Champions League Results 2014: Scores, Group Tables, Standings for Matchday 4
Matchday 4 of the 2014-15 Champions League group stages was filled with drama, controversy and numerous fantastic goals, but in the end, Tuesday only produced one major upset out of eight matches.
Liverpool fought bravely but came up just short at Real Madrid, while Arsenal inexplicably gave up a three-goal lead to draw with Anderlecht.
Juventus kept their Champions League hopes alive with a come-from-behind win over Olympiakos, and Galatasaray's fans lived up to their questionable reputation in their team's 4-1 loss against Borussia Dortmund.
On Wednesday, Lionel Messi made Champions League history, while Manchester City continued their dismal run of form in the competition and Chelsea were shocked by Maribor.
The full results can be seen below:
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Juventus | 3 - 2 | Olympiakos |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Malmo FF | 0 - 2 | Atletico Madrid |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Basel | 4 - 0 | PFC Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Real Madrid | 1 - 0 | Liverpool |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 1 - 2 | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Benfica | 1 - 0 | Monaco |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Arsenal | 3 - 3 | Anderlecht |
| Tuesday, Nov. 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 4 - 1 | Galatasaray |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Bayern Munich | 2 - 0 | Roma |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Manchester City | 1 - 2 | CSKA Moscow |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Ajax | 0 - 2 | Barcelona |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Paris Saint Germain | 1 - 0 | APOEL Nicosia |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Maribor | 1 - 1 | Chelsea |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Sporting CP | 4 - 2 | Schalke 04 |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Athletic Bilbao | 0 - 2 | FC Porto |
| Wednesday, Nov. 5 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 - 0 | BATE Borisov |
Here are the current standings:
| Pos | Team | PL | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Atletico Madrid | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| 2 | Juventus | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Olympiakos | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 6 |
| 4 | Malmo FF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | -7 | 3 |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 12 |
| 2 | Basel | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 3 |
| 4 | PFC Ludogorets Razgrad | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 3 |
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | Monaco | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Benfica | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 4 |
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 12 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 2 |
| 4 | Galatasaray | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 1 |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 12 |
| 2 | Roma | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 4 |
| 3 | CSKA Moscow | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 4 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 2 |
| 1 | Paris Saint Germain | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | Ajax | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 2 |
| 4 | APOEL Nicosia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
| 1 | Chelsea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
| 2 | Schalke 04 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 5 |
| 3 | Sporting CP | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Maribor | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 3 |
| 1 | FC Porto | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 10 |
| 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 8 |
| 3 | BATE Borisov | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 19 | -17 | 3 |
| 4 | Athletic Bilbao | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 1 |
Wednesday Recap
Lionel Messi made history on Wednesday, scoring both goals in Barcelona's 2-0 win over Ajax to tie Real Madrid legend Raul atop the Champions League's scoring list with 71 goals.
The club's Twitter feed confirmed the news:
The Argentina international took full advantage when Jasper Cillessen cleared his line, initially moving to the ball from an offside position. The Ajax stopper halted his momentum before Messi turned away, and Marc Bartra arrived first on the ball, lobbing it back into the box where Messi was waiting for it.
While the forward technically should have been called for interfering from an offside position, he timed his action perfectly, knowing full well the official wouldn't bow the whistle.
The goal that made history came after a strong solo effort from Pedro, who angled the ball in the path of his sliding team-mate.
Paired with Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 win over APOEL, Group F has already been decided, with PSG and Barcelona advancing.
As shared by Barcastuff, Luis Enrique didn't hide his admiration of Messi:
"Luis Enrique: "Messi is the best player I've seen in my life." #fcblive #ucl
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) November 5, 2014"
Manchester City imploded against CSKA Moscow, ending their 2-1 loss with nine men after Yaya Toure and Fernandinho both saw red cards.
Seydou Doumbia put the visitors in front twice, with Toure's brilliant free-kick sandwiched in between. City were unable to convince in the second half, however, playing another drab match that ultimately ended in a deserved loss.
Fernandinho played just 25 minutes, coming on as a substitute at half-time before grabbing two yellow cards in quick succession. Via Squawka, his performance was hardly impressive:
Toure then shoved an opponent out of frustration, all but ending the Citizens' chances of a comeback. Bayern Munich's 2-0 win over AS Roma was the only thing that went right for City on Wednesday, as the race for the second spot in Group E is wide open.
