Champions League 11/22/11.

Well there were some big matches today as some teams made large gains in qualifying for the next round while others have dug themselves into holes. First up how about the lower profile but competitive match between CSKA Moskva and Lille? Normally impervious at home in Moscow, CSKA suffered from 2 2nd half goals starting in the 49th minute when Vasili Berezutski accidentally blocked a cross into his own net. Having said that, Lille had been looking the more dangerous of the two sides. In the 64th minute however, true magic happened. The play began from a pass by Eden Hazard to Joe Cole. Cole continued to beat the offside trap and chipped the ball over CSKA's keeper Vladimir Gabulov, only to be denied by the woodwork. Moussa Sow was on hand to strike the death blow though. In Germany Bayern were more successful hosts as they out-played Villarreal of Spain to a 3-1 scoreline. Indeed, possession percentages were as lopsided as 64-36 while shot attempts were about 20 for the Bavarians and just 7 for the Spaniards. The match really opened in the 3rd minute as Franck Ribery slotted home after a fantastic ball from Toni Kroos. Mario Gomez then struck in the 23rd minute: into an empty net following Anatoliy Tymoshchuk's swerving shot made Diego Lopez, Villarreal's keeper, move out of position. Jonathan De Guzman did bring Villarreal back one in the 50th minute after a half-time score of 2-0 probably left the visitors with much to be desired. De Guzman's volley was beautiful though, after a good run from Joan Oriol led to a deep cross that De Guzman dutifully put away. Ribery returned to the scoring sheets though, as he made it 3-1 for Bayern following a piercing ball from Kroos. Ribery dutifully out-moved the keeper to easily slot home and dim the visitor's hopes. Lyon and Ajax ended as they began: level 0-0. That was good enough for Ajax though, as they remain in 2nd place in the group, 3 points above their French counterparts. Real Madrid v.s. Dinamo Zagreb was the complete opposite. Playing in Spain, the Zagreb side were never going to do very well. It must be said that Madrid are looking good both domestically and abroad. Things were disastrous though. By the 20th minute it was 4-0 to the hosts as Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the 2nd minute. Jose Callejon had a warm welcome to Champions League football after striking his first of two goals in the 7th minute. Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-0 in the 9th minute. Following this Real Madrid began to take their foot off of the gas. Mesut Ozil did make it 4-0 though, scoring the last goal of the 1st half. The 2nd half started as the 1st half did though: Callejon added his 2nd making it 5-0 4 minutes after the half. Benzema made it 6-0 in the 66th and the guests were essentially on the ropes. Having said that though, in the last 10 minutes Madrid lightened up enough to allow Fatos Beqiraj to make it 6-1 in the 81st. Ivan Tomecak made it 6-2 right at the death. Over in Italy Napoli welcomed the high-flying English side Manchester City to a match that made the Brits' heads spin! Edinson Cavani started things off on the right foot for the hosts when he scored in the 17th minute to the delight of the home fans. Ezequiel Lavezzi’s corner kick didn't look so deadly, but Cavani got just enough of a head onto it to put it past both Yaya Toure and Joe Hart who could only tip it into the top of the goal. 1-0 Napoli. Mario Balotelli showed his salt in the 33rd minute though, equalizing for Manchester City with a clinical finish after collecting a tough rebound. With the scoreline 1-1 at the half, many might have suggested that the Italians would falter against the big-money weight of City. This wasn't to be the case though: Edinson Cavani struck his 2nd of the game in the 49th after a cool pass from Andrea Dossena. Napoli will face Villarreal next in the conclusion of the group while City have to face the giants of Bayern. In Turkey, Trabzonspor finished level 1-1 with Inter Milan. While Inter seemed to control possession more, and they really laid back in the 2nd half, they allowed nearly 20 shots while Inter had less than 10. Despite the draw, Inter are assured a spot in the next round while the result gives Trabzonspor a 1 point edge over Lille and CSKA Moskva who each have 5 points. In the game though, Ricardo Alvarez played a smooth one-two with Diego Milito to move through the defense before striking the ball past Trabzonspor's goalie Tolga Zengin. The hosts fought back to find parity before the half though! Converting through Halil Altintop in the 23rd minute, the home crowd was enthralled. Gustavo Colman had set-up the play. Last but not least, in Group C we had Benfica face the red devils of Manchester United in England. To the surprise of many supporters on both sides, Benfica actually drew! This was in fact the first time that the Eagles of Lisbon have not lost in Old Trafford. The result essentially secures their progress into the nest round while they will still want to defeat Otelul Galati in their last match of the Group. Having said this, how about the game? Well, things really got started in the 3rd minute when Benfica surged down the field and Nicolas Gaitan played in, wrong-footing Patrice Evra and then playing a ball across goal where Phil Jones could only watch the ball go in off his own body. United weren't stopped though, equalizing in the 30th minute through Dimitar Berbatov after a brilliant pass from Ashley Young to Nani far on the left. The defense had defended as though Young were going to shoot but rather he passed it to the waiting Nani who simply crossed it to the waiting head of the goal-hungry Bulgarian to make it 1-1 before the half. The 2nd half started a bit slower, with Fletcher striking in the 59th after Benfica were pushed back almost into their own goal! Antonio Valencia had played dangerously before his ball was cleared. Patrice Evra ended up with the ball though and he neatly crossed to the waiting Darren Fletcher who did what needed to be done. Just 2 minutes later though, as Manchester's players celebrated, the Portuguese countered hard and the English defense broke. David De Gea cleared poorly, Bruno Cesar pressed into the box with the ball he collected, Rio Ferdinand couldn't clear his ball, and Pablo Aimar struck a deft touch smoothly into the net. 2-2, as much as both sides tried afterwards, no more goals came. The other Group C match was between Otelul Galati and Basel with the Swiss side edging their hosts 2-3 despite suffering 2 late goals. Relying on 3 1st half goals was enough for a win though! Fabian Frei opened the game in the 10th minute while Alexander Frei added a second 4 minutes later to really put Galati in the hot seat. Basel's captain Marco Streller made it 0-3 with his first goal in the Champions League this season. Galati began showing the fruits of their labor in the 75th minute when their captain Gabriel Giurgiu struck in the 75th to great acclaim. The 2nd goal of their comeback came in the 81st minute to really leave the last 9 minutes up for grabs. Basel held on though and will now face Manchester United in their last game of the Group. They must win if they have any hopes of further Champions League glory. Galati will finish up their tournament against Benfica.