UEFA Champions League 2013: City to the knockout stages for first time

One half of the UEFA Champions League group stage’s Matchday 4 is in the books, and great fun was had by all.

Robin van Persie missed a penalty and Chicharito missed an incredible sitter. United could have grabbed a stranglehold on first, but they’re in a bit of trouble now.

Unfortunately CSKA’s resistance was short-lived. A moment of brilliance from Agüero after 20 minutes saw him roll defender Aleksei Berezutski with a single touch, before nonchalantly stroking the ball just inside Igor Akinfeev’s far post. The hosts were in total control, with their Russian opponents only ever threatening with snapshots from distance.

On the half-hour CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky must’ve been fearing a Norwich-style 7-0 hammering, after City found the net for the third time. Surprise, surprise, Agüero was heavily involved again, playing a delicious low cross from the right into the box for Álvaro Negredo to tap beyond Akinfeev. The visitors looked at serious risk of disintegrating.

All in all, that wasn’t worth watching at all.

• Adnan Januzaj is somehow still underrated

The victory keeps Bayern three points clear of Manchester City, who also won on Tuesday, while CSKA Moscow are six points back. The defending champions now only need a single point on the next matchday to clinch a spot in the knockout stages.

For more than an hour, Plzen hung on for dear life. It wasn’t so much desperate defending as it was recognizing that they couldn’t go toe-to-toe with Bayern so they didn’t try to, and it worked.

The first half featured Juventus controlling the game, mostly limiting Real Madrid to counters. The visitors didn’t give the ball away cheaply and generated a few decent half-chances, but they looked their most dangerous when breaking quickly and didn’t have many opportunities to set up in the Juventus half.

Madrid went ahead in the 60th minute through the duo they hope will develop some serious chemistry and lead them to titles in the near future, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. After Ronaldo latched onto a ball over the top of midfield from Marcelo, he squared for Bale, who created enough space between two Juventus defenders to shoot and placed a perfect finish past Buffon.

The Czech minnows are currently rock bottom of the group having failed to pick up a single point from their first three matches. They’ll surely just be hoping to avoid a repeat of the 5-0 drubbing they sustained in the reverse fixture.

Viktoria Plzen injuries and suspensions