Champions League Table 2013: Standings for Each Group After Matchday 4
Only two rounds of fixtures remain in the 2013-14 Champions League group stage, following Wednesday's action.
This is about when the group stage starts to heat up. While some clubs have already secured passage to the knockout stage, there are plenty of spots up for grabs, so the matches have that added meaning. Plenty of big clubs are looking up in their groups and have some work to do if they're to progress in the tournament.
Over the next few months, expect plenty of drama.
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Here's the situation for all eight groups.
| 1 | Manchester United | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | -2 | 5 |
| 4 | Real Sociedad | -4 | 1 |
Manchester United did themselves no favors by drawing with Real Sociedad. The Spanish side lost all three of its matches in the first half of the group stage, so it should be considered two points lost rather than one point gained.
The Red Devils could've gone three points clear of Bayer Leverkusen and five clear of Shakhtar Donetsk with a win.
Instead, both Group A matches ended up draws, meaning this group is still up for grabs. Nothing is assured, aside from the fact that Sociedad is playing for third.
The match to watch will be Nov. 27, when United travel to the BayArena to take on Leverkusen.
| 1 | Real Madrid | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Galatasaray | -4 | 4 |
| 3 | FC Copenhagen | -5 | 4 |
| 4 | Juventus | -1 | 3 |
It's crazy that Juventus are bottom of the table after four matches. They've won Serie A in back-to-back seasons, and yet, here they are, a point back of FC Copenhagen. Of course there's still time to turn things around, but that away trip to Galatasaray in the final game of the group stage may be a major road block.
At the other end of the table, Real Madrid need just a draw at home to the Turkish side to go through to the knockout stage. There's little chance Los Blancos will finish anywhere but first in Group B.
The only battle will be for second. Might Copenhagen advance, or is it a fight between Juve and Galatasaray?
| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 11 | 10 |
| 2 | Olympiacos | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Benfica | -2 | 4 |
| 4 | Anderlecht | -10 | 1 |
No surprise to see Paris Saint-Germain at the top. With all the money that's been spent on the club, progressing through to the knockout stage is the minimum expectation for Laurent Blanc. Fortunately for him, the combination of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani hasn't torpedoed the club, like some expected it would, and the French champions are looking dominant in Europe.
In what is a bit of a surprise, Benfica could be in trouble. The Portuguese club came within a hair of winning a league title and beating Chelsea in the Europa League final last season, only to lose both and finish the season titleless.
Now they've gotten themselves into third after four matches, and an away fixture with Anderlecht and home date with PSG loom large.
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 11 | 12 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | CSKA Moscow | -6 | 3 |
| 4 | Viktoria Plzen | -10 | 0 |
Move along folks. Nothing to see here.
With Manchester City's 5-2 win over CSKA Moscow and Bayern Munich's 1-0 victory against Viktoria Plzen, the two clubs advancing to the knockout stage have already been decided. City have the head-to-head advantage on CSKA, so no matter what their final two results, they're assured of finishing at least second, and Bayern can only be overtaken by City.
It's a good result for Manchester City, having been knocked out of the group stage in each of the previous two seasons.
For Bayern, it's a great start to Pep Guardiola's tenure. Although he couldn't possibly have been sacked this early into the season, Guardiola won't have to explain why the reigning European champions didn't make it out of the group stage.
| 1 | Chelsea | 9 | 9 |
| 2 | Schalke | -2 | 6 |
| 3 | FC Basel | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Steaua Bucuresti | -7 | 2 |
FC Basel are doing their best to play spoiler. The Swiss club is just one point behind Schalke and four behind Chelsea. At the very least, Basel could finish second and relegate Schalke down to the Europa League.
The club Basel beat on Matchday 1, Chelsea, are beginning to cruise. They picked up their second 3-0 win over the German side in as many matches. The trip to Basel could be tricky, but Schalke might end up dropping points to Steaua Bucuresti to negate a poor performance by the Blues.
| 1 | Arsenal | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Napoli | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Borussia Dortmund | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Marseille | -6 | 2 |
Group F has lived up to its billing as the "Group of Death." Leaving aside Marseille, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to the top two finishers.
Borussia Dortmund looked the favorites to win the group, and then lost to Arsenal at home to fall to third. Following that result, the Gunners are first on goal differential, and Napoli remain three points ahead of Dortmund.
That could change on Nov. 26, when Napoli makes the trip to the Westfalenstadion. You'd expect the German side to play well and not drop two in a row at home. And who knows? Maybe Marseille has something saved up to surprise Arsenal?
Then there's that fixture between Napoli and Arsenal at the San Paolo on the final day that could have major implications in the table.
Who says the group stage is boring?
| 1 | Atletico Madrid | 10 | 12 |
| 2 | Zenit St. Petersburg | -1 | 5 |
| 3 | FC Porto | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Austria Wien | -8 | 1 |
Atletico Madrid are through after a 4-0 win over Austria Wien. Los Colchoneros are a perfect four of four in the group stage and need just a draw against Zenit St. Petersburg in order to finish first in the group. Even with a loss in that match, you'd still expect the Spanish side to stay where it is.
Diego Simeone's men are rolling. Maybe Atletico can pull a Dortmund and make a shock run to the final.
Zenit and Porto are locked in a tight battle for second. Zenit missed a golden opportunity to create some space when it only drew at home against the Dragons. Porto have also left themselves a lot of work to do. If they can't overtake Zenit on the next matchday, they're leaving it all up to getting a result away to Atletico.
| 1 | FC Barcelona | 7 | 10 |
| 2 | AC Milan | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Ajax | -4 | 4 |
| 4 | Celtic | -3 | 3 |
Barcelona got the job done against AC Milan on Wednesday and in turn essentially secured the top spot in Group H. All the Catalans need to do is beat Ajax, which shouldn't be that hard, considering Frank de Boer will refuse to play defensively in order to clog the pitch and thwart the Barca attack.
When it comes to the second spot, Milan are the favorites, despite having one of their worst sides in recent memory. They have Barcelona out of the way, with fixtures against Ajax and Celtic to come. The match against the Dutch champions is in the San Siro, and winning there would mean a draw against Celtic suffices in order to advance to the round of 16.
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