Champions League Match Day 5 Soccer Review Part I

Champions League Match Day 5 Review 1 2015 soccer images

Champions League Match Day 5 Review 1 2015 soccer imagesIn a Group E encounter, Barcelona, fresh from their 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid on the weekend, thumped Roma 6-1. The Catalans were in breathtaking form, and the interplay between their forwards was a delight for the football connoisseurs as they made life difficult for the Serie A outfit on Tuesday night at the Camp Nou. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi grabbed a brace each while a strike apiece from Gerard Pique and Adriano completed the scoring for the reigning European champions. Edin Dzeko, who missed from the spot, pulled one back for his side late in the stoppage time. In the other game of the group, Bayer Leverkusen played out a 1-1 draw with Belarusian outfit BATE Borisov. The draw has put the Germans in a tough spot as they will need to better Roma’s result from their last group stage fixture against BATE Borisov in order to make their way into the round of 16 stage of the competition. Meanwhile, Barcelona have sealed their passage to the last 16 as group winners.

Arsenal were in a tough spot heading into their game against Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates Stadium as any result other than a win would have severely hampered their chances of progressing to the last 16. However, they kept their hopes of qualification alive with a 3-0 win over the Croatian outfit. Alexis Sanchez scored a brace for the Gunners while Mesut Ozil completed the scoring. Bayern Munich ran away 4-0 winners against Greek champions Olympiakos to book their place in the round of 16 as group winners. The Germans started in splendid fashion and were 3-0 up by the 20th minute of the game courtesy of a goal each from Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller. Juventus loanee Kingsley Coman struck a goal of his own in the second half to complete the thrashing of the Greek giants.

In Group G, Porto were beaten 2-0 at home by Dynamo Kiev. Their defeat has left the group wide open in the race for a spot in the knock-out stage of the Champions League. Barcelona and Chelsea linked Andriy Yarmalenko put the Ukrainians ahead with a spot kick in the 35th minute. Derlis Gonzalez added to the scoreline in the second half. In the other game of the group, Chelsea inflicted a crushing 4-0 defeat on Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv to condemn them to the fourth spot in the group. However, the reigning English champions are still not sure of a place in the round of 16 and will need to secure their qualification on the final group stage match day in December.

In Group H, Zenit Saint Petersburg continued their winning run and registered a 2-0 win over Spanish giants Valencia. The Russians remain the only side to have won all their games in the group stage. Belgian side Gent ran away 2-1 winners against French outfit Lyon to condemn them to the last spot in the group.