Champions League Winners and Losers from December 9
Steven Gerrard scored a late free-kick for 10-man Liverpool, but the Reds could only draw at home to Basel 1-1 and crashed out of the Champions League after coming third in Group B.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 72nd goal in European club football's most prestigious competition as Real Madrid thumped Ludogorets 4-0 in the section's other match.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid finished atop Group A after a scoreless draw with second-place Juventus, and Olympiakos fought off Malmo to finish their group-stage campaign with a 4-2 victory.
In Group C, Monaco completed their schedule with a 2-0 triumph over Zenit St. Petersburg and will go into the round of 16 after pipping Bayer Leverkusen, who drew 0-0 at Benfica, to win the bracket.
Finally, Borussia Dortmund's 1-1 draw with Anderlecht ensured their progress as Group D winners, while Arsenal, who beat Galatasaray 4-1 in Istanbul, advanced as runners-up.
Overall, there were plenty of standout performances on Tuesday as well as one or two that were rather less impressive.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the first half of UEFA Champions League Matchday 6.
Winner: Aaron Ramsey, Who Scored Twice and Assisted for Arsenal
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Following their Saturday defeat to Stoke, Arsenal were in need of a big result in the Champions League and got exactly that on Tuesday in Istanbul.
Aaron Ramsey in particular rose to the occasion against Galatasaray.
After just three minutes he had set up Lukas Podolski for the first goal of Matchday 6, and eight minutes later he had himself scored what would prove to be the winner at Turk Telekom Arena.
Shortly before the half-hour mark the Welshman completed his brace when his hard, accurate drive from distance beat goalkeeper Sinan Bolat.
With Arsenal leading 3-0 at the break Ramsey was substituted in favour of Gedion Zelalem, his job done and done well.
"The goals he is scoring is linked to his performances at the moment and that certainly helps his confidence to score goals like that," remarked Gunners manager Arsene Wenger when asked about Ramsey at the final whistle, as per the BBC.
Loser: Galatasaray, Who Earned Just a Single Point from Six Group D Matches
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With a squad including the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Burak Yilmaz, Umut Bulut and Fernando Muslera, never mind former Italy manager Cesare Prandelli's presence to start the season, Galatasaray will have gone into the Champions League group stage anticipating Europa League football at the very least.
They ended up finishing bottom of Group D with just four goals scored in six matches, 19 conceded and a single point taken from a draw with Anderlecht on Matchday 1.
And by the time the Turkish giants faced Arsenal on Tuesday they had also sacked Prandelli, who ended up lasting just four months in the job.
"Galatasaray were shocking," commented Mirror correspondent John Cross via Twitter as the Gunners romped to a 4-1 victory in Istanbul.
Winner: AS Monaco, Who Defended Their Way to Top Spot in Group C
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AS Monaco could barely find the back of the net during the group stage, but despite scoring just four goals in six matches they ended up winning Group C—their single goal conceded representing the best defensive record of the round.
It was Benfica's Talisca who tallied against them on Matchday 4, after which the French outfit blanked Bayer Leverkusen and Zenit St. Petersburg in succession.
Aymen Abdennour was especially impressive in the Monaco defense (he also scored against Zenit), and midfielder Jeremy Toulalan provided useful cover from the centre of the park.
"Shipping one [goal] in six games is no mean feat," remarked FourFourTwo's Joe Brewin via Twitter.
Loser: Marcelinho, Who Quite Literally Handed Real Madrid the Lead
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In their home match against Real Madrid, Ludogorets actually took the lead after just six minutes when Marcelinho beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Unfortunately for the Bulgarian outfit, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema would turn Madrid's deficit into a narrow victory.
On Tuesday Marcelinho was again central to proceedings, although this time he handed the European Cup holders an early penalty when he handled the ball inside his own area.
Not surprisingly, Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot, and Los Blancos ended up cruising to a 4-0 victory.
Winner: Fabian Frei, Whose Goal Put Basel into the Round of 16
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In the 25th minute of what was already a nervy, topsy-turvy encounter between Liverpool and Basel, Fabian Frei put the Swiss side ahead after completing a neat one-two with Luca Zuffi and beating Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet with his finish.
Steven Gerrard would restore level terms from a late free-kick, but the 1-1 draw ensured Basel would progress to the last 16 of the Champions League at Liverpool's expense.
As Goal writer Peter Staunton pointed out on Twitter, Frei is just one of more than 40 youth players promoted to Basel's first-team squad in the last 10 to 12 years.
And he was his side's hero on Tuesday.
Loser: Liverpool, Who Crashed out of the Champions League
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Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Basel sent them hurtling out of the Champions League, and in a post-match interview with ITV Sport, as per the Mirror, Reds captain Steven Gerrard said his side had it coming.
"I don't think we deserved better," he remarked. "We have not gone out because of this performance; we weren't good enough away to Basel and we let in a silly goal away to Ludogorets. You qualify over six games and we have not been good enough."
During the match AFP's Tom Williams commented via Twitter that "Liverpool seem to be caught between knowing they shouldn't panic—putting the foot on the ball, drawing sting from the game—and panicking."
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, blamed injuries on his side's early exit from the competition.
"We have been unlucky with injuries to key players who are important to the way that we play," he told ITV Sport, as per the BBC. "But that is to take nothing away from the players tonight who have put everything into the game."
