Chelsea on brink of exit after Juventus defeat

© Reuters Titleholders Chelsea were on the brink of an unprecedented group stage exit in the Champions League after being overpowered 3-0 at Serie A leaders Juventus in a rousing atmosphere on Tuesday.

Fabio Quagliarella broke the deadlock with a fortuitous goal seven minutes before halftime and Arturo Vidal capped another dynamic performance by side-footing the second just after the hour thanks to another deflection.

Sebastian Giovinco struck in stoppage time.

With Shakhtar Donetsk qualifying with a 5-2 win at Nordsjaelland in the other Group E match, Juventus need only a point to go through when they visit the Ukrainian champions in their final game next month.

Chelsea's only hope is to beat Nordsjaelland and hope Shakhtar defeat the Serie A champions, otherwise they will become the first defending champions to go out in the group stage since the Champions League began.

The defeat and looming elimination heaped the pressure on Chelsea's Italian coach Roberto Di Matteo, who left Fernando Torres out of the starting lineup and began without a recognised striker.

It could have been very difficult if Chelsea had taken an early chance set up by Oscar who ran 50 metres through the Juventus midfield and slipped the ball to Eden Hazard, who dallied and saw his effort deflected wide by Gianluigi Buffon's legs.

Juventus had already sounded a warning when Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech made a superb save to knock Stephan Lichtsteiners's close-range effort onto the post.

Juve hassled Chelsea incessantly in midfield, refusing to allow them to settle, and their approach work was often superb, but they lacked the final pass.

However, a stroke of luck allowed them to take the lead when Andrea Pirlo beat Oscar to the ball near the centre circle. He hit a weak effort from long range but it deflected off Quagliarella into the net past a wrong-footed Cech.

Chelsea defender David Luiz nearly turned Kwadwo Asamoah's cross into his own goal immediately afterwards but was saved when Ashley Cole made a last-ditch clearance off the line.

Chelsea made a promising start to the second half but Juventus wasted another chance when Quagliarella broke through but tried to round Cech, leaving himself with too narrow an angle.

They killed the game off when Asamoah burst into the area and laid the ball off for Vidal to sidefoot home via a deflection and Giovinco added the gloss late on.

Bayern join Valencia in last 16 after 1-1 draw

© Reuters Bayern Munich joined Group F rivals Valencia in the last 16 of the Champions League after the 2001 finalists played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Mestalla on Tuesday.

Lille's 2-0 win at BATE Borisov in the earlier kickoff had put the Spanish club through to the knockout stage and Bayern, last year's runners-up, also progressed despite failing to make their numerical advantage count against 10-man Valencia.

The hosts had right back Antonio Barragan sent off for a wild tackle on David Alaba in the 33rd minute but, roared on by their fans, produced a battling performance to thwart the side that beat them on penalties in the final in Milan 11 years ago.

Sofiane Feghouli's deflected shot put Valencia ahead against the run of play in the 77th before Thomas Mueller levelled five minutes later to secure a place in the knockout phase.

With five of six matches played, Bayern and Valencia each have 10 points and will aim to secure top spot and thereby avoid the big guns when they play their final matches on Dec. 5.

Bayern host BATE, who are third on six points and have already clinched a Europa League place by virtue of a better head-to-head record with Lille. Valencia visit the French side, who are bottom with three points.

Bayern defender Dante twice went close with headers from corners in the early stages against the Spaniards before Manuel Neuer pulled off a superb save to deny Feghouli.

With a man extra the Germans had plenty of possession in the second half but Valencia squandered a chance to open the scoring when Tino Costa played Roberto Soldado through in the 62nd.

The Spain striker, who has four goals in the competition this season, struck a fierce shot towards Neuer's goal but it flew narrowly over the bar.

Feghouli then gave Valencia the lead before Mueller's scuffed effort secured the late equaliser.

United and Chelsea slip up as City hit the top

© Reuters Manchester United were humbled 1-0 by Norwich City and Chelsea upset at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday as champions Manchester City took advantage of their rivals' mistakes to go top with a 5-0 demolition of Aston Villa.

United, who suffered their third Premier League defeat of the season in the late kickoff at Carrow Road, succumbed to a 60th-minute header from their former youth team player Anthony Pilkington.

Chelsea lost 2-1 at West Brom, with Peter Odemwingie's second-half winner sending the home side into fourth place and ruining the return of former Baggies manager Roberto Di Matteo.

City's victory at the Etihad Stadium, engineered with two goals apiece from Argentine duo Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez, took them top of the league for the first time this season.

Roberto Mancini's side have 28 points from 12 matches, with United second on 27 points. Chelsea have 24 points from 12 games with Albion a point further back.

Arsenal had kickstarted their season in the early Saturday kickoff by beating north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 after Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor was sent off for a reckless first-half challenge on Santi Cazorla.

In-form Luis Suarez scored twice to help Liverpool to a 3-0 win at home to Wigan Athletic, who lost midfielder Ben Watson to a broken leg, while Swansea City enjoyed a 2-1 victory at a struggling Newcastle United.

Southampton increased the pressure on Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes by winning their basement battle 3-1 away and Reading - who also started the day in the bottom three - surprised Everton with a 2-1 home win, Adam Le Fondre's double leading them to their first league win this season.

MISSED ROONEY

United missed Wayne Rooney, who was sidelined with tonsillitis, though Alex Ferguson was still able to pair Robin van Persie with Javier Hernandez, who had claimed a hat-trick seven days ago as United came back from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2.

Ferguson's men were suddenly facing another deficit when Pilkington got in front of defender Chris Smalling to glance a deft header from Javier Garrido's cross past keeper Anders Lindegaard.

Ferguson had said this week he could not remember Pilkington from his time at Old Trafford, though the midfielder joked after the game: "I was only about five, so that's probably why."

