5 Players to Watch on Champions League Matchday 6
The 2014-15 Champions League group stage concludes with its final round of fixtures on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A whole host of sides confirmed their place in the last 16 during the penultimate round of matches, but there are still a handful of spots to be decided.
It is inevitable that several sides will be left disappointed after the final group-stage fixtures.
In this feature, we have picked five players to watch in the midweek matches. As an added twist, the fate of each player in this quintet remains in the balance heading into the final clashes. Any one could either progress to the last 16 or have his Champions League dreams come to an end on Matchday 6.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
1 of 5
Schalke head into their final group-stage match knowing that events at Stamford Bridge may ultimately decide their fate.
Roberto Di Matteo will be hoping his former side can do his current employers a favour and beat Sporting Lisbon in west London. Having watched his team's unbeaten run come to an end against Newcastle United over the weekend, one suspects Jose Mourinho will be particularly keen to return to winning ways.
This would leave Schalke needing to do the business away in Slovenia against Maribor.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting could prove to be the key man for the visitors.
The Cameroon international is relishing life in Gelsenkirchen after leaving Mainz in the summer and moved up to joint-second spot in the Bundesliga scoring charts with a hat-trick against VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
He has scored five goals in his last four games (as well as contributing two assists), and his confidence could prove decisive in midweek.
Gervinho
2 of 5
It is going to take a major effort for Manchester City to qualify for the last 16. The permutations are too many to list here—with three teams tied on five points—but the Citizens certainly need to avoid defeat at Roma.
Manuel Pellegrini's side will need to rally together, although this may not be easy without their two most influential individuals. Sergio Aguero faces a spell on the sidelines after damaging his knee ligaments in Saturday’s victory over Everton (via The Guardian), and Yaya Toure is suspended.
The Ivorian's international colleague Gervinho has wasted little time in reminding City of the demands awaiting them in light of such key absentees.
"City are not the same team without Yaya," he began, as reported by The Sun (h/t Richard Arrowsmith of the Daily Mail). "For them, it's a loss that he won't be there. He is 90 per cent of their team—he's a very important player for them.
"When he's in top form, the whole team does well. When he's not well, City are not well either."
Gervinho is perfectly capable of sending City out of the tournament—he scored in Roma's recent victory over Internazionale and could be a key thorn in the Citizens' side.
Ahmed Musa
3 of 5
While much of the attention on Wednesday evening will settle on Manchester City's mouth-watering matchup with AS Roma, CSKA Moscow will be looking to steal the limelight.
Despite being drawn into this year's "group of death," the Russian heavyweights have held their own—taking four points off City—and are still in with a chance of advancing to the last 16.
To do this, however, they will need to beat already qualified Bayern Munich.
One man who could trouble the Bavarians is Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa.
The young attacker is enjoying a burgeoning reputation in the game, not least because of his brace against Argentina at the World Cup, but he will be absent from the upcoming Cup of Nations following Nigeria's failure to qualify.
Musa will be hoping that the Champions League will still be his stage in the new year, but he will need to channel his recent form (he has scored two and contributed one assist in his last three matches) into the clash with Pep Guardiola's team.
With 13 games still to play in the Russian Premier League, he has already equalled his goalscoring tally from last term.
Steven Gerrard
4 of 5
Despite the grand occasions that have gone before, Liverpool's upcoming clash with FC Basel has a sense of enormity about it.
Steven Gerrard, the club's creaking captain, must be feeling it.
Brendan Rodgers' utilisation (or non-utilisation) of the skipper in recent weeks has fuelled intense media comment about the midfielder's future and his ongoing relevance, with figures such as former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann questioning Rodgers' priorities. Meanwhile, Gerrard's continued contractual concerns are an unwanted subplot.
The manager's decision to drop the 34-year-old for Saturday's contest with Sunderland was understandable, although the club's struggles—they drew 0-0—hardly breed optimism ahead of their do-or-die clash with FC Basel in midweek.
Hulk
5 of 5
Considering the way things have gone for Monaco since the great expectations of last season, they deserve great credit for remaining on course for the Champions League last 16.
They will be hoping that they can retain their status in the competition beyond their winner-takes-all match with Zenit Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.
The draw will favour Monaco, but they will be taking nothing for granted when the Russian giants visit the Stade Louis II.
Andre Villas-Boas will be looking for Hulk to shake off some of the lethargy of recent weeks to make a decisive contribution to this one.
The forward bagged seven goals in August, but he has found the net just four times in his 17 outings since. He has, to give him his due, contributed two assists in his last two matches, but AVB will doubtless be hoping for more from the attacker in the Champions League.
Perhaps a reunion with former FC Porto team-mate Joao Moutinho will spur the bulky Brazilian hitman into rediscovering his scoring form.
