Great results again for La Liga sides on Wednesday night. Barcelona made sure of top spot in their group after a 2-3 win at AC Milan, the only team who had taken points off them all season. An own goal by Van Bommel from Keita's cross, and a Messi penalty after Nesta pushed over Xavi, were both cancelled out by strikes from Ibrahimovic and Boateng. But Xavi picked up a pass from Messi twenty minutes in to the second half to score the winner in what was one of the most entertaining games of the season. And Valencia clocked up their biggest win ever in the Champions League, beating Genk 7-0 to take over second spot in their group table. Jonas opened the scoring before Soldado completed a first half hat-trick and Pablo Hernández, Aduríz and Tino Costa added three more after the break. The high score gave them the edge over Chelsea in the table, and a score-draw in their last group match in Stamford Bridge in a fortnight's time will see Unai Emery's side through to the knock-out stage, whatever the outcome in the other group game. (23.11.11)
No surprises on Tuesday night, Real Madrid thrashing Dinamo Zagreb 6-2 to ensure top spot of their group, and Villarreal out of Europe completely this season after losing 3-1 at Bayern Munich. With qualification already in the bag, Mourinho left Ronaldo and Casillas on the bench and gave a run out to some of his lesser used players. But even so they were three up with only eight minutes on the clock, Benzema, Callejón and Higuaín the scorers. Özil added a fourth later in the first half, and Callejón and Benzema got their seconds of the night after the restart, and with the game coming to a close Beciraj and Tomecak scored a couple of late consolation goals for the Croatians. Villarreal needed a near miracle to even qualify for the Europa League after losing their first four games in their "group of death", but a victory in Germany was virtually impossible after Ribéry and Mario Gómez put the locals two up early on. De Guzmán got one back soon after the restart, but Ribéry scored his second of the evening soon afterwards to put the game beyond Villarreal's reach. (22.11.11)