The Bavarians have already qualified as group winners, but the rest of the pack are separated by just two points. Roma hold the advantage, but the Premier League champions have a chance if they can beat the Giallorossi in Rome.
Chelsea battled to a surprising 1-1 draw in Maribor, after the hosts took a shock lead thanks to Agim Ibraimi's stunning long-range effort. Nemanja Matic equalised midway through the second half, and Eden Hazard missed a golden opportunity to win it for the Blues, not converting a penalty.
As shared by Soccernomics' Ben Lyttleton, that doesn't happen very often:
The Blues still lead Group G with eight points, and they remain in the driver's seat for one of the tickets for the next round thanks to Schalke 04's shock loss against Sporting Lisbon.
Mourinho gave full praise to Maribor in his post-match press conference, but when he was asked about Saturday's Premier League match against Liverpool, it appeared the mind games have already started, via 6 Second Savage:
"In post match interview following tie at Maribor 1-1, Mourinho is instead asked about #LFC and won't respond. #CFC https://t.co/eqswEKzLTM
— 6 Second Savage (@6secondsavage) November 5, 2014"
FC Porto qualified with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, knocking the disappointing Spaniards out of the tournament in the process, while Shakhtar Donetsk thrashed BATE Borisov 5-0.
Luiz Adriano scored another hat-trick, taking his tally to eight goals in the last two matches.
Tuesday Recap
It was a bad day for the Premier League, with Liverpool suffering a 1-0 loss at the hands of defending champions Real Madrid and Arsenal somehow finding a way to blow a three-goal lead to draw Belgian side Anderlecht, 3-3.
Karim Benzema scored the only goal at the Bernabeu after 27 minutes, securing qualification for the next round for Los Blancos. As shared by former football star Ian Paul Joy, he set another personal benchmark in the process:
Liverpool fought bravely but ultimately came up short, hardly threatening the hosts for much of the night. The strong performance should give the Reds plenty of hope for the remaining two matches, with Basel and Ludogorets also gunning for the second ticket to the next round. The Swiss side recorded an easy 4-0 win on Tuesday.
Arsenal could have secured qualification with a win over Anderlecht and took a three-goal lead through Mikel Arteta, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But a brace from Anthony Vanden Borre made for a nervy final 15 minutes, and Aleksandar Mitrovic broke the hearts of the Gooners late.
As shared by Messi Minutes, analyst Paul Merson was anything but satisfied once the final whistle blew:
Coupled with Borussia Dortmund's 4-1 win over Galatasaray, it now seems nearly impossible for the Gunners to win Group D, although they're still favourites to qualify as runners-up. A win over Galatasaray on Matchday 5 will do the trick, while Die Schwarzgelben can secure the top spot with the same result against Anderlecht.
Dortmund's win was marred by several ugly incidents in the stands involving Galatasaray fans, with flares on the pitch leading to the match being stopped on several occasions. Nothing was worse than the flare that was thrown at Dortmund fans, however, via FourFourTwo's Alex Chaffer:
Juventus' Champions League adventure was in real trouble when Delvin Ndinga gave Olympiakos a 2-1 lead in Turin, but two goals in one minute turned the situation around.
Andrea Pirlo made his 100th start in the competition and crowned his achievement with the opening goal, another trademark free-kick, and he told Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia) how important it was to win on Tuesday:
"It is a fundamental victory and we resolved it with the calm and strength to turn it around. It’s a shame about the penalty, but we are satisfied with the performance. A win was crucial and we knew that it depended on us. Now there are another two games we have to make the most of, but first we have to focus on Serie A.
"
The Bianconeri move level on points with Olympiakos with the result, three behind Atletico Madrid. Last year's finalists beat Malmo 2-0 thanks to goals from Koke and Raul Garcia.
Koke's effort in particular was a thing of beauty, via World Soccer Talk:
Anderson Talisca scored the only goal in Benfica's 1-0 win over Monaco, while Bayer Leverkusen travelled to Russia to beat Zenit St. Petersburg 2-1, taking a commanding lead in Group C.
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