United were so poor they only put John Ruddy under serious pressure in the dying moments, the Norwich goalkeeper doing well to turn away a misplaced header from defender Sebastien Bassong and then saving bravely at the feet of Paul Scholes after he had blocked Anderson's 20-metre drive.

"We're disappointed, but they deserved it," Ferguson told ESPN. "We had one or two half-chances, and the players are used to making comebacks, but Norwich defended really well."

West Brom fans gave Chelsea manager Di Matteo a warm welcome on the Italian's return to the Hawthorns and then their team showed him how far they had come since he was sacked in 2011.

Shane Long headed the home side ahead in the 10th minute and after Eden Hazard equalised with a header six minutes before the break, it was another header that gave West Brom the points with Long this time the provider and Odemwingie nodding the cross through Petr Cech's legs.

The result was a personal triumph for Steve Clarke, the West Brom manager and former Chelsea coach and player.

Clarke said: "There is a feel-good factor here. Our job is to keep our feet on the ground but if the supporters want to dream they can."

City appeared vulnerable early on against Villa, but once David Silva had given the hosts the lead with a toe-poke seconds before halftime, Villa had little response.

The visitors, though, were angry at the way City doubled their lead as City were awarded a harsh penalty for what appeared to be a handball against Andreas Weimann.

Aguero converted the 54th-minute spot kick and 11 minutes later they had another penalty - this time Tevez taking the responsibility after Barry Bannan was penalised for handball.

Aguero made it four with a deflected effort and Tevez kept pace with his compatriot with his second on 74 minutes.

DIVED IN

At the north London derby in the early kickoff, Adebayor gave Spurs the lead after 10 minutes but seven minutes later the Togolese dived into a tackle on Cazorla and was shown a straight red card by referee Howard Webb.

Germany defender Per Mertesacker equalised for Arsenal with a powerful header after 24 minutes and Arsene Wenger's side scored twice in the last three minutes of the first half - through Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud - to take control.

Spaniard Cazorla made it four on the hour and although Gareth Bale's shot from the edge of the area gave Spurs some hope, Theo Walcott completed the scoring in injury time - the 39th goal in the last eight matches between the teams.

Speculation about Hughes's position as QPR manager will increase following Southampton's victory.

The south-coast club, who started the day one point ahead of bottom-placed QPR, took a two-goal lead through Rickie Lambert and Jason Puncheon and although Junior Hoilett pulled one back in the 49th minute, Anton Ferdinand's own goal seven minutes from time completed a miserable day for QPR.

Egypt's Al Ahli take African Champions League

© Reuters Goals from Mohamed Nagui and Walid Soliman handed Egypt's Al Ahli the African Champions League crown on Saturday following a 2-1 away win over holders Esperance of Tunisia.

A record-extending seventh title came at the end of a dominant, fast-paced performance that again proved Ahli's big match temperament in overcoming a hostile home crowd at Tunis' Rades Stadium to take the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

A mazy run from El Sayed Hamdi, who squeezed past muscular defender Walid Hichri to cut inside the penalty area from the left wing, set up the opening goal for Nagui two minutes before halftime.

Soliman made it 2-0 with a goal of some individual brilliance, bringing down a long defensive clearance with a superb first touch, rounding a defender and then placing his ball wide of the home goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifa.

That goal just after the hour mark effectively settled the destiny of the trophy with some 30 minutes remaining as it left Esperance needing to score three times to hold on to their crown.

But they could only manage a late consolation from Yannick Ndjeng in the 85th minute with a simple tap-in from close range. The Cameroonian import had earlier hit the outside of the post with another close-in effort.

Ahli squandered an 89th minute penalty after Ben Cherifa had needlessly given away a spot kick with a rash challenge on Dominique da Silva but then redeemed himself by saving the kick from Ahli's talisman Mohamed Aboutrika.

Saturday's success completes a year of triumph and tragedy for the Cairo giants. Al Ahli were playing Al Masry in February when 74 people were killed in a riot at Port Said, an incident which led to the suspension of Egypt's domestic league.

Despite the lack of competitive action, Ahli showed no signs of being short of match fitness or sharpness as they swarmed all over their hosts to win their first title since 2008.

They had been underdogs going into second leg after Esperance had forced a draw away in the first leg in Alexandria.

But if the Tunisians were expecting to dominate, they were quickly stunned by the pace of Ahli's play and the chances they swiftly set up.

It nullified any advantage Esperance were expecting from a crowd of 32,000, given dispensation to watch the game in a country where football has been mainly played behind closed doors for the last year because of security fears.

Ahli now advance to the Club World Cup in Japan next month.

I dag Nordsjælland - Shakhtar Donetsk direkte dækning

I scenen nummer 5, i gruppe E i UEFA Champions League er Shakhtar Donetsk bevæger sig i Damenarca, som holder møde lokale hold FC Nordsjælland, kampe spillet i aften, der starter ved 21:45, Farum Park Stadium. Vi valgte for dette spil, en forudsigelse med store chancer for succes, vil gæsterne blive krævet i slutningen af normal tid, og vil besidde de tre point på spil. I tilfælde af sejr i dette spil, vil de studerende Mircea Lucescu undgå at spille den sidste runde af gruppe kvalifikation, og kan håndtere nogle afslappende omgang det næste stadie i selskab med Juventus. Selv ukrainere fre Cup nederlag i den foregående etape, tabte i den sidste overarbejde spillet, de starter med den første chance for at vinde de tre punkter på spil, både på grund af sin ladning i gruppen, og på grund af deres spillere, mere end danskere. Også dem i Donetsk vundet de sidste 2 kampe direkte fra Nordsjælland, og det ser ud til vi går med samme resultat. Alt i alt, gå med 8 enheder i en gæst hold sejr.