Champions League Tables 2014: Updated Group Standings, Results After Matchday 6
This week's European action brought an end to the group phase of the 2014-15 Champions League, where a mixture of shock and expectation makes for a mixed group of round-of-16 participants.
Spanish titans Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona were each among those to claim priority spots in the next round, while three of the four Premier League outfits competing were able to squeeze through.
Read on for a look at the final layout of this season's groups, along with a recap of this week's climactic schedule.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
| Date | Home | v | Away |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Juventus | 0 - 0 | Atletico Madrid |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Olympiakos | 4 - 2 | Malmo FF |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Liverpool | 1 - 1 | Basel |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Real Madrid | 4 - 0 | PFC Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Benfica | 0 - 0 | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Monaco | 2 - 0 | Zenit St. Petersburg |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Borussia Dortmund | 1 - 1 | Anderlecht |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | Galatasaray | 1 - 4 | Arsenal |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Bayern Munich | 3-0 | CSKA Moscow |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Roma | 0-2 | Manchester City |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Ajax | 4-0 | APOEL Nicosia |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Barcelona | 3-1 | Paris Saint Germain |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Chelsea | 3-1 | Sporting CP |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Maribor | 0-1 | Schalke 04 |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | Athletic Bilbao | 2-0 | BATE Borisov |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | FC Porto | 1-1 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pts |
| 1 | Atletico Madrid | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 13 |
| 2 | Juventus | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | Olympiakos | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 9 | 9 |
| 4 | Malmo FF | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 3 | 3 |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 18 |
| 2 | Basel | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 7 | 7 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | PFC Ludogorets Razgrad | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 4 | 4 |
| 1 | Monaco | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 11 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | Benfica | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 5 | 5 |
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 13 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 13 |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | Galatasaray | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 19 | -15 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 12 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
| 3 | Roma | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 5 | 5 |
| 1 | Barcelona | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 13 |
| 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 12 |
| 3 | Ajax | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 5 | 2 |
| 4 | APOEL Nicosia | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 12 | -11 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Chelsea | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 11 |
| 2 | Schalke 04 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 8 | 7 |
| 3 | Sporting CP | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| 4 | Maribor | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | -9 | 3 | 3 |
| 1 | FC Porto | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 13 |
| 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 8 |
| 3 | Athletic Bilbao | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | BATE Borisov | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 24 | -22 | 3 | 3 |
The headline battle on Wednesday evening saw Barcelona go up against Paris Saint-Germain at Camp Nou, where it was the Blaugrana who emerged 3-1 victors to take first place in Group F.
As Samuel Marsden of Spanish newspaper SPORT suggests, there was an attacking array of superstars on display in Catalan country, the biggest of whom all managed to get on the scoresheet:
Laurent Blanc's men will have to settle for their runners-up place while Ajax and APOEL finish way down the order in third and fourth, respectively, after the former's 4-0 triumph in Amsterdam this week.
Joining Ajax in the Europa League will be Italian giants Roma, who were left dismayed on Wednesday after a 2-0 home defeat against Manchester City. Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta netted to salvage the English giants' Champions League dream.
Match of the Day's Gary Lineker praised Manuel Pellegrini's men for their display:
Elsewhere in the group, Bayern Munich ran out as easy winners against CSKA Moscow, with Thomas Muller, Sebastian Rode and Mario Gotze each contributing goals to the 3-0 score, despite first place already being assured.
Sporting Lisbon were unable to clinch a shock result in their trip to Stamford Bridge, losing 3-1 at the hands of Chelsea to finish one point behind runners-up Schalke, who left Maribor with a 1-0 victory thanks to Max Meyer.
Finally, Porto solidified their place at the summit of Group H, recovering from a 1-0 deficit to draw 1-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Vincent Aboubakar scored to preserve their unbeaten run in Europe.
The pool's bottom contenders Athletic Bilbao and BATE Borisov were left to wrestle for a place in the Europa League, meanwhile, and it was Ernesto Valverde's men who triumphed 2-0 in Basque country to prolong their European hopes.
On Tuesday, Premier League outfits Arsenal and Liverpool went unbeaten in their struggles, but it was the Gunners who came out far happier of the two with a 4-1 win over Galatasaray.
Aaron Ramsey and Lukas Podolski each netted braces to breeze past their Turkish hosts, with the former taking the opportunity to give under-fire boss Arsene Wenger his full support, per James Olley of the London Evening Standard:
The Reds were not as encouraged—their 1-1 draw at home to Basel was insufficient in their hopes of progressing past the group stage, despite a marvellous free-kick equaliser from Steven Gerrard.
The Swiss giants finished second in Group B only to the machine of Real Madrid, whose 4-0 demolition of Ludogorets Razgrad capped off a perfect 18-point haul from six games.
Continuing their club record winning streak, which now stands at 19 consecutive matches, the club's official Twitter account also revealed another accolade taken from that result:
Arsenal finished level on points with Borussia Dortmund in Pool D, but Jurgen Klopp's men still finished at its summit, even after a brave 1-1 draw for Anderlecht threatened to put their spot in jeopardy.
The fight for top spot in Group C was also a tough one. At the final hurdle, Bayer Leverkusen slipped up to let Monaco steal the premier qualification berth as their own.
The Factory Squad were far from efficient in their plight against Benfica, drawing 0-0 at the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday, while their French pursuers leapfrogged them thanks to a 2-0 win at the Stade Louis II.
In Group A, Juventus' home fixture against leaders Atletico Madrid was the talk of the town, but their 0-0 stalemate left a slightly subdued tinge. Bianconeri boss Massimiliano Allegri was quoted by Inside Spanish Football as saying avoiding the loss was chief priority:
"It’s always complicated against Atletico, as they defend very well with tight lines, so it’s not easy to find passes between the lines.
We risked on a few occasions, [goalkeeper Gigi] Buffon did very well in the first half with a save and we had chances too. In the second half we tried to win, but at the same time not risk losing. We didn’t want to compromise a qualification I thought was thoroughly deserved, as we did not deserve to lose against Olympiacos and Atleti in Madrid.
"
It was good enough in any case as the Turin giants progressed as runners-up, while Olympiakos' 4-2 win over Malmo couldn't book them anything higher than third place.
With the field now reduced to just 16 teams, here is where the European campaign reaches its most intense stages and the real quality should rise to the fore.
For now, teams lie in wait for the round-of-16 draw on Monday, where each qualified outfit will find out their fate and which enemy awaits them in the knockout stages.
