It was another night of Champions LeagueFootball across Europe, but this time the last for the year 2012 and the final group game for the 2012/2013 UEFA Champions League. A night which saw teams cement their place in the next round while others were sent to the Europa League and some others had to say good-bye to European football till next season.
Olympiacos FC 2-1 Arsenal FC
Olympiacos FC defeated Arsenal FC 2-1 in Piraeus to deny the Gunners top spot in Group B and end their own UEFA Champions League campaign on a high note.
Tomáš Rosický, starting for the first time since UEFA EURO 2012, opened the scoring against the run of play. However, second-half strikes from Giannis Maniatis and substitute Kostas Mitroglou earned the Greek champions victory and forced Arsenal to settle for second in the section. An away success would have taken them through as winners because of FC Schalke 04's 1-1 draw against Montpellier Hérault SC. Leonardo Jardim's side enter the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
With a number of key first-team players rested, 20-year-old Jernade Meade made his first start at left-back in Arsène Wenger's 150th UEFA Champions League match. Rosický and Marouane Chamakh made their first appearances in the competition this term.
Following a lively start from Arsenal, with Gervinho trying his luck with an early snapshot before playing in Chamakh, only for the Moroccan international to lose his footing, it was the hosts who sought to assert their dominance. After Vassilis Torossidis went close with a header which was cleared off the line by Carl Jenkinson, Djamel Abdoun became the focal point of Olympiacos's enterprising play, stinging the palms of Wojciech Szczęsny with a fierce shot.
Rafik Djebbour then headed straight at the Arsenal keeper from the resulting corner before Abdoun's mazy run created an opening for Torossidis, yet his tame attempt sailed over. Arsenal held firm and took the lead in the 38th minute when Gervinho broke down the right and picked out Rosický, who finished with aplomb with a side-footed effort. It was his first goal since the 3-0 home victory against AC Milan on 6 March.
Andrey Arshavin replaced Rosický at half-time and the diminutive Russian international nodded narrowly over from a Chamakh cross as Arsenal began strongly. Roy Carroll made a fine stop from Arshavin's strike as the Gunners looked for a second, while at the other end Szczęsny made a sprawling save to keep out Paulo Machado's header.
The Arsenal keeper could do little about Maniatis's close-range finish after 64 minutes, however, when the Olympiacos midfielder scored from Kostas Manolas's knock-down to net a deserved equaliser. Mitroglou replaced Abdoun in the 72nd minute and the substitute won the game barely 60 seconds later with a superb curling shot from the edge of the area
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Manchester City FC
Julian Schieber's first UEFA Champions League goal was enough to end Manchester City FC's European season as Borussia Dortmund crowned a marvellous Group D campaign with a narrow victory.
The German title holders sailed through perhaps the competition's toughest section unbeaten in first place, recording their third successive home win. That is in stark contrast to City, who become the first English team in the UEFA Champions League era to fail to win a group match and finish fourth having lost all three of their away fixtures.
As a reward for their side's early progression to the knockout rounds, the home fans unveiled a magnificent choreography of the club crest as the players emerged from the tunnel. With top spot already assured, Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp gave several fringe players a chance to shine on Europe's biggest stage and one of them, Oliver Kirch, had the game's first effort on goal, a shot comfortably claimed by Joe Hart.
Opportunities remained scarce until Edin Džeko's dipping long-range strike required a hand around the post from Roman Weidenfeller. The Dortmund goalkeeper, brilliant against FC Bayern München at the weekend, again showed top-class reflexes to repel Carlos Tévez's point-blank header – albeit from an offside position – soon after the lively Marco Reus had fired narrowly wide having ghosted infield at the other end.
Reus's partner in attacking midfield Ivan Perišić, no stranger to scoring spectacular volleys versus English sides having contributed one against Arsenal FC last term, almost got another as Dortmund began to press after the break. The Croatian international watched a deep cross all the way before slamming the dropping ball goalwards, only for Hart to tip over.
The England No1 was then called upon to deny Kevin Grosskreutz's near-post drive after a smart interchange with Moritz Leitner, though there was nothing Hart could do on 57 minutes when substitute Jakub Błaszczykowski sent a teasing low ball into the box for Schieber to slide in his maiden goal in the competition.
The former VfB Stuttgart striker might have had a second when he raced through moments later, yet Hart was wise to the 23-year-old's attempted chip. Further spurned openings for Leitner and substitute Robert Lewandowski could have made for a more handsome scoreline as City struggled to respond, meaning AFC Ajax take the section's UEFA Europa League berth in spite of their 4-1 defeat at Real Madrid CF.
