TheSportsCampus

The eight games in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night had a bit of everything with its fair share of shocks and hard fought wins. But perhaps most crucially, it ended Matchday 5 with a very clear picture of whose going through in some groups while in others, matchday 6 couldn't have been set up to be more exciting. There were no extravagant scorelines on Wednesday but there were goals in each game with 13 scored in all over the 90 minutes, and some extremely tight affairs with only one match having more than a one-goal scoreline

The performance of the night arguably came from Turkish giants Besiktas who did remarkably better than their 8-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool on their last visit t o England's north-west to leave Old Trafford with all three points thereby ending United's 23 game unbeaten home record in this competition. A decidedly second string United team that you would associate more with the Carling Cup than Europe's elite competition dominated possession and had 26 shots on goal to night, but the only one that mattered came from Rodrigo Tello of Besiktas who gave the visitors the lead in the 20th minute with a deflected strike.

There were 9 changes to the United side that beat Everton 3-0 last weekend in the Premier League, and despite the loss a number of the youngsters on display put in some good performances, especially young French winger Gabriel Obertan who had United's best chance of the night after picking up the ball in his own half and sprinting with it the length of the pitch only to be denied by an excellent Rustu Recber in goal.

United called on the cavalry in an attempt to rescue a point like they had done against CSKA Moscow on matchday 4 but it wasn't to be on this occasion as Besiktas hung on for a truly memorable win.

While the only significance of that result to Group B is that Manchester United are yet to win the group, the more crucial result came in the early kick-off in Russia where CSKA mounted a spirited second half comeback to beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1. Edin Dzeko's 19th minute goal was to no avail as Tomas Necid and Milos Krasic struck in a golden 8-minute spell for the hosts early in the second half to bring CSKA level on points with Wolfsburg with a trip to Turkey beckoning. CSKA will need to better Wolfburg's home result against United on 8th December to book their place in the last 16.

Group A meanwhile saw the perfect evening possible for underfire German heavyweights Bayern Munich, with them securing a 1-0 home win against Israel's finest Maccabi Haifa thanks to a 62nd minute goal from Ivica Olic, and group winners Bordeaux beating Juventus 2-0 at the Stade Chaban-Delmas. Second half goals from Fernando Menegazzo and Marouane Chamakh mean that Juventus' lead over Munich in the fight for second place has been cut to a solitary point. The two teams will get a chance to settle the qualification dispute on their own accord when they clash in Turin on matchday 6.

Group C saw Real Madrid all but seal qualification by beating FC Zurich 1-0 at home, and AC Milan and Marseille only managing a draw at the San Siro. Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain scoring midway through the first half for a Real side who appeared to have an eye on this weekend's derby with Champions Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo returned from injury after nearly two months and played for the last 20 minutes to give the Galacticos one more option ahead of El Clasico. Real top the group with 10 points with AC Milan and Marseille in close attendance on 8 and 7 points respectively. Real are away to Marseille next time out and would need to lose by a three goal margin to give the French side a chance to pip them for a place in the last 16. More realistically for Marseille, should they better Milan's performance in Switzerland, they would go through at the expense of the Italian side.

And finally to the already decided Group D where Chelsea confirmed that they would go into December's draw as Group winners thanks to Nicloas Anelka's second half header against FC Porto. The battle for third place and a spot in the UEFA Europa League made no headway as APOEL Nicosia and Atletico Madrid played out a 1-1 draw in Cyprus.

Join us for Matchday 6 on the 8th and 9th of December!

Wednesday's Scores:

Group A
Girondins de Bordeaux 2-0 Juventus
FC Bayern München 1-0 Maccabi Haifa FC

Group B
PFC CSKA Moskva 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg
Manchester United FC 0-1 BeÅŸiktaÅŸ JK

Group C
Real Madrid CF 1-0 FC Zürich
AC Milan 1-1 Olympique de Marseille

Group D
FC Porto 0-1 Chelsea FC
APOEL FC 1-1 Club Atlético de Madrid

File Photograph copyright: Ryu Voelkel