Champions League update 11/23/11!

Well, beginning in Russia we had Zenit St. Petersburg hosting the tournament surprises from Cyprus: APOEL. While the Cypriots had no chances on target, they were rewarded for their fantastic defense as the Zenit plays tried a total of 18 shots. APOEL's goalkeeper Urko Pardo played very well while defender Marcelo Oliveira - the eventual man-of-the-match - had a great game too. Meanwhile, in Belarus, BATE welcomed Czech champions Plzen to a match that was really all about the honor. Neither side had a chance to catch up with 2nd place AC Milan in the Group. Nevertheless, it was a close contest as the sides were essentially fighting over who would get the chance to compete in the Europa League. Marek Bakos was the man who made the difference when he converted in the 42nd minute to the delight of the visiting fans. Speaking of Milan, the Italian giants played host to the defending champions of Spain, Europe, and the World: FC Barcelona. While there were a plethora of cards handed out, Barcelona really controlled many aspects of the game: 60% of the possession and 15 attempts. Despite this, the game was totally enjoyable not matter which team you were supporting. Despite a rather unfortunate opener which came from an own goal by Mark Van Bommel in the 14th minute, AC were unfazed: they equalized just 6 minutes later. Alberto Aquilani swung the ball out to the veteran Clarence Seedorf who picks out Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the center on the run. Ibrahimovic is all to happy to slot home against one of his many former teams. Barcelona were once more ahead in the 31st after Aquilani brought down Xavi Hernandez in the area. Lionel Messi dutifully struck home. After the impressive 1st half, AC Milan were good to grab the 1st goal of the 2nd through Kevin-Prince Boateng in the 54th. After collecting a poor clearance from Javier Mascherano, Boateng played Eric Abidal before striking beautifully into the near-post side of the net. 2-2 with all of the 2nd half to play for. Xavi Hernandez finally tallied as he collected a fantastic ball from Messi, effortlessly  sliding it out of the reach of the goalkeeper and into the net. Over in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen are defying all of the odds as they proceeded to defeat their guests Chelsea of England by a scoreline of 2-1. The game was also special as Michael Ballack was celebrating his 100th UEFA competition appearance - the man truly is one of the greats of football. Despite this, the 1st half went by with only a handful of cards given out. The 2nd half, however, was more lively. In the 48th minute Didier Drogba grabbed the home side's attention with a left-footed rocket after collecting Daniel Sturridges smooth chipped ball. 0-1 for the guests. No matter the momentary setbacks, the Germans fought back really starting in the 73rd when they scored through Eren Derdiyok. Sidney Sam collected Derdiyok's initial miscue before lifting the ball above Chelsea's Petr Cech and onto the waiting head of the Swiss international. 1-1! The breakthrough came from the last corner of the match: Manuel Friedrich with a great header off the woodwork and into the goal despite the defense's best efforts. 2-1 Leverkusen and the crowd goes wild. Down in Spain, Valencia were truly inhospitable hosts as they utterly thrashed their guests from Belgium Genk. Jonas opened the scoring in the 10th minute while Valencia's captain Roberto Soldado struck the team's 2nd 3 minutes later. Soldado appeared yet again in the 35th minute to make it 3-0. Is that all before the half? No! Soldado completed his hat-trick 4 minutes later to make it a 4-0 game at the half. The Belgians were looking totally disinterested not to say disheartened. Pablo Hernandez made it 5 for the Valencians after his goal in the 68th minute while Aritz Aduriz scored just 2 minutes later for a 6-0 scoreline. Tino Costa converted the 7th in the 81st minute to cap off an exemplary performance by the Spaniards. It was all for naught though as Chelsea held on to 2nd place in the Group. In France visiting Olympiacos edged Marseille 0-1 thanks to Giannis Fetfatzidis' 82nd minute wonder-strike after a superb pass over the defense by Francisco Yeste. Shakhtar Donetsk were defeated 0-2 by a visiting Porto side while in England Arsenal proudly hosted German champions Dortmund and edged them 2-1. Despite a good start from the Germans, Arsenal took the lead in the 49th minute through Robin Van Persie. Van Persie also struck the 2nd in the 86th minute to really sink Dortmund's chances of going anywhere. Shinji Kagawa did bring the Germans one back but it was purely a consolation prize as the English walked away with the 3 points and the Group apex. Cheers!