Champions League 05-12-06 (06/12/2006 13:13)

Darn... Sometimes things are just completely to be forgotten... Tuesday, it was December the 5th, which in Holland means 'Sinterklaas-dag'. 'Sinterklaas' is a Dutch variant of Santa Claus. It is based on a Spanish bishop, called Saint Nicholas (in Dutch: Sint Nicolaas, that's why it's called Sinterklaas). Many Dutch children believe that this man brings presents to them every 5th of December each year, if they have been nice and not mean/naughty/whatsoever. Thanks to this 'event' I completely forgot about the Champions League!

However, thanks to the Internet I found some info about Tuesday's matches and so I can give you the tables and results.
(Note: blue colored clubs go through to the 2nd round of CL, red colored clubs go through to the UEFA Cup)

Group A:
Barcelona - Werder Bremen: 2-0
Chelsea - Levski Sofia: 2-0

1	Chelsea	6	4	1	1	13	10	-	4
2	Barcelona	6	3	2	1	11	12	-	4
3	Werder Bremen	6	3	1	2	10	7	-	5
4	Levski Sofia	6	0	0	6	0	1	-	17

Group B:
Bayern München - Internationale: 1-1
Sp. Lisboa - Sp. Moscow: 1-3

1	Bayern München	6	3	3	0	12	10	-	3
2	Internationale	6	3	1	2	10	5	-	5
3	Spartak Moscow	6	1	2	3	5	7	-	11
4	Sporting Lisboa	6	1	2	3	5	3	-	6

Group C:
PSV - Bordeaux: 1-3
Galatasaray - Liverpool: 3-2

1	Liverpool	6	4	1	1	13	11	-	5
2	PSV	6	3	1	2	10	6	-	6
3	Girondins Bordeaux	6	2	1	3	7	6	-	7
4	Galatasaray	6	1	1	4	4	7	-	12

Group D:
AS Roma - Valencia: 1-0
Olympiakos - Sh. Donetsk: 1-1

1	Valencia	6	4	1	1	13	12	-	6
2	AS Roma	6	3	1	2	10	8	-	4
3	Shakhtar Donetsk	6	1	3	2	6	6	-	11
4	Olympiakos Piraeus	6	0	3	3	3	6	-	11

Wednesday, another 8 matches were played. As I mentioned before, I watched Man Utd - Benfica. Man Utd had to win to be sure to go through to the next round. Somehow, it seemed that players didn't find it necessary to show their skills as Benfica scored 0-1 by Nélson. Luckily, just before half-time, Nemanja Vidic scored 1-1 for United. In the second half, Man U showed their skills, played some powerfull and pressing football and won the match 3-1 (Giggs and Saha scored the 2nd and 3rd goals). I am very happy with this achievement, as United now finished first in their group, after Copenhagen defeated Celtic 3-1 as well.

Here are the other results and tables:

Group E:
Ol. Lyon - St. Bucarest: 1-1
Dinamo Kiev - Real Madrid: 2-2

1	Olympique Lyon	6	4	2	0	14	12	-	3
2	Real Madrid	6	3	2	1	11	14	-	8
3	Steaua Bucarest	6	1	2	3	5	7	-	11
4	Dinamo Kiev	6	0	2	4	2	5	-	16

Group F:
Man Utd - Benifca: 3-1
FC Copenhagen - Celtic: 3-1

1	Manchester United	6	4	0	2	12	10	-	5
2	Celtic	6	3	0	3	9	8	-	9
3	Benfica	6	2	1	3	7	7	-	8
4	FC Copenhagen	6	2	1	3	7	5	-	8

Group G:
FC Porto - Arsenal: 0-0
Hamburger SV - CSKA Moscow: 3-2

1	Arsenal	6	3	2	1	11	7	-	3
2	FC Porto	6	3	2	1	11	9	-	4
3	CSKA Moscow	6	2	2	2	8	4	-	5
4	Hamburger SV	6	1	0	5	3	7	-	15

Group H:
AC Milan - Lille: 0-2
Anderlecht - AEK Athens: 2-2

1	AC Milan	6	3	1	2	10	8	-	4
2	Lille	6	2	3	1	9	8	-	5
3	AEK Athens	6	2	2	2	8	6	-	9
4	Anderlecht	6	0	4	2	4	7	-	11

So, what's next? Well, the teams that finished first in their groups will not meet each other in the next round. This means that Chelsea, Bayern München, Liverpool, Valencia, Ol. Lyon, Man Utd, Arsenal and AC Milan will not face each other, but instead meet one of the teams that finished second. These teams are Barcelona, Internationale, PSV, AS Roma, Real Madrid, Celtic, FC Porto and Lille.

Teams that will go through to the following round in the UEFA Cup are Werder Bremen, Spartak Moscow, Bordeaux, Olympiakos, Steaua Bucarest, Benfica, CSKA Moscow and AEK Athens.

Finally, as usual, I'll give you some stats for the Champions League:
 - Topscorers are Drogba (Chelsea), Kaká (Milan) and Morientes (Valencia) with 5 goals.
 - Team with most goals scored is Real Madrid with 14 goals in 6 matches.
 - Team with least goals scored is Levski Sofia with only 1 goal in 6 matches.
 - Teams that conceded least goals are Bayern München, Ol. Lyon and Arsenal with 3 goals in 6 matches.
 - Team that conceded most goals is Levski Sofia with 17 goals in 6 matches.
 - No team managed to win all matches, Ol. Lyon was the closest with 14 out of a possible 18 points (4 wins and 2 draws).
 - Only one team failed to gain any points. Levski Sofia lost all their 6 matches.

And some interesting facts about Champions League:

All time table:

1	Real Madrid	125 matches	69 wins	27 draws	29 losses	234 points
2	Manchester United	121	61	31	29	214
3	Barcelona	109	59	28	22	205

Topscorers of All Time:
1. Raúl (Gonzalez Blanco) 54 goals
2. Ruud van Nistelrooy 47 goals
3. Andrei Shevchenko 43 goals
4. Thierry Henry 42 goals

Most matches played:
1. Raúl (Gonzalez Blanco) 106 matches
2. Roberto Carlos 105 matches
3. David Beckham 101 matches
4. Oliver Kahn 100 matches

Since 1955/56, the Champions League (it's previous name was European Cup 1) is played each season, with Real Madrid winning the first 5 Finales. Record Finale score is 7-3 (Real Madrid - Eintracht Frankfurt, 1959/60). Also, 8 Finales ended with a penalty shoot-out.

Real Madrid won the most Champions League Cups: 9. They are followed by AC Milan (6), Liverpool (5), Bayern München and Ajax (4).

Well, this is it for now. Let's wait for the upcoming drawing for the 8th finals.