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The Champions League group stage concluded this week and Juventus was the second giant to fall out of the competition after Liverpool. In Group F, Barcelona and Inter both clinched their qualification on Wednesday while Real Madrid and AC Milan did the same on Tuesday. Read on for the full results.

- Group A -
Bayern Munich clinched their ticket to the next round with a decisive victory over Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico. Bordeaux were already through but still grabbed three more points with a 1-0 win over Maccabi Haifa.

Juventus – Bayern Munich: 1-4

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Maccabi Haifa – Bordeaux: 0-1

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- Group B -
CSKA Moscow surprised everyone by grabbing the second spot in Group B ahead of German champions Wolfsburg. Despite facing a depleted Manchester United squad, Wolfsburg couldn't get the much needed win that would get them through. As for United, their defense is falling to pieces with injuries but still they keep rolling along. You've got to admire that in a team.

Besiktas – CSKA Moscow: 1-2

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VfL Wolfsburg – Manchester United: 1-3

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- Group C -
In Group C, the two giants clinched their qualification on the final day of action. For a while it looked like Marseille would go through but two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo sent the French club crashing back to Earth.

FC Zurich – AC Milan: 1-1

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Olympique de Marseille – Real Madrid: 1-3

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- Group D -
Chelsea were already through to the next stage before this week's matches, but a disappointing 2-2 against APOEL is raising questions. How will they fare without their African players in February?

Chelsea – APOEL FC: 2-2

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Atletico de Madrid – FC Porto: 0-3

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- Group E -
Liverpool – Fiorentina: 1-2

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Olympique Lyonnais – Debreceni VSC: 4-0

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- Group F -
Inter and Barcelona both got their ticket to the next stage on Wednesday. Barca looked subdued by the frigid Russian weather but woke up in the second half to finally win 2-1.

Inter Milan – Rubin Kazan: 2-0

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Dynamo Kyiv – Barcelona: 1-2

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- Group G -
Sttutgart may be struggling in their domestic league but it's a determined side that will accompany Sevilla to the round of 16.

VfB Stuttgart – Unirea Urziceni: 3-1

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Sevilla – Rangers: 1-0

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- Group H -
Olympiacos was the second club to qualify in the last group after defeating group leader Arsenal 1-0.

Olympiacos FC – Arsenal: 1-0


Standard de Liege – AZ Alkmaar: 1-1

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Just one game to in the Champions League group stage. While some teams were already qualified in Matchday 4, this week's games clarified the situation in some groups while one group is still wide open. Here are the full results.

- Group A -
With Bordeaux's victory over Juventus, Bayern Munich still have a chance for second place as they defeated Maccabi Haifa 1-0. Juventus only need a draw in the final game (against Bayern) to ensure their qualification.

Girondins de Bordeaux – Juventus: 0-2

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Bayern Munich – Maccabi Haifa: 1-0

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- Group B -
Since Manchester United are already through to the next, second place is up to grabs as CSKA and Wolfsburg are sitting with an equal number of points. Wolfsburg only have themselves to blame for this situation after they let CSKA come back in the second half of Wednesday's game.

CSKA Moskva – VfL Wolfsburg: 2-1


Manchester United – Besiktas: 0-1

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- Group C -
Cristiano Ronaldo finally came back from injury this week (just in time for the clasico) as he stepped off the bench in Madrid's win over Zurich. Behind them, Milan and Marseille fought to a 1-1 draw which keeps both team in the running for second place. First place is also up for grabs as Milan is only two points behind Madrid.

Real Madrid – FC Zurich: 1-0

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AC Milan – Olympique de Marseille: 1-1

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- Group D -
Nothing to report in this group since Porto and Chelsea are both qualified for the next stage.

FC Porto – Chelsea: 0-1


APOEL FC – Atletico de Madrid: 1-1


- Group E -
How far have the mighty fallen? Liverpool, winner in 2005 and a regular fixture in the semi-finals, have been kicked out of the Champions League after five games and will continue their continental quest in the Europa League. Their win against Debreceni on Tuesday was simply too little too late. With the Premier League title getting further and further away, Liverpool will have to fight for a Top Four finish in the Premiership.

Debreceni VSC – Liverpool: 0-1

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Fiorentina – Olympique Lyonnais: 1-0

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- Group F -
Inter Milan had the chance to deliver a crushing blow to the defending champions on Tuesday. Instead, fans got to see the same Inter Milan who choked against Manchester United last year. Indeed, the Nerazzurri came out flat against Barcelona, letting them waltz to a 2-0 lead before half-time. The usually-vibrant Eto'o was invisible against his former teammates. The Italians seemed to be completely absent in midfield where Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta laid down the law as to who was in control. In the other game, Dynamo Kyiv were held to a draw against Rubin Kazan. Both results leave things wide open in this group as no team have ensured their qualification.

