UEFA Champions League: Barcelona win it late, Chelsea go down

Hernandez should have had another in the 34th minute, but Kagawa, who played him in on goal, was flagged for offside and United’s would-be equalizer was disallowed.

Evans scored the equalizer in somewhat fortunate circumstances in the 62nd minute. A van Persie corner was flicked behind by Carrick towards Evans, who whiffed on his first attempt at a shot. The ball fell favorably, however, and Evans managed to make contact with his follow-up effort and beat Beto.

This is the third straight draw for Juvenutus in the group stages and their ninth straight draw in European competition overall. They remain in third place in the group, one point behind Chelsea for second, and four behind the group leader Shakhtar Donetsk.

Samaras had to leave the match just before halftime with an injury, and was replaced by James Forrest. His injury wasn’t the only problem Celtic had in the final minutes of the first half, sadly for them. They also conceded an equalizer on a brilliant team move by Barcelona, capped off by an Iniesta close-range finish.

Besides that goal, which was not Cech’s fault in the slightest, the Chelsea keeper was a brick wall. He made fantastic stops on Henrik Mkhitaryan and Olexandr Kucher at the end of the half to preserve a one-goal deficit.

Braga attacking midfielder and captain Alan has both goals, and he’s the clear man of the match thus far. The first came following a corner kick, off a cross by Hugo Viana. Alan rose up over the top of Carrick to head in the opener, just two minutes into the match. He completed a brace in the 20th minute, finishing off an easy chance after Eder skipped by Carrick and centered.

Celtic took a shock lead against Barcelona and will be happy to be level at halftime at the Camp Nou, but they nearly made it to the break with a lead. While Celtic looked like they had what it took to hold onto the advantage going into the locker room, a great team goal by the Blaugrana has the score tied 1-1 at halftime.

Braga are missing a number of first choice players, including two defenders, so Alex Ferguson will probably get away with resting who he has.

Braga lineup (4-2-3-1): Beto; Elderson, Vinicius, Nuno Andre, Leandro Salino; Custodio, Hugo Viana; Ruben Micael, Alan, Ruben Amorim; Eder

Celtic manager Neil Lennon had this to say about Barca ahead of today’s match.

His side will definitely have to pay attention if they hope to get a result in the Camp Nou tonight. Lennon has named nearly the same lineup he used in Celtic’s surprise 3-2 away victory against Spartak earlier this month. The only change is Kris Commons being dropped in favor of Joe Ledley in the midfield.

Spartak Moscow took advantage of a Jardel own goal to defeat Benfica 2-1 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Spartak got off to a quick start thanks to Rafael Carioca’s goal in the 3rd minute, beating Artur with a shot just inside the post to give the home side an early 1-0 advantage. The goal was set-up by a quick counter-attack break and a pass from José Jurado. Spartak continued to dominate the match, but as often happens, when a team looks the most comfortable, they concede a goal.

There are no surprises in Shakhtar’s team. They rested Fernandinho at the weekend in anticipation of this match and he comes in for Taras Stepanenko.

Shakhtar Donetsk lineup (4-2-3-1): Andriy Pyatov; Ravzan Rat, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Oleksandr Kucher, Darijo Srna; Tomas Hübschman, Fernandinho; Willian, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alex Texeira; Luiz Adriano

Despite Fatih Terim’s assertions, Galatasaray almost certainly need a win against CFR Cluj if they are to hope to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League.

The Galatasaray boss insisted that “It will not be a match which determines our destiny”, but with his team bottom of the group without a point, the facts suggest otherwise. His side have gone four games without a win in all competitions, drawing 3-3 at Genclerbirligi at the weekend, but despite Gala’s defensive woes, Terim has spoken of the need for his side to be more attacking.

Celtic looked like the clear fourth best team in Group G entering Champions League play, but they could end the day in second place, even if they get thrashed by Barcelona. No one is expecting the Bhoys to manage a draw at Camp Nou, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have something to play for.

The Scottish Champions seem to be difficult to separate from Spartak Moscow and Benfica at the moment, and goal differential could be key at the end of the the group stage. While Celtic supporters can’t expect a result, they should expect their side to keep Barcelona reasonably contained. A one-goal loss is a very good result for Celtic, and a two-goal loss isn’t bad either.

Bayern Munich are coming off a loss in Belarus, and their opponents didn’t grab that result on pure luck. BATE Borisov outplayed the Bavarians on that night, and Jupp Heynckes will have a lot to think about regarding how he sets up his team on Tuesday following that result. They’re facing a less defensively organized team during this round, but Lille have more raw talent among their ranks than BATE.

Lille have the available midfield and forward talent to make this match interesting, but it might not matter if they can’t sort out their defense. They’re missing one starting defender for sure, and possibly two if Marko Baša can’t play after having surgery to repair a broken nose.

This year appears to be no different, except United is actually turning those scary performances into wins again. The Red Devils haven’t looked anything like the best versions of themselves against Galatasaray and Cluj, but came away with three points against both sides anyway. Expect something very similar when they take on Braga, who they should beat comfortably at Old Trafford.

Braga are a good side who do a brilliant job of staying organized and getting men behind the ball against top sides without playing negatively and forgetting to attack. Unfortunately for them, they’ll be missing some very good first choice players.

Given their complete and utter domination of their domestic league, as well as their impressive draw away to Juventus in the most recent round of Champions League play, Shakhtar Donetsk have every reason to believe that they are as good as their Group E foes and capable of sealing a knockout stage place. They have as many points as Chelsea at the moment, and if the result is a draw on Tuesday, the three big sides will likely all end up tied on five points halfway through the group stage.

Shakhtar Donetsk injuries and suspensions

Spartak Moscow and Benfica likely find themselves a bit stunned that neither was unable to take maximum points from their matches against Celtic. They probably entered Champions League play expecting to fight each other for the second spot in Group G, but now both need all three points from Tuesday’s match just to keep pace with the Scottish champions.

Spartak Moscow injuries and suspensions

On Tuesday, the UEFA Champions League’s three big in-form underdogs each have a chance to firmly establish themselves as knockout stage favorites halfway through the group stage. They’re likely to enjoy extremely mixed results.

Spartak Moscow vs. Benfica - 12 p.m.

Barcelona vs. Celtic - 2:45 p.m.

FC Nordsjaelland vs. Juventus - 2:45 p.m.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Chelsea - 2:45 p.m.

BATE Borisov vs. Valencia - 2:45 p.m.

Lille vs. Bayern Munich - 2:45 p.m.

Galatasaray vs. CFR Cluj - 2:45 p.m.

Manchester United vs. Braga - 2:45 p.m.