© EuroFootball.com
On Tuesday there were no major surprises in the penultimate - fifth - matchday of the UEFA Champions League group stage matches: victories were clinched and tickets to the next stage secured at home by the clubs "Bayern", "Juventus" and "Ajax", group winners titles were secured by "Barcelona" and "Arsenal", "Udinese" snatched a victory in Athens, while both matches in group D ended goalless.
In group A matches, the local club "Juventus" in Turin met with "Brugge" and sought not only to secure a place in the next stage of the tournament, but also to fight for the top spot in the group. The victory for the Italian club came with ten minutes left until the end of the match after P.Nedved's pass to A.Del Piero, who replaced the disqualified Z.Ibrahimović in the Turin team, scored a goal with his head.
Meanwhile, Munich's "Bayern" had a somewhat easier task - a home match against Vienna's "Rapid" who had not yet secured any victories. Despite missing one of their leaders M.Ballack, F.Magath's team crushed the opponents on a rain-soaked field with a score of 4-0. The first goal for the winners was scored by S.Deisler, followed by another one from A.Karimi, and R.Makaay scored twice.
The leader of group B, London's "Arsenal", maintained their one hundred percent record by defeating the "Thun" team in Switzerland. Although the hosts played most of the match with ten men, the victory and securing of the top spot for the "Gunners" was sealed by R.Pires's penalty kick at the end of the match. Another group favorite, Amsterdam's "Ajax", secured a ticket to the quarterfinals at home by defeating Prague's "Sparta" team. Both goals for the winners were scored by substitute midfielder N.De Jong, while M.Petrašas scored a consolation goal for the losers.
A crucial victory was achieved by "Udinese", winning the away match in Athens against the "Panathinaikos" team in group C. The Greeks took the lead at the end of the first half when C.Charalambides scored after a defensive error, but failing to double the lead, the hosts were punished as the match neared its end - first V.Iaquinta scored a close-range equalizer and then V.Candela's excellent strike from the penalty area gave the visitors the lead and snatched three points.
In the second group matches, "Barcelona" won convincingly at home against "Werder" from Bremen. The first goal for the Catalans was scored by Gabri, and although T.Borowski equalized with a penalty kick, soon after the home team's star Ronaldinho scored from the spot to restore his team's lead, and in the second half H.Larsson secured the victory for "Barca" after a long pass from the Brazilian. This defeat for "Werder" means that to progress to the next stage, the club will not only have to beat the "Panathinaikos" team but also hope for "Udinese" to stumble against "Barcelona".
Goal lovers are still disappointed by group D, where only eight goals were scored in eight matches before this round, and this time around both matches ended without either team scoring - "Man Utd" failed to break the resistance of "Villarreal" at home, and the "Lille" team had to settle for a goalless draw with Lisbon's "Benfica" despite another record attendance at "Stade de France".
This has set up a big intrigue for the final round in this group, as all teams still have a chance to progress to the next stage: the best chances are for "Lille" leading by a point and a "Villarreal" that has maintained their place in the group stage of the tournament after ten years, while "Benfica" who are two points behind the leader have the least chance, needing a victory in the last match.
Currently, there are seven teams already clear for the quarterfinals, as prior to the fifth round, the clubs "Lyon" and Madrid's "Real" secured a place in the quarterfinals in group F, who will meet in a head-to-head clash on Wednesday.
Tuesday's results
Group A
1 - 0
80` [1 - 0] Alessandro Del Piero
4 - 0
21` [1 - 0] Sebastian Deisler
54` [2 - 0] Ali Karimi
72` [3 - 0] Roy Makaay
77` [4 - 0] Roy Makaay
Group B
0 - 1
87` [0 - 1] Robert Pires (11m.)
35` Armand Deumi ("Thun") sent off the field
2 - 1
68` [1 - 0] Nigel de Jong
89` [2 - 0] Nigel de Jong
90` [2 - 1] Martin Petras
Group C
1 - 2
45` [1 - 0] Costas Charalambides
81` [1 - 1] Vincenzo Iaquinta
83` [1 - 2] Vincent Candela
3 - 1
14` [1 - 0] Gabri Garcia
22` [1 - 1] Tim Borowski (11m.)
26` [2 - 1] Ronaldinho
71` [3 - 1] Henrik Larsson
Group D
0 - 0
0 - 0
