APOEL suffered a surprise home defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk, but it mattered little to the already-qualified Cypriot champions, who still progressed as Group G winners. Luiz Adriano put the visitors, who finished bottom of the pile despite their victory, in front in the 62nd minute before substitute Yevgen Seleznev added a second with 12 minutes to go. Zenit St Petersburg joined APOEL in progressing to the knockout phase as they claimed the point they needed away to Porto, who can now defend their Europa League crown.The match was briefly interrupted just before the final whistle when two smoke bombs were tossed onto the pitch.
Chelsea booked their place in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League in fine style, while Arsenal’s group campaign ended with a whimper.
The Blues defeated Valencia 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to banish fears of a premature European exit and finished the night as winners of Group E as Bayer Leverkusen could only draw away to Genk, with the German side slipping into second spot.
In Group F, a much-changed Arsenal side went down to their first defeat of this phase to Olympiakos, who looked on course to join the Gunners in the last 16 only for Marseille to produce a stunning late fightback away to Borussia Dortmund.
All talk of a crisis under Andre Villas-Boas at Stamford Bridge was swept aside as Chelsea ended the night as winners of Group E courtesy of their 3-0 success at home to Valencia. Didier Drogba gave the Blues a dream start when he struck with just three minutes on the clock after good work from Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata coupled with some questionable defending. Valencia threatened a response, but fell further behind in the 22nd minute with Drogba the architect with a driving run and incisive pass to Ramires, who slotted home after Victor Ruiz allowed the midfielder to get away from him far too easily. And the imperious Drogba grabbed a deserved second 14 minutes from time following Mata’s pass before departing to a standing ovation soon after.
Coupled with Bayer Leverkusen’s shock failure to beat Genk, where Jelle Vossen’s opener was cancelled out by Eren Derdiyok, the Blues swept to the top of the group, with the German side slipping to second and Valencia heading into the Europa League. Conspired Arsene Wenger’s understandable decision to field a much-changed Arsenal side away to Olympiakos back-fired as the Greek side triumphed, but were unable to join the table-topping Gunners in qualifying from Group F. Arsenal conspired to cause their own downfall, with a defensive mix-up giving Rafik Djebbour a simple chance which he duly converted, before Lukasz Fabianski was carried off with a knee injury. Replacement Vito Mannone then produced a spectacular blunder as he raced off his line to head clear, before electing to attempt an acrobatic volley to David Fuster’s follow-up when he could have caught the ball, completely missing his kick and leaving the Gunners 2-0 down. Yossi Benayoun produced a smart finish to bring Wenger’s side back into the contest in the 57th minute but the Greek side added a late third through Francois Modesto, only for their celebrations to fall flat.
Marseille were minutes away from slipping into the Europa League but produced a stunning late fightback to come back from 2-0 down to defeat Borussia Dortmund. Jakub Blaszczykowski opened the scoring for the German outfit in the 23rd minute before Mats Hummels’ penalty doubled the hosts’ advantage. Loic Remy pulled one back on the stroke of half-time for the French side, but there were only five minutes left when Andre Ayew levelled before Mathieu Valbuena struck three minutes from time to secure second spot and leave Olympiakos in third.
Assured There was little to play for in Group H with Barcelona already assured of top spot and AC Milan through in second ahead of their final fixtures. Pep Guardiola rested the vast majority of his key men ahead of the El Clasico meeting with Real Madrid this weekend, but the reigning champions were still too strong for BATE Borisov. Sergi Roberto opened the scoring before the interval with Martin Montoya and Pedro’s brace making the game safe in the second period. AC Milan threw away a 2-0 lead to draw with Viktoria Plzen after late goals from David Bystron and Michal Duris confirmed the hosts would compete in the Europa League. A quick-fire brace early in the second half from Alexandre Pato and Robinho put the Serie A giants in charge, only for a late lapse to see the victory slip away.
Results Group E
Chelsea 3 Valencia 0
Genk 1 Bayer Leverkusen 1
Group F
Dortmund 2 Marseille 3
Olympiakos 3 Arsenal 1
Group G
APOEL 0 Shakhtar 2
Porto 0 Zenit St Petersburg 0
Group H
Barcelona 4 BATE Borisov 0
Viktoria Plzen 2 AC Milan 2
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