© EuroFootball.com
On Wednesday, the last eight UEFA Champions League group stage matches were played in European stadiums, after which all the participants of the quarter-finals were finally determined - "Liverpool", "Monaco", "Real" and "Bayer" received the last tickets to the next stage.
The highlight of the day's matches can be called the game in Liverpool, where the local club, after trailing by one goal in the first half against "Olympiacos", managed to score three goals in the second half to secure a spot in the knockout stages. In another group match, the last-placed "Deportivo" suffered a humiliating defeat at home to "Monaco", who advanced to the quarter-finals with a 5-0 victory.
From Group B, "Real" and "Bayer" advanced to the next stage: the royal club crushed a struggling "Roma" team away, while the German side overcame "Dinamo" in a successful second half display. "Dinamo", on 10 points, finished third and will continue to compete in the UEFA Cup.
In Group C, the battle was only for the third place, allowing participation in the UEFA Cup tournament. "Juventus" and "Bayern" sealed their spots by drawing with "Maccabi" and "Ajax" respectively. The third place was secured by "Ajax" due to a better goal difference in their head-to-head matches.
Group D had little intrigue - it was unclear who would take the first place, but "Man Utd" did not try to achieve that, as they lost to "Fenerbahce". Turkish player Tuncay Sanli scored a hat-trick in this match, which was probably the best game of his career. Therefore, the first position in the group went to the French champion "Lyon", who left "Sparta" with no hope on their own field.
