Arsenal stay in the hunt; Bayern, Barca seal top spots

Arsenal stay in the hunt; Bayern, Barca seal top spots

Arsenal stay in the hunt; Bayern, Barca seal top spots

Alexis Sanchez scored a brace in
Arsenal's 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb
» Arsenal need to beat Olympiakos by
two goals in Greece on Dec 9 to advance
» Ten-man Bayern Munich eased into the
knockout stages after demolishing
Olympiakos 4-0
» Suarez hit a brace and set up a double
for Messi in his first start after injury as
Barca crushed Roma 6-1
» Chelsea outplayed 10-man Maccabi Tel
Aviv to move into prime position to
reach the knockout stages

London: Alexis Sanchez scored twice and
Mesut Ozil headed the other goal as
never-say-die Arsenal beat Dinamo
Zagreb 3-0 on Tuesday and kept alive
their hopes of reaching the Champions
League last 16 for a 16th straight season.
The Gunners, whose chances of
advancing looked remote after defeats
by Dinamo, Olympiakos Piraeus and
Bayern Munich in their opening four
matches, were given a huge helping hand
by Bayern Munich who thrashed the
Greeks 4-0 in the other Group F match.
Those results mean that Bayern are
through to the knockout round and
Arsenal will join them if they beat
Olympiakos by two clear goals in Greece
on December 9.
Bayern have 12 points, Olympiakos have
nine, Arsenal are on six and Dinamo
have three. If Olympiakos gain at least a
point against Arsenal they will go
through instead of the London side while
Dinamo are already eliminated and will
finish bottom.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told
reporters he was pleased his side now
had their fate back in their hands. “It
was important we did not concede the
first goal because they (Dinamo) were
quite dangerous going forward.
"We had to come out of the game tonight
with a chance to qualify -- we needed to
do the job and Bayern needed to do the
job and it happened -- and now I believe
we can do it. We have to go there
(Olympiakos) and win, and if we are
winning 1-0, then we can win 2-0."
Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic agreed,
telling reporters: "I think they can go
through, they have more quality than
Olympiakos and are a better team and I
think they will reach the next stage."

Ten-man Bayern Munich eased into the
knockout stages after demolishing
Greece's Olympiakos Piraeus 4-0 to
secure top spot in Group F with a game
to spare.
The German champions, who had
defender Holger Badstuber, back from
injury, sent off early in the second half
with a straight red card, were
unstoppable in the opening 20 minutes,
scoring three times to put the game to
bed early.
"We wanted to play our game from the
start, with a lot of motivation and drive.
We wanted to get an early goal and not
have to reach the 70th minute with the
game tight," scorer Thomas Mueller said.
Douglas Costa struck after eight minutes,
Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead in
the 16th with Mueller adding another
four minutes later as dazed Olympiakos
found no answer to the continuous
attacks.
Kingsley Coman headed in their fourth
goal in the 70th as Bayern moved up to
12 points ahead of their final game at
Dinamo Zagreb on December 9.

Luis Suarez hit a brace and set up a
double for Lionel Messi in his first start
after injury as Barcelona crushed AS
Roma 6-1. The win ensured Barca go
through to the last 16 in first place in
Group E with 13 points from five games,
eight ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and
Roma with BATE Borisov on four.
Barcelona are in the last 16 for the 12th
consecutive season following another
blistering attacking display that comes
hot on the back of their 4-0 destruction
of Real Madrid in La Liga last Saturday.
Gerard Pique and Adriano also scored
for Barcelona with Roma striker Edin
Dzeko, who had a penalty saved, netting
a consolation goal in stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Chelsea enjoyed their second
4-0 Champions League victory over 10-
man Maccabi Tel Aviv this season to
move into prime position to reach the
knockout stages of the competition from
Group G. With Dynamo Kiev winning 2-0
at Porto, however, the qualifiers for the
last 16 will only be determined in the
last round of matches when Chelsea host
Porto and Kiev welcome Maccabi.
Goals by Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and
Kurt Zouma secured the victory for
Chelsea whose task was made easier
when Maccabi captain Tal Ben Haim, a
key player in the heart of the defence,
was sent off five minutes before half-
time.
After five games, Chelsea, who only need
to draw their final match to progress,
and Porto each have 10 points with Kiev
on eight, while Maccabi are bottom
without a point.