• Champions League round-up

Chelsea's nightmare continues as Arsenal qualify

ESPN staff
November 23, 2011
Bayer Leverkusen turned the tables on Chelsea in Germany © Getty Images
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Champions League Wednesday gallery

The pressure on the young shoulders of Andre Villas-Boas intensified on Wednesday as Chelsea's Champions League qualification hopes slipped into real danger in Germany. On a night when Arsenal secured the victory they needed to book their ticket to the last 16, Chelsea were beaten by Bayer Leverkusen.

Villas-Boas spent much of the last three days answering questions over his future at Stamford Bridge, after defeat to Liverpool left them 12 points adrift of Manchester City in the title race. And, while City appear to be heading out of Europe's premier club competition, Chelsea now head into a nervy final fixture of their own in pursuit of a place in the second round after they lost 2-1 to Leverkusen.

The Blues reacted to the Liverpool defeat by introducing Daniel Sturridge, Raul Meireles and Jose Bosingwa to the starting XI, with £50 million Fernando Torres once again left on the bench. The outcome was a forgettable opening 45 minutes, with Didier Drogba missing one of the few chances Chelsea created.

That changed inside three minutes of the restart as Drogba found a breakthrough, latching onto Sturridge's pass to rifle the ball past Bernd Leno.

However, Villas-Boas' creaking defence shipped yet another goal with 17 minutes remaining as Eren Derdiyok struck for the home side, and then Manuel Friedrich struck in the 90th minute to leave Chelsea in real danger.

Defeat leaves Chelsea needing to beat Valencia in the final round of fixtures to guarantee qualification after the Spaniards moved level with their English counterparts with a 7-0 victory at home to Genk. A hat-trick from prolific striker Roberto Soldado, in addition to strikes from Jonas, Pablo Hernandez, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa mean a win for Valencia over Chelsea would see Villas-Boas' men exit the competition.

Robin van Persie was once again Arsenal's hero © PA Photos
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Arsenal can look forward to a two-legged tie in the last 16 after they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at Emirates Stadium in Group F. Victory moves the Gunners five points clear of third place with only one game to play.

Arsene Wenger's side took time to settle on home soil, despite an unchanged line-up, but they did have a Theo Walcott strike ruled out for marginal offside moments before half-time.

Another slow start to the second period saw Wojciech Szczesny called into action on two occasions, but suddenly Alex Song produced a moment of wizardry to set up the opener. Heading nowhere down the left, Song danced past one defender before switching the ball from one foot back to the other to skip between two more, releasing a delightful cross for Robin van Persie to head home at the back post.

The Dutchman then killed the game off with five minutes left, prodding home at the far post after Thomas Vermaelen's flick-on at a corner before Shinji Kagawa grabbed a consolation for Dortmund.

Marseille still have work to do in order to qualify for the last 16 after they lost 1-0 at home to Olympiacos in France. Ioannis Fetfatzidis stunned the home crowd to move the Greeks within a point of Marseille with a game to go.

Barcelona cemented top spot in Group H after they defeated AC Milan 3-2 at the San Siro. With Manchester United looking likely to finish second in their group following Tuesday's draw with Benfica, Barcelona positioned themselves as possible second-round opponents in Italy.

It took just 14 minutes for the Catalans to break the deadlock, Mark van Bommel diverting into his own net against his former club after Seydou Keita's low cross. Former Manchester City flop Robinho then produced one of the misses of the season when diverting over the bar from four yards, but Milan did not dwell on the chance, Zlatan Ibrahimovic haunting his old club with a scuffed left-footed strike past Victor Valdes.

Lionel Messi scored one and created one for Barcelona © Getty Images
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Within minutes Barca should have led again, this time Lionel Messi rivalling Robinho's miss by hitting the bar from inside the six-yard area, but the little Argentinean soon did have his goal. Xavi was fouled by Alberto Aquilani inside the area and, after Messi was booked for hesitating in the run-up to his first penalty, he slammed the retake to the keeper's left.

The goals kept coming in the second half of a hugely entertaining contest, with Kevin-Prince Boateng producing an outrageous flick en route to driving an equaliser inside Valdes' near post. Barca had the world's best player on their side though and an eye-of-the-needle pass by Messi through four Milan defenders helped Xavi restore the advantage at 3-2.

In the battle for the Europa League spot in Group H, Viktoria Plzen took pole position after a 1-0 away win at BATE Borisov. Marek Bakos' winner means Plzen are two points clear of their opponents heading into the final round of fixtures.

The first team on the night to book their place in the last 16 were Apoel Nicosia, who drew 0-0 with Zenit St Petersburg in Russia to become the first Cypriot side to reach the knockout stages. Apoel are one point clear of Zenit and two ahead of Porto, but those two sides play each other in the final round of fixtures.

Zenit could face punishment from UEFA for an incident in the second half which saw referee Felix Brych take the players from the field because of smoke from a flare in the stands, but they remain favourites to join Apoel in the last 16.

Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in the night's other match, meaning the Portuguese side can still qualify if they beat Zenit in their final fixture. A goal from Hulk and a late Razvan Rat own goal proved enough for Porto.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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