Champions League Results 2013-14: Updated Tables Following Tuesday's Matches
Several clubs took significant steps towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages on Tuesday, but some also further muddied the picture.
There was a wide range of dominant performances and surprising results as four groups were in action across Europe. Let's take a look at how everyone fared, along with an updated look before group play winds down with its final matches.
Group E
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| FC Basel | 1-0 | Chelsea |
| Steaua Bucuresti | 0-0 | Schalke 04 |
Well, things just got progressively more interesting. Chelsea was the clear front-runner to win the Group a day ago, but then 21-year-old Mohamed Salah of FC Basel did this in the 87th minute to break a scoreless tie:
The Swiss club held on in the final moments, earning a crucial three points at St. Jakob Park.
With an opportunity to tie Chelsea on points, however, Schalke 04 wasn't able to take advantage, sputtering out to a scoreless draw with last-place Steaua Bucuresti in Romania.
Here's how the Group looks heading into the final matchday:
| Chelsea FC | 5 | 9 | 8 |
| FC Basel | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 5 | 7 | -2 |
| FC Steaua Bucuresti | 5 | 3 | -7 |
Despite Chelsea's struggles on Tuesday, the Blues are still guaranteed a spot in the final 16. Even if they were to lose to Bucuresti at Stamford Bridge—which is about as unlikely as Fernando Torres starting in goal—Basel and Schalke can't both pass them.
A win, and Chelsea takes the group. A draw, and they could still take it but would need some help.
As for the second side coming out of the group, it's simple: Schalke needs a win at home, while Basel just needs a result in Germany.
Group F
| Arsenal | 2-0 | Marseille |
| Borussia Dortmund | 3-1 | Napoli |
Jack Wilshere's first ever brace for Arsenal at the professional level powered the Gunners to a no-nonsense win over Marseille, which has yet to grab a point through five matches.
Not to be outdone, Borussia Dortmund got goals from Marco Reus, Jakob Blaszczykowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Signal-Iduna Park en route to a 3-1 victory over Napoli.
We know the point-less French side will finish last, but the other three spots could still go to any club:
| Arsenal FC | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| SSC Napoli | 5 | 9 | -1 |
| Olympique de Marseille | 5 | 0 | -8 |
Arsenal is obviously in the best position. As long as Arsene Wenger's squad avoids a three-goal defeat at Napoli, it will be assured of advancing.
As for Dortmund, it just need to do what everyone else has done so far and get three points against Marseille, and it will also be through as long as Napoli doesn't somehow make up a five-goal differential.
Napoli's "best" route to the next round would be securing a win against Arsenal and hoping for a miraculous draw out of Marseille, which lost 3-0 to Dortmund in October. So, yeah, the outlook isn't exactly bright for the Serie A side.
Group G
| Zenit St. Petersburg | 1-1 | Atletico Madrid |
| FC Porto | 1-1 | Austria Vienna |
Group G featured a couple of draws on Tuesday. In the first match, Thibaut Courtois' massive blunder let Zenit St. Petersburg escape Petrovski Stadium with a point against Atletico Madrid.
That kept alive the hopes of Porto, which got a 48th minute goal from Jackson Martinez to tie Austria Vienna at home.
| Club Atletico de Madrid | 5 | 13 | 10 |
| FC Zenit | 5 | 6 | -1 |
| FC Porto | 5 | 5 | -1 |
| FK Austria Wien | 5 | 2 | -8 |
With a seven-point lead, Madrid has already won the group, and it will be intriguing to see what kind of squad Diego Simeone sends out against Porto at Vicente Calderon next month.
The Portuguese side will be hoping for any breaks it can get, as it needs to somehow gain a point on Zenit, who travel to Ernst Happel Stadium to take on Vienna.
Group H
| Ajax Amsterdam | 2-1 | Barcelona |
| Celtic | 0-3 | AC Milan |
Both desperately needing wins, Ajax pulled its best David-over-Goliath impression with a 2-1 win over Barcelona, while AC Milan went into Scotland and destroyed Celtic, 3-0.
There was quite a bit of separation in the group before Tuesday, but now the top three clubs are squeezed a bit closer together:
| FC Barcelona | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| AC Milan | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| AFC Ajax | 5 | 7 | -3 |
| Celtic FC | 5 | 3 | -6 |
With a home matchup against Celtic, Barcelona, who have a two-point and three-goal advantage over second-place Milan, would have to not show up to somehow lose the group, so we won't spend too much time there.
The second qualifier, then, will come down to Ajax vs. Milan. The Italian squad only needs a draw to advance, which is certainly do-able at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, although Ajax will be pressing forward for three points.
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