The group stage of the 2016/17 Champions League entered its fourth matchday this week as five teams sealed their progress to the next round. Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich qualified for the knockout stage by virtue of wins, while the likes of Leicester City and Barcelona have to wait at least until the next round of fixtures.
Manchester City scripted a famous 3-1 win over five-time champions Barcelona to close the gap on the Blaugrana to just two points. Lionel Messi put the visitors in front before City came back with three goals to seal their first win over the Spanish champions. İlkay Gündoğan scored a brace, sandwiching Kevin De Bruyne’s sumptuous free-kick goal.
Elsewhere in group C, Celtic failed to make the most of their numerical advantage over Borussia Mönchengladbach as the Bhoys settled for a 1-1 draw. Gladbach captain Lars Stindl capped the home side’s dominance with a first half goal before Celtic equalised via a Moussa Dembele penalty. Gladbach’s right-back Julian Korb was sent off for a professional foul that gave away the penalty.
Arsenal had to come from two goals behind in Sofia as the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets gave the Gunners an early scare. Two goals by the 15th minute gave the hosts a shock lead, but Granit Xhaka and Olivier Giroud pulled things level by half time. Mesut Özil‘s composed finish in the 88th minute put the icing on the cake, and completed Arsenal’s comeback.
In Switzerland, right-back Thomas Meunier inspired Paris Saint-Germain to a 2-1 win over Basel. The Belgian international laid on Blaise Matuidi‘s opener before getting on the scoresheet himself in the 90th minute. Serey Die‘s red card in the 84th minute proved to be the difference as Luca Zuffi‘s goal for Basel was not enough for the Swiss champions to stop PSG.
Leicester City lost their perfect record in the Champions League as they settled for a 0-0 draw in Copenhagen. The Foxes, however, have maintained their zero goals conceded record in Europe this season, as goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel‘s late intervention prevented Copenhagen from taking the lead via Andreas Cornelius‘ header.
4 – Leicester City are the first team in #UCL history to keep a clean sheet in each of their first four games in the competition. Solid.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 2, 2016
Copenhagen’s failure to win against Leicester allowed Porto to overtake the Danes in group G. Nuno Espírito Santo‘s Dragons edged Club Brugge at the Estadio Dragao, as Andre Silva’s first half goal was enough for the Portuguese giants to seal their second win in the group stage this term.
Mauricio Pochettino‘s Tottenham Hotspur suffered the blues at Wembley yet again as Bayer Leverkusen stole a narrow 1-0 win. The loss means Spurs are now without a win in six games, their worst run under Pochettino. Kevin Kampl scored the winner for Die Werkself in a game where chances were at a premium. With their win, Leverkusen overtook Spurs in group E.
0 – No English side has managed to keep a clean sheet in a Champions League game played at Wembley Stadium in nine attempts. Woe.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 2, 2016
Elsewhere, group E leaders Monaco had a comfortable evening against CSKA Moscow at home as they cruised to a 3-0 win. Monaco captain Radamel Falcao‘s brace sealed the result in the first half. The French principality club need to avoid defeat against Spurs in their next game to progress to the knockout stage.
Real Madrid survived an unlikely scare from Legia Warsaw in a behind-closed-doors game at the Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw, but managed a 3-3 draw. Legia had conceded 13 goals in three games heading into their home game against the defending champions, but were 2-0 down by the 35th minute. However, a string of stupendous goals later, Zinedine Zidane‘s Real Madrid would consider themselves lucky to return home with a point.
0:57 – Gareth Bale's goal tonight is the quickest that Real Madrid have ever scored in the Champions League (57 secs). Rapid.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 2, 2016
In group F’s other game, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang‘s suspension raised a few eyebrows ahead of Borussia Dortmund’s clash with Sporting Lisbon, but that didn’t prove to be a distraction as the Yellow-Blacks won 1-0. It was a tense game which was settled by Adrian Ramos’ early headed goal, as Dortmund progressed to the next round.
Suspended Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has gone Inspector Gadget tonight at Dortmund-Sporting. pic.twitter.com/2nmxftuKnJ
— Archie Rhind-Tutt (@archiert1) November 2, 2016
Juventus stumbled to a 1-1 draw at home to Lyon as they surrendered top spot in group H to Sevilla. Sevilla thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 at the Sánchez Pizjuán that opened up a two point gap at the top. Jorge Sampaoli‘s men next host Juventus in a game that could decide the group winners.
Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich confirmed their passage to the knockout stage after 2-1 wins over FC Rostov and PSV Eindhoven respectively. Antoine Griezmann and Robert Lewandowski netted braces for their respective sides.
Group B is finely poised with only a single point separating first from third, while bottom-placed Dynamo Kiev are not yet out of the equation. Napoli held Besiktas to a 1-1 draw in Istanbul, while Dynamo slumped to a third defeat in four games following their 1-0 reverse at Benfica’s hands.
Top five goals
1. Gareth Bale v Legia
In case you missed Gareth Bale's goal #ChampionsLeague #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/Ty3K57fCVh
— The Real Champs (@TheRealChampsFS) November 2, 2016
2. Thomas Meunier v Basel
https://twitter.com/lfcdailymedia/status/793572983956791296
3. Mesut Özil v Ludogorets
https://twitter.com/FansOfSport/status/793587907554672641
4. Timo Moulin v Real Madrid
https://twitter.com/FussballPhotos/status/793928997843374080
5. Kevin De Bruyne v Barcelona
Oh, what a brilliant goal from De Bruyne: pic.twitter.com/LvDXcVXp6A
— PM (@ThatGooner) November 1, 2016
Results:
Besiktas 1-1 Napoli
Ludogorets 2-3 Arsenal
Basel 1-2 PSG
Gladbach 1-1 Celtic
Manchester City 3-1 Barcelona
Atletico Madrid 2-1 FC Rostov
PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Bayern Munich
Sevilla 4-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Juventus 1-1 Lyon
Copenhagen 0-0 Leicester City
Porto 1-0 Club Brugge
Monaco 3-0 CSKA Moscow
Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Sporting CP
Legia Warsaw 3-3 Real Madrid
Updated Tables:
Group A
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
12
|
3
|
9
|
10
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
9
|
3
|
6
|
10
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
13
|
-9
|
1
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
-6
|
1
|
||
Group B
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
7
|
2
|
7
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
5
|
1
|
7
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
5
|
1
|
6
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
-4
|
1
|
||
Group C
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
14
|
4
|
10
|
9
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
10
|
8
|
2
|
7
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
7
|
-3
|
4
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
13
|
-9
|
2
|
||
Group D
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
12
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
3
|
8
|
9
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
9
|
-5
|
1
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
10
|
-7
|
1
|
||
Group E
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
7
|
3
|
4
|
8
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
-1
|
4
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
7
|
-4
|
2
|
||
Group F
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
11
|
3
|
8
|
10
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
12
|
7
|
5
|
8
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
-1
|
3
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
16
|
-12
|
1
|
||
Group G
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
10
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
7
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
10
|
-9
|
0
|
||
Group H
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
||
|
1
|
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
10
|
||
|
2
|
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
5
|
8
|
||
|
3
|
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
||
|
4
|
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
12
|
-12
|
0
|
||
Top Scorers
7 goals
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
4 goals
Mesut Özil (Arsenal)
Edinson Cavani (PSG)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Related posts:
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