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It took four rounds of play but the Champions League group stages are finally heating up.

If the group stages finish as they are now then Bayern Munich, Barcelona , and Liverpool would all be playing in the Europa League.

Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan  were five minutes away from a ninth consecutive Champions League game without a win, when two late goals not only gave Inter the win, but also propelled them to first place in the group.

Next up for Inter are games against Barcelona and Rubin Kazan.

Nobody seriously expects Barcelona not to qualify for the knockout stages, but Barca fans have to be a little worried this morning after seeing their side effectively lose to Rubin Kazan over two legs.

And Barca was very lucky to avoid defeat yesterday.

Bayern Munch finds itself four points behind Juventus with only two games to go. Bayern has to go to Turin to play Juve on MatchDay Six and Bayern must be hoping that that game will mean something. But it looks like Bayern’s only hope of European glory this season will be in the Europe League.

Here's anther European power who has one leg out of the Champions League: Liverpool. They are in a more desperate situation than Bayern as they are five points behind Fiorentina with two games to go. Matchday Six pits Liverpool versus Fiorentina at Anfield in what will be an electric atmosphere if that game means anything.

Another big name that could still struggle to progress to the knockout stages is Real Madrid . 

Reports suggest that Cristiano Ronaldo could be out for three more months. Real is only one point ahead of third place Marseille who they play on MatchDay Six in France. Real is a very different team without Ronaldo. Imagine spending all that money for a place in the Europa League?

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