Montpellier Hérault FC 1-1 FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04 secured first place in UEFA Champions League Group B with a draw at Montpellier Hérault SC, who bowed out of the competition on a positive note.
René Girard had insisted his side would make the most of their final European outing this season and the French champions were as good as their coach's word. Though Benedikt Höwedes gave the visitors the lead 11 minutes after the break, Emanuel Herrera levelled three minutes later to earn Montpellier a deserved second point of the group stage. With Arsenal FC losing at Olympiacos FC, a draw was enough for Huub Stevens's men to head into the last 16 as group winners, though only some fine late stops from Timo Hildebrand preserved Schalke's unbeaten record.
While the visiting goalkeeper was playing his first UEFA Champions League game in five years, at the opposite end Jonathan Ligali was making his European competition bow just three days after his Ligue 1 debut. Though he smothered reassuringly at the feet of Julian Draxler, he could only watch Teemu Pukki scuff wide an inviting low Draxler cross shortly after.
Montpellier enjoyed possession without penetration; Schalke pierced whenever they had the ball even with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on the bench. The hosts found a single chink in the Bundesliga club's armour when Souleymane Camara seized a lofted pass, but the forward's untidy first touch meant a promising shooting opportunity was lost.
The emergence of Romain Pitau from the bench at half-time appeared simply a thoughtful gesture by Girard, handing the midfielder a UEFA Champions League debut at the age of 35. It almost proved a masterstroke with the veteran belying his combative reputation with a delicately weighted ball for Anthony Mounier, whose shot was blocked by Hildebrand before Atsuto Uchida lunged to somehow divert Herrera's follow-up over the unguarded goal.
The full-back's effort prevented a certain goal and, soon after, two fellow defenders combined to create one – Christoph Metzelder headed down Lewis Holtby's flighted free-kick for Höwedes to dive and nod over the line. Montpellier quickly recovered though, and when Herrera's header from a deep Mounier cross was repelled by Metzelder, the Schalke centre-back could not stop the MHSC attacker flicking in the rebound.
His confidence swelled by a maiden UEFA Champions League goal, a rejuvenated Herrera might even have won it for the Ligue 1 team, but the Argentinian was twice denied by Hildebrand – the second time brilliantly so – to leave Montpellier poorly rewarded for their Group B efforts.
Málaga CF 2-2 RSC Anderlecht
Málaga CF completed their debut UEFA Champions League group stage campaign unbeaten after a 2-2 home draw with an often excellent RSC Anderlecht side.
Two top-class Duda goals looked to have sealed victory for the already anointed Group C winners but Milan Jovanović and Dieudonné Mbokani replied with second-half strikes which rewarded the Belgian champions' invention and ambition. Yet with goalkeeper Carlos Kameni impressing, the Spanish club kept Anderlecht, who finished fourth in the section and missed out on the UEFA Europa League, at bay.
Despite the hosts missing eight first-teamers, and coach John van den Brom asking the visitors to start cautiously, the first half was bursting with sumptuous football. Málaga might have led by three goals inside the opening 11 minutes. Manuel Iturra shot centimetres past Silvio Proto's post, Proto saved one-on-one from Diego Buonanotte, then Oguchi Onyewu's cross invited Weligton to bulge the net but he fired over.
The bitter to offset the sweet came when Jérémy Toulalan collapsed holding his hamstring. Moments after Ignacio Camacho had replaced the Frenchman a long ball from Eliseu put Seba through, but the youngster dallied and Behrang Safari made the daring penalty-area interception.
That Manuel Pellegrini's men missed so many chances yet would still lead at half-time was thanks to Kameni, making his maiden appearance in the competition. His first save in the UEFA Champions League will compete with anything else seen this season. Jovanović's cross was perfect for Mbokani to head powerfully at goal but Kameni reacted at point-blank range. He excelled again to divert a Massimo Bruno vollley.
Reward for the Liga outfit came just before the interval with Duda's crashing left-foot shot into the top corner of Proto's net. Almost directly after the restart, however, Safari's ball let Mbokani set up Jovanović to neatly lob Kameni for the first Anderlecht equaliser. Jovanović then smashed a fierce effort off the post moments later.
The high-quality action – and scoring – continued. Soon after the hour Duda controlled immaculately to draw down Buonanotte's left-wing pass and smack the ball under the Anderlecht keeper for 2-1.
