Goals galore as brilliant Barca, Bayern advance

Published November 26, 2015
BARCELONA: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (R) scores past AS Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny during their Champions League match at the Nou Camp.—AP
BARCELONA: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (R) scores past AS Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny during their Champions League match at the Nou Camp.—AP

LONDON: There were goals galore in the Champions League on Tuesday as Barcelona and Bayern Munich advanced to the knockout stage and also secured top spot in their groups.

Holders Barcelona had already qualified following BATE Borisov’s draw with Bayer Leverkusen earlier, but clinched top spot in Group ‘E’ with another stunning display, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi both scoring twice in a 6-1 hammering of AS Roma.

“It’s tough to get back up to full speed,” said Messi, who making his first start since returning from injury.

“I prepared well and trained but it’s not the same as going out on the pitch and lasting 90 minutes. I will take it with calm and get my pace back.”

The Catalans and Bayern both demonstrated once again why they are surely the best teams in Europe just now, with Bayern crushing Olympiakos 4-0 at the Allianz Arena to ensure they will finish top of Group ‘F’.

Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 to keep alive their chances of progressing. The Premier League side need to beat Olympiakos in their final group match.

Chelsea enjoyed their second 4-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv this season to move into prime position to reach the knockout stages of the competition from Group ‘G’, while Zenit St Petersburg secured top spot in Group ‘H’ with a 2-0 win over Valencia.

Barca discovered they had qualified before they had kicked a ball at the Nou Camp, the 1-1 draw between BATE and Leverkusen in Belarus ensuring their passage.

Fresh from crushing eternal rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the weekend, they then produced a performance that the Italians could not live with to secure top spot in the section.

MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben warms up ahead of the Champions League match against Olympiakos at the Allianz Arena.—AFP
MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben warms up ahead of the Champions League match against Olympiakos at the Allianz Arena.—AFP

Dani Alves set up Suarez to tap in the opener before Messi made it two at the end of a superb move involving Neymar and Suarez.

Suarez struck again just before the interval with a sweet volley and the rout continued in the second half as Neymar, Suarez and Messi all combined to give Gerard Pique a tap-in.

Neymar and Suarez then helped tee up Messi to get his second and Barca’s fifth on the hour and Adriano crashed in the sixth after Neymar’s penalty had been saved by Wojciech Szczesny.

Roma’s misery was compounded when Edin Dzeko had a late penalty saved by Marc Andre ter Stegen, although Dzeko did pull one back with the last kick of the game.

“When you see the players enjoy themselves in every phase of the game you have to be satisfied. They enjoy themselves on the training ground and when they are playing and that is great,” Barca coach Luis Enrique told TV3.

Victory moved the Spanish club on to 13 points at the top of Group ‘E’ with a game to spare. Roma were left with five points along with Leverkusen, while BATE have four.

BATE opened the scoring in the second minute in Belarus through Mikhail Gordeichuk, but Admir Mehmedi equalised in the second half for Leverkusen.

PORTO: FC Porto’s Andre Andre reacts to a missed opportunity during the Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev at the Dragao Stadium.—Reuters
PORTO: FC Porto’s Andre Andre reacts to a missed opportunity during the Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev at the Dragao Stadium.—Reuters

Roma still have their destiny in their own hands, though — a win at home to BATE next month will see them finish second.

NO MERCY

A draw between Bayern and Olympiakos in Germany would have taken both teams through but Pep Guardiola’s team showed no mercy for their visitors as they raced into a three-goal lead inside the first 20 minutes.

Douglas Costa got the opener and Robert Lewandowski scored his 28th goal in 25 games this season before Thomas Mueller tapped in the third.

Holger Badstuber was sent off early in the second half on his return after his latest lengthy lay-off but Kingsley Coman added a fourth.

Bayern now top Group ‘F’ with 12 points and cannot be dislodged with one match remaining.

“We managed to win the group again, that was our goal,” Guardiola said. “My compliments to the team, we can be pleased.”

Arsenal can still advance to the knockout stage as second in the group after Alexis Sanchez scored twice and set up Mesut Ozil for their first goal at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsene Wegner’s side must beat Olympiakos 2-0 or by a one-goal margin of at least 3-2 due to the head-to-head formula used by UEFA to separate teams. Arsenal are third, three points behind Olympiakos with nine.

“We had to come out of the game tonight with a chance to qualify — we needed to do the job and Bayern needed to do the job and it happened — and now I believe we can do it,” Wenger told reporters.

The situation appears rather more straightforward for Chelsea, who cruised past Maccabi in Israel with Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma on target.

The other game in Group ‘G’ saw Dynamo Kiev win 2-0 at Porto with Andriy Yarmolenko netting a first-half penalty before Derlis Gonzalez wrapped up the points.

Chelsea’s win and Porto’s loss tied them on 10 points, two more than Dynamo but Jose Mourinho’s side need only draw at home to the Portuguese club next month to go through.

“Very important, especially with what happened in Porto we really needed to win this match, and also important to get two victories in a few days, “Mourinho told BT Sport. “ I hope morale comes, tranquility comes, confidence comes.”

Already-qualified Zenit made it five wins out of five in Group ‘H’ by beating Valencia in Russia. Oleg Shatov and Artem Dzyuba scored in each half before Valencia defender Ruben Vezo was sent off.

Gent maintained their chances of qualifying after winning 2-1 at Olympique Lyon thanks to Kalifa Coulibaly’s injury-time winner.

They have seven points, one more than Valencia, and can guarantee qualification by beating Zenit at home on Dec 9.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2015

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