UEFA Champions League Review | Thebigtip

Last night saw the final round of matches in the UEFA Champions League with the prize of reaching the last 16 at stake for many clubs.

Arsenal went into their final match against Partizan Belgrade needing to better or equal Braga’s result against Shakhtar Donetsk and Gunners fans were sitting nervously when Partizan, who had lost all their previous five games, equalised early in the second half. However, their fears were put to rest with two quick fire goals to seal their passage through.

Real Madrid and AC Milan had already qualified from Group G, dubbed the Group of Death, but managerless Ajax needed a result against Milan to guarantee a Europa League place. They got the result they required, winning 2-0, but it was academic as Auxerre were thumped 4-0 by Madrid, Karim Benzema scoring a hat-trick.

All the places in Group F had already been decided a fortnight ago but Chelsea manager Carlo Ancellotti put out a strong team in an attempt to restore confidence. His plan backfired though as Chelsea lost 1-0 in Marseille. Spartak Moscow entered the Europa League on the back of a 2-1 win over whipping boys MSK Zilina.

Bayern Munich had already guaranteed their path to the last-16 but all four places in Group E were still up for grabs going into the last game. However, the night ended with all four teams where they started, with Roma qualifying, despite being held to a late 1-1 draw against CFR Cluj. Basle made the Europa League despite being crushed 3-0.

Tuesday saw no movement in Group D, Rubin Kazan relying on FC Copenhagen losing to Panathinaikos whilst they had to beat Barcelona at the Nou Camp. As it happened, neither of these came true so the Danish team eased into the next round with last year’s beaten semi-finalists.

Two 1-1 draws meant that Manchester United and Valencia qualified from Group C, as expected. Rangers qualified for the Europa League, minnows Bursaspor being left with the consolation of a single point

Shalke put their League woes behind them to surprisingly top Group B, following a 2-1 win at Benfica. Lyon qualified behind them after drawing with bottom side Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Group A provided the shock of the tournament so far as Tottenham Hotspur finishing top above reigning European champions Inter Milan. Spurs continued their thrilling run in the competition by scoring their 16th, 17th and 18th goals of the tournament but got pegged back three times by Dutch champions FC Twente. Werder Bremen provided the result of the championship so far by thrashing Inter 3-0.

All in all, this tournament has been quite a disappointment so far. Despite the occasional shock result (Spurs 3-1 Inter, Roma 1-3 Basle) and some high scoring games (Arsenal 6-0 Braga, Benfica 4-3 Lyon, Zilina 0-7 Marseille, Valencia 6-1 Bursaspor) there hasn’t really been much to interest the neutrals. All the teams that were meant to qualify did qualify, often with a game or two to spare. The small teams, the ones that UEFA President Michel Platini was so keen to see in the tournament, were roundly thrashed (11 teams getting one win or less).

Basically the group stages have been a procession allowing the big sides and UEFA to line their pockets whilst not having to really break sweat.

However, now we move onto the knockout stages, it ought to spice up a bit. We have the chance of seeing games like Inter vs Real Madrid or Arsenal vs Barcelona. Hopefully a few feathers get ruffled and football fans get what they really want- good football, giants being defeated and an embarrassed ego or two. Yes Jose Mourinho, I’m looking at you!