Proto denied Málaga's captain a hat-trick with a diving stop from his sweetly struck free-kick, before Kameni repelled Jovanović's close-range shot at the other end. However, Mbokani had the final word for Anderlecht, albeit in vain, sidefooting home Sacha Kljestan's cross with a minute left on the clock to restore parity.
AC Milan 0-1 FC Zenit St Petersburg
A first-half goal from Danny proved decisive as FC Zenit St Petersburg overcame AC Milan in Group C and qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
With the hosts already assured of second spot in the section behind Málaga CF, Massimiliano Allegri opted to leave the in-form Stephan El Shaarawy on the bench. And with the Rossoneri somewhat blunted in attack as a consequence, Zenit took control and landed the telling blow ten minutes before the break when captain Danny stroked in a shot from inside the penalty area.
Fancied at the start of the group stage, Zenit at least take their leave of the UEFA Champions League on a high courtesy of only their second victory in 12 away matches in Europe's premier club competition.
Milan enjoyed most of the possession in the early exchanges without creating an opportunity of note. The Russian champions had the first significant attempt after 18 minutes when Sergei Semak found space on the right before cutting inside and firing just over the crossbar. Cristián Zapata then intervened to stop Hulk's run towards goal.
Back came Milan, however, and Nicolas Lombaerts deflected over a close-range effort by Giampaolo Pazzini following Mattia De Sciglio's low ball from the right. From the ensuing corner, Zapata missed the target with a right-foot volley.
With 35 minutes on the clock, though, Luciano Spalletti's team took the lead, goalscorer Danny launching the move with an attempted pass to Semak inside the box. When the ball rebounded kindly into his path, the Portuguese international did well to wrap his right foot around the ball and direct a precise low shot across Christian Abbiati.
Vyacheslav Malafeev punched away a powerful shot from Mathieu Flamini at the other end as Milan sought an instant riposte, and the Zenit keeper made a more difficult save early in the second period when he blocked Pazzini's close-range strike with his feet.
Allegri reinforced his attack, sending on Robinho and El Shaarawy for left-back Djamel Mesbah and midfielder Flamini respectively, changes which almost paid dividends. The Brazil forward came close with a curling effort that whistled past Malafeev's left-hand post, while El Shaarawy missed the target from a promising position with five minutes left. It was not, however, Milan's night.
Paris Saint-Germain FC 2-1 FC Porto
Paris Saint-Germain FC clinched top spot in Group A after beating FC Porto in the French capital thanks to Ezequiel Lavezzi's second-half goal.
Both teams were already assured of their places in the last 16, but the French club now go into the draw as section winners after overtaking Vítor Pereira's men at the last. In an open encounter, Jackson Martínez cancelled out Thiago Silva's strike, yet the hosts upped the pace after the break and took the points through Lavezzi's 61st-minute goal.
Carlo Ancelotti's charges may have suffered another Ligue 1 loss at the weekend, but their UEFA Champions League form has been near perfect and they were quickly on the front foot again here. The in-form Zlatan Ibrahimović came close to converting Javier Pastore's cross and Alex nodded a chance straight at Helton before PSG deservedly went ahead, Thiago Silva powering a header in off the underside of the bar from Maxwell's 29th-minute free-kick.
The two-time European Cup winners had appeared subdued until then – Martínez's deflected effort wide their only real threat – yet they soon stirred. With Lucho González and João Moutinho exerting more influence in midfield, the Parisian side began to drop deep and were punished on 33 minutes when Danilo dribbled past Pastore on the right and crossed beautifully for Martínez to nod in from close range.
If the response momentarily silenced the home fans, they found their voice again on the stroke of half-time, acclaiming the brilliance of Ibrahimović whose clever lobbed header very nearly caught Helton out.
Knowing a win was required to secure pole position, PSG displayed renewed urgency at the start of the second half, enjoying a period of intense pressure. Helton was equal to Jérémy Ménez's thunderous strike, but the keeper then blemished an otherwise commanding performance by allowing Lavezzi's near-post shot to slip past him and into the net shortly after the hour.
Although PSG were good value for their advantage and continued to have the better of the game, they were almost caught out 20 minutes from time. After breaking the offside trap, the ever-dangerous Martínez lost his duel with Salvatore Sirigu and Lucho rifled the rebound over.
In a frantic finale, Ibrahimović failed to turn in a loose ball from close range, while at the other end Nicolás Otamendi's added-time header flashed wide as Porto surrendered their unbeaten record in the competition as well as first place in the section.
With the Likes of Manchester city out of the tournament and teams like Barcelona, Dortmund and United finishing top of their group, it will definitely be an interesting second round come February 2013.
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