Group A
1. Bordeaux, 2. Bayern Munich, 3. Juventus, 4. Maccabi Haifa
The French side skated to a group win with a workmanlike 1-0 win over the Israelis, who set a dubious UCL record with six shutout losses. Bayern got a PK goal from its goalie (Jorg Butt) and dominated the Italians 4-1 to grab the final berth into the knockout stage.

First Mikel pulls a Carlton Cole. Now this.

From chelseafc.com: "Michael Essien today (Wednesday) underwent an examination on the injury he suffered in last night's Champions League game. Results of scans show a tear in his right hamstring. Essien is expected to be out for three to four weeks.

Apologies for the lateness of this post, and the lack of anything else on the blog over the past couple of days. I've yet to get over this weekend's debacle, to be fair.

Anyway, we must move on to a seemingly meaningless fixture to close out a solid display in the Champions League group stages.

Ronaldo's two goals meant Real Madrid qualified for the last 32 stage in their match against Marseille. They stay group winners as AC Milan followed them close behind. Real won 1-3 as Ronaldo scored in the fifth minute through a free kick. Lucho Gonzalez scored six minutes later from close range after which Raul [.

Juventus figured to have some momentum heading into its do-or-die Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Having just beaten Inter Milan, Juve needed only a draw at home against Bayern to reach the Round of 16, but instead of a draw, the Italian club was handed a 4-1 beating and a place in the Europa League.

Uefa Champions League Chelsea vs APOEL Nicosia FC: Live Stream here Chelsea - APOEL Nicosia FC : Highlights here Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today

If we'd asked you Monday evening, which of these would you have offered up as most likely: a) Michael Owen scoring a hat trick. b) Bayern, who scored 6 goals total in November, putting 4 past Gigi Buffon in Italia. c) A backline of Ji-Sung Park, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick & Darren Fletcher combining to hold Edin Dzeko [.

(highlights di Chelsea-Apoel Nicosia)
Chelsea e Porto, a braccetto negli ottavi di finale, con i londinesi che passano per primi nel Gruppo D. E' questo quanto è emerso dalle ultime sfide della fase a gironi. Gli inglesi di Ancelotti pareggiano in casa 2-2 con i ciprioti dell'Apoel Nicosia, che guadagnano, con grande orgoglio e determinazione, l'Europa League.

"It was not a good evening and I spoke with my players. We did well in the first half, reacting well after going behind after six minutes, but the second half was totally different. We lost intensity, we lost concentration, we played too slowly and too soft. The second half was not good and I'm not happy.

If Tuesday's Champions League was the wildly unpredictable and younger older sibling, Tuesday's was the safer, more mature, more conservatively dressed older brother. The first grouping of games was full of mischief and slightly stunning scorelines, and the second matchups have everybody thinking "I knew that would happen why didn't I bet on it?

UPDATE: According to The Sporting Life, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted once again that he does not need to spend next month. Ancelotti said,

"I am satisfied with the team I have ... In January, (Didier) Drogba, (John) Mikel, (Salomon) Kalou and (Michael) Essien will be playing in the Africa Nations Cup and they will miss four round of games in the Premier League.

UPDATE: According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti once again admitted that he is not buying anybody in January. Carlo said,

"I would like to say, for the last time, we will not buy anybody in January - 100 per cent.