Another highly entertaining match day from the Champions League is in the history books. If Tuesday's affairs weren't rewarding enough as a fan then Wednesday's most definitely tipped that scale. We were once again blessed with the unfathomable skill of Barcelona, saw Arsenal steal a win in the final seconds of added time, and witnessed Chelsea running on all cylinders by blowing out their competition - without Drogba. Like yesterday's recap on Tuesday's events, I will summarize a match up from each group. KIF
FC Barcelona (2-1-0) 2
VS
Viktoria Plzen (0-1-2) 0
Barcelona could have easily won this game 6,7,8 to none. Most teams are made out to look like a practice squad when facing the hands down, best soccer club in the world. Barca's running and passing game was on full display yet again toying with the Plzen midfielders and defenders as illustrated by the incredible give and go play between Messi and Iniesta who finished it off brilliantly in the 10th minute. The dominance in this game was apparent, Plzen didn't record a shot on target, furthermore they couldn't even record a single shot period. The ball possession in this game was 71 - 29 percent, is watching Barca starting to get boring? nahhhhhh. Side note: While Barcelona has been in top form, and atop the Group H standings, they are still tied for 1st place with AC Milan who was able to keep pace in yesterday's events. Both teams posses 7 points.
Man of the Match: Lionel Messi
Arsenal (2-1-0) 1
VS
Marseille (2-0-1) 0
This was a rather uneventful match as Marseille played a very defensive game, relying solely on Cheyrou to generate the offence. Neither team was able to gain much ground in the first half aside from van Percie's header which would have been a goal had the defender not punched it out, and had the goal line official made the correct call on the play. The game continued at a stalemate pace until added time when Aaron Ramsey, who entered the game in the 79th minute, was left alone at the top of the box with seconds left in the match and put the ball past the goal keeper to steal the 3 points. With the win Arsenal leap frog Marseille as the leader of group F.
Man of the Match: Aaron Ramsey
FC Porto (1-1-1) 1
VS
Apoel FC (1-2-0) 1
The points at stake in this game were clear, a win for Porto meant they would find themselves at the top of the Group G standings, while a loss for Apoel would have rendered them down to third. However with the tie, Apoel remains the leader of the group with 5 points while Porto find themselves sharing second with Zenit at 4 points. This group is proving to be a bitter fight to the end as no other group in this year's Champions League is tighter in the standings thus far. Porto's high pressure game earned them the opening tally in the 13th minute off the foot of Hulk. However the visitors responded swiftly when Ailton scored in the 19th minute putting a damper on the Porto supporters. Those would be the only two goals of the match although Porto controlled much of the game and generated some quality chances.
Man of the Match: Hulk
Chelsea (2-1-0) 5
VS
KRC Genk (0-1-2) 0
KRC Genk was a massive underdog coming into this match, and expectedly didn't find themselves upsetting one of the EPL's power houses. Chelsea dominated this one from beginning to end not allowing the visitors to record a single shot on target while they pelted the Genk keeper with 13 shots of their own. Did I mention Drogba didn't even play? Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas opted to rest Drogba and instead gave the opportunity to Fernando Torres who has been rather disappointing this season. Torres more than made up for his recent lack production by recording 2 goals in the opening half. Chelsea remains at the top of the Group E standings with 7 points while KRC Genk remain winless and posses a lousy 1 point good for last place.
Man of the Match: Fernando Torres
Group E
Leverkusen 2 - 1 Valencia
Group F
Olympiacos 3 - 1 Dortmund
Group G
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 2 Zenit
Group H
AC Milan 2 - 0 Bate
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