Check out our thoughts on the Champions League so far this season…
CaughtOffside analyses and ranks the Champions League prospects of Europe’s Premier League representatives: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, who have had mixed fortunes in the competition thus far.
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4) Manchester City
The odds are stacked against Manchester City, who are staring down the barrel at a third group stage elimination in four years. They were unlucky against Bayern Munich, where they performed admirably, but came up short in the crucial home game against Roma.
That made back-to-back wins against Moscow a necessity, and having got into the position to do that with a 2-0 lead, they once against capitulated when under pressure. Yes, the penalty which drew CSKA level was debatable, but the Premier League champions should never have found themselves in that position. They will need to take a minimum of seven points from their final three points, and even that many not be enough.
3) Liverpool
Liverpool will be grateful to still be in with a realistic chance of qualification, having not played particularly well in any of their first three matches. They were massively lucky to sneak a 2-1 victory against Ludogorets in their opening game, and were woeful during their 1-0 defeat in Switzerland against Basel.
They were then outclassed by Real Madrid, who scored three first-half goals to see them through to a comfortable win at Anfield. The Reds vulnerability in defence was exposed, and they were beaten within 40 minutes. Luckily for Brendan Rodgers’ team, Ludogorets win against Basel ensured that all three of Madrid’s rivals have taken three points from three games. The Merseyside club now know that, regardless of their result in Spain, two wins in their last two games will take them through.
2) Arsenal
Aresenal are now just three points away from guaranteed qualification, after turning around their final game against Anderlecht, as well as their entire qualification campaign. Their first group stage match could not have gone much worse, losing by a flattering 2-0 scoreline against Borussia Dortmund. The Gunners were much improved against a woeful Galatasaray side, with the 4-1 win taking them into second place.
With two minutes remaining against Anderlecht, they were trailing 1-0 and about to drop back down to third. But despite a poor performance, the Gunners tenacity earned them a dramatic late reprieve. Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski struck in quick concession, and suddenly the North London side had their second win of the group stage, and a five point cushion on qualification with just three games remaining.
1) Chelsea
Chelsea have benefited from a weak group, and have been able to rest several of their star players across their three group games so far. They were stunned slightly by the performance of Schalke in their opening game, with the German side holding them to a 1-1 draw, but they responded well with a 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon, and a 6-0 thrashing of Maribor.
They have taken their exceptional Premier League form into Europe, and should tie up their progress into the knockout stage in their return match against the Slovenian side.
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