Bayern comfortably beat FC Basel 3-0 thanks to two first half goals by Franck Ribéry and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, in the 35th and 37th minutes respectively. Ribéry added a third in the 50th to give the Bavarian giants a three goal margin of victory. Bayern had an immense number of chances compared to Basel's eight. Diego Contento gave Ribéry a fair oppurtunity in the 35th which he took advantage of, catching the Basel keeper, Franco Costanzo, out of position. Tymoshchuk on the other hand had a very easy goal as the corner was put in, Mario Gomez actually sent it towards the goal where Tymoshchuk just guided it between the posts to make it 2-0. Ribéry's second was also very nice as Thomas Müller's low centre from the right fell to him, Ribéry simply side-stroked it into the goal to win the game 3-0. There were other attempts, but Basel weren't going to win this one.
At the same time, Marseille welcomed Chelsea to France, winning 1-0 following Brandão's 81st minute goal. Taye Taiwo opened up the Chelsea backline from the left before putting it in Brandão's direction where the Marseille man guided it into the net. Chelsea actually had fewer chances than their French opposition and also had less possession of the ball, both of which may have been factors to their defeat.
In Cluj, the home fans helped CFR Cluj to a 1-1 draw with Italian side AS Roma despite the fact that probably could have won. Cluj held on, only allowing Marco Borriello to score in the 21st minute of the first half. Lacina Traoré then came to his club's rescue in the 88th minute, heading a fine shot from a cross by Culio to equalise.
Meanwhile in Madrid, Real did Auxerre no favors, destroying their guests 4-0. Benzema had a brilliant game, scoring a trio of goals in the 12th, 72nd, and 88th minutes to put Auxerre out of the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo added a fourth in the 49th minute to make things 2-0 before Karim Benzema went on his way late in the second half. Each of Benzema's goals was something special as his first in the 12th, a header thanks to a cross from Cristiano Ronaldo, put the home side ahead quite early in the match. Benzema's second, in the 72nd, was a nice play from Lassana Diarra which enabled him to strike his shot low into the bottom corner. His 88th minute shot was my personal favorite though, taking advantage of poor control by Auxerre's goalie Oliver Sorin to grab the ball and float a shot over the exposed goalie and into an open goal. Ronaldo's strike was smooth and swift, giving Sorin no chance from a Marcelo pass.
AC Milan on the other hand gave up the ghost, falling 2-0 to Ajax to see the Dutch side through to the Europa League. Demy De Zeeuw scored the Amsterdam side's first goal, into the second half, as he collected the rebound from a Siem de Jong shot and piled it into the net with a great finish. Alderweireld scored Ajax's second goal, recieving a ball from Luis Suárez and smashing it into the goal from outside of the box to seal the game's fate.
Arsenal were in fine form at home when they took on Partizan, winning 3-1 in the end. A penalty in the area by Marko Jovanović allowed Robin Van Persie to take, and convert, a penalty which was one way to start. That was his first goal of the season, beating Partizan keeper Vladimir Stojković nicely. Cléo's 52nd minute strike equalised things, but only for a time. Almami Moreira actually placed the shot outside of the area for Cléo, whose shot was deflected off of Sébastien Squillaci yet still found its way high into the net. That puts Arsenals prospects in jeopardy, before Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri each put in goals to make it a 3-1 game for Arsenal as the final whistle blows. Alex Song gave Nasri a nice ball in the 77th which was turned and shot without mercy while Walcott's volley was the one, in the 73rd, to break the deadlock.
Almost done now, Žilina lost at home to Spartak Moskva 2-1 to finalize their fall from the Champions League. Tomáš Majtán actually scored first for the home side, three minutes into the second half, to make things 1-0. Róbert Jež supplied the glorious oppurtunity from a free-kick. Alex equalised for Moskva in the 54th however, through a nice ball by Nikola Drinčić. The comeback is completed in the 61st minute when Ibson controls a ball wide from Alex and slots it in, making the game 2-1. Slovakia's Žilina appear without any reply as the game ends, leaving them with zero points in Group F; a disappointing, but maybe not surprising course of events.
Finally, Shakhtar Donetsk were helped by home support, Luiz Adriano, and Raţ to win the match against SC Braga 2-0 late in the second half. The first half had seen several chances but no goals and the second half was looking much the same before Raţ scored his first goal in UEFA competition in the 78th minute thanks to a Darijo Srna cross which was converted low into the bottom corner of the Braga net. Luiz Adriano was then helped by Raţ five minutes later when Adriano turned in his ball from the left to put the game out of the reach of the Portuguese.
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