Rubin Kazan – Dynamo Kyiv: 0-0

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Barcelona – Inter Milan: 2-0

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- Group G -
An unknown club from Romania, Unirea Urziceni have played the spoilsport in this group, beating both Rangers and Sevilla. The result doesn't affect the Spanish club much since they're through, but Stuttgart will have to beat Urziceni if they any hopes of going through to the knock-out stage.

Rangers – VfB Stuttgart: 0-2

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Unirea Urziceni – Sevilla: 1-0

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- Group H -
Arsenal will easily finish at the top of this group. The question is who will be second as Standard de Liege are three points behind Olympiacos and could steal second place if the Gunners thrash the Greeks in the final match.

AZ Alkmaar – Olympiacos FC: 0-0

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Arsenal – Standard de Liege: 2-0

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Several teams booked their tickets to the next round this week but two superpowers now have their backs to the wall as the end of the group stage draws near.

- Group A -
In Group A, Bordeaux looks set to go through as they are undefeated after four games. Juventus and Bayern are the two clubs fighting for the second spot. The Italians have the upper-hand so far as they're only two points behind Bordeaux and four ahead of Bayern. Although Bayern's situation seems to have stabilized in the Bundesliga, their play on the European stage has been downright awful with their only win coming against lowly Maccabi Haifa.

Bayern Munich – Bordeaux: 0-2
The Bavarians' porous defense was exposed against the French champions, especially on the second goal where they completely ignored Gourcuff's run at the far post.

Maccabi Haifa – Juventus: 0-1

- Group B -
The Red Devils only needed a draw to go through to the next stage as they had won all their games prior to their second meeting with CSKA. As if it was planned all along, they let CSKA lead for most of the game only to come back and tie it up in the dying minutes. In the group's other game, Wolfsburg came out with a dominating performance against Besiktas despite playing in one of the toughest stadiums without their star striker.

Besiktas – VfL Wolfsburg: 0-3

Manchester United – CSKA Moscow: 3-3
Two things stood out in that enthralling game between Manchester United and CSKA Moscow. First, United only had themselves to blame for falling behind. The lackadaisical defense composed of Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, and Fabio seemed to be sleepwalking through most of the game. On the first goal, Van der Sar seemed surprised by the shot which came from an acute angle. Moscow's second goal was probably the most pathetic display of defense that I've ever seen as Evans was successfully baited into leaving his position by an off-the-ball run, leaving a sizable hole in defense through which Krasic easily slipped in. Anticipating an offside, the rest of the United defense simply stopped playing, leaving Krasic all the time in the world to easily sidestep past Van der Sar and strike the ball into an open net. The third goal was similar to Bordeaux's second goal against Bayern. No one picked up Berezutski coming in at the far post and he promptly headed home his team's free-kick.

The defense wasn't the only flaw in United's game. Since Leonid Slutski had clogged up the center of the pitch with five midfielders, the English champions were unable to build the passing game to which they're accustomed. With Scholes and Fletcher being outnumbered in the middle and Nani and Valencia's complete ineffectiveness down the wings, the hosts' only resort was the long ball upfield to the forwards – a tactic that was iffy at best.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men finally kicked into gear at the hour mark which coincided with the entrance of Rooney and Evra. But after the great work of Moscow's midfield, it was goalkeeper Akinfeev's turn to shine, stopping strikes by Owen, Rooney and Scholes. He finally broke in the 83rd minute when Scholes beat him with a header on a free-kick. Less than ten minutes later, Antonio Valencia brought Old Trafford to its feet when his shot deflected off a defender to tie the score at 3-3. It took 92nd minute but Manchester United booked their ticket to the next round on Matchday 4.

- Group C -
Group C is still pretty much open thanks to the mutual destruction between Real Madrid and AC Milan. After the Galacticos suffered a stunning defeat at the Bernabeu, they could only come to a draw at the San Siro. And even that was close since Milan's second goal was mistakenly disallowed by the referee. In the other game, Marseille steamrolled Zurich to the score of 6-1 and stay within a point of the two leaders.

AC Milan – Real Madrid: 1-1

Olympique de Marseille – FC Zurich: 6-1

- Group D -
Like Manchester United, Chelsea booked a ticket for the next round by coming to a 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid. Porto also assured their qualification with a win over APOEL. Now, all that's left in this group is to decide which club will finish first.

