation mode, the group’s underdogs are sitting pretty after getting their work done early.

When Madrid and City staged their epic clash at the Bernabéu in the opening group stage match, you figured the return match at the Ethiad would be a big deal. What we didn’t count on was for City to struggle and make this game as much about their Champions League survival as it is about a meeting between two league champions.

We also knew that this group would be tough, but it’s been even better (and tougher) than we expected thanks to some stout performances from Ajax. Madrid, considered by some to be the best team in the world, are in second place while City are languishing in fourth. Not what anyone expected, but for the neutral observer, it means a whole bunch of excitement and drama on deck.

Wednesday! Wednesday! Wednesday! Something has got to give at the Amsterdam ArenA! Ajax have never been defeated at home by the visitors Borussia Dortmund, but the defending German champions are undefeated thus far in the group stages. Something has got to give!

For proper enjoyment, please read the proceeding paragraph with a cable access monster truck rally advertisement voice over guy voice.

Schedule (all times ET)

Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Malaga - 12 p.m.

Anderlecht vs. AC Milan - 2:45 p.m.

Dynamo Kiev vs. Paris Saint-Germain - 2:45 p.m.

FC Porto vs. Dinamo Zagreb - 2:45 p.m.

Arsenal vs. Montpellier - 2:45 p.m.

Schalke 04 vs. Olympiakos - 2:45 p.m.

Ajax vs. Borussia Dortmund - 2:45 p.m.

Manchester City vs. Real Madrid - 2:45 p.m.