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UEFA Champions League – Groups A through D know their finalists
Matchday 6 has been completed by groups A through D and with it, their group stage has come to an end. The favorites did their duties and are now just waiting to know their playoff rivals.
The UEFA Champions League already knows the representatives from groups A,B, C and D that will be present in the knockout round. Now all that is left is time for groups E through H to complete the list on Wednesday for the drawing that will let the top 16 teams in Europe find out who their rivals are. Let’s begin the review with group A, where the defending champion Inter from Italy suffered some setbacks that put into risk their classification to the next round. Three wins, one draw and two loses was the balance of their performance, which was insufficient to clinch the group and gain the home-field advantage.
Tottenham from England ended with 11 points, one more than Inter and surprisingly clinched the group. Behind where left the Dutch champions from Twente with 6 points and the Germans from Werder Bremen with 5, that despite being eliminated since matchday 5, they gave their fans the pleasure of defeating the defending champions on the last game 3-0.
Group B was composed of less traditional teams, but that didn’t make it less attractive. Schalke 04 from Germany is in the 15th place of their local tournament, and they showed us their winning face in Europe -which is so missed in the Bundesliga- finishing in first place with 13 points. Olympique Lyonnais from France assured their participation in the knockout phase with 10 points, winning the battle for the last playoff ticket at stake over the Portuguese champion Benfica (6 points) and the also champion, but from Israel, Hapoel Tel Aviv (5 points).
The three times UEFA Champions League winner Manchester United from England won the dispute for the first place of group C to Valencia from Spain, team that finished for two consecutive seasons (1999-00, 2000-01) as the runner up of the competition. The Red Devils had 14 points, 3 more than Los Che.
Behind were the defending champion of the Scottish Premier League Glasgow Rangers with 6 points, and the weakest team in the group, the Turkish champion Bursaspor that only added 1 point in the competition, thanks to their 1 to 1 tie at home against Rangers.
In group D Barcelona from Spain was the clear favorite, and they didn’t let their fans down, as they completed the group phase undefeated with 14 points, clinching the home-field advantage as well. The Danish champion Copenhagen tried their best to keep up Barcelona’s pace, and although they couldn’t do so, their effort was good enough to finish in second place with 10 points, 4 more than Rubin Kazan from Russia, and 8 more than Panathinaikos from Greece.
It sure was an entertaining group phase, which was characterized for the margin error that six games per team allow, but now the rules will change and competitiveness will reach its summit with the knockout stage, where a two game series will decides who advances and who doesn’t.
About the Author
Andrew Hill has been a prominent writer on sports news and the sports betting industry for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.
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