APOEL FC – FC Porto: 0-1

Atletico de Madrid – Chelsea: 2-2

- Group E -
Nothing is going right for Liverpool these days. The English club couldn't hold their lead against Lyon and end up in third place of their group five points behind Fiorentina. The Italians had no trouble against Debreni, routing them to the score of 5-2. I get a feeling that the last game between Fiorentina and Liverpool will prove to be the key in this group's standing – that is unless one of the two clubs falters first.

Olympique Lyonnais – Liverpool: 1-1

Fiorentina – Debreni VSC: 5-2

- Group F -
As it's been the case since Matchday 1, Group F is still wide open and any team could make it through. Russian club Rubin Kazan has been giving fits to the two powerhouses in this group especially Barcelona who were defeated 2-1 at the Camp Nou and then held to a 0-0 draw on Russian soil. Barcelona's draw against Rubin Kazan allowed Inter Milan to take the lead in the group after they defeated Dynamo Kyiv to the score of 2-1.

Rubin Kazan – Barcelona: 0-0

Dynamo Kyiv – Inter Milan: 1-2

- Group G -
Sevilla was the only club to qualify in this group after their draw against Suttgart. The chase for second place is still wide open but the Rangers and Stuttgart will have to look out for Unirea Urziceni who are ready to cause an upset.

Unirea Urziceni – Rangers: 1-1

Sevilla – VfB Stuttgart: 1-1

- Group H -
Arsenal is the third English club to qualify for the next round. If they can stay healthy, they could go on a deep run this year. Their new tactical scheme which has Arshavin playing right behind Van Persie has been a godsend for their offense since the Gunners can now count on two playmakers instead of relying on Fabregas.

Arsenal – AZ Alkmaar: 4-1

Standard de Liege – Olympiacos FC: 2-0
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It was an interesting round of the Champions League this week as several results went against most experts' predictions. Several teams who were expected to be punching bags in their respective groups are surprisingly pulling great results out of thin air, making some groups' outcome difficult to judge even after three games.

- Group A -

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After two games played, we're getting a better picture of the standings in the Champions League group stage. While some powerhouses are making a good case for themselves (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United), others (Liverpool, Inter, Milan) are finding the task more difficult and should kick it up a notch in Matchday 3.

- Group A -

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So, the Inter Milan-Barcelona game wasn't as exciting as I anticipated so I won't be posting an individual recap of that game but read on for my thoughts on Day 1. There are several games for which I didn't find any highlights. Video sites are quick to take off links these days, so there's not much I can do about that.

- Group A -

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The Champions League's first knock-out stage is upon us, and there are already several match-ups that can make any fan drool with anticipation. Here's how things look up this year.

On Wednesday, the two must-see games will probably be Chelsea against Juventus and Real Madrid against Liverpool


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Group A

Chelsea – CFR Cluj: 2-1
The return of Joe Cole and Didier Drogba proved to be instrumental in Chelsea's qualification for the next round as Droga scored the winning goal after coming on as a substitute


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Group A
Bordeaux – Chelsea: 1-1
What is going with the Blues lately? Not only they are slowing down in the Premiership, their Champions League latest performances are leaving a lot to be desired. After convincingly defeating Bordeaux 4-0 in Matchday 1, they could only get a draw in the return match. Are they simply exhausted or are other teams figuring them out? Thanks to this draw, Bordeaux still have a chance to qualify. They'll have to defeat Roma on Matchday 6 to get through


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Group A
A win by both Bordeaux and Roma leave things wide open in Group A where any team can now go through.

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Group A

Bordeaux – CFR Cluj: 1-0

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Group A
Chelsea – CFR Cluj: 0-0
Cluj are continuing to impress everyone on the European stage. After defeating Roma 2-1 on Day 1, they held Chelsea to a scoreless draw which keeps them in second place. Granted, Chelsea didn't play very well. Without Joe Cole on the wing, they lacked the mobility necessary to stretch Cluj's compact defense. The Blues started with a 4-3-3 formation but suprisingly looked better with a 4-4-2 once Anelka came on in the second half. However, Drogba's injury before the hour-mark erased all the momentum they had at the start of the second period while Cluj gained in confidence as time went on. The Romanian even tested Cech late in the game but everyone could tell that they were equally satisfied with a draw


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Transfer News

September 5th 2008 23:48
Gosh, I meant to write this post so much earlier this week. Returning to university completely screwed up my writing process.

So, there was a lot of movement in the European soccer world on Monday, the deadline for summer transfers. Most of the important transfers took place in the EPL, but Serie A teams were also pretty busy including Inter and Juventus who both picked up a new player


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