FC Barcelona and FC Dynamo Kyiv head into their UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 fixtures fresh from extending their winning domestic sequences at the weekend.
Winning ways
Josep Guardiola's team have won their last seven Spanish Liga fixtures and eleven in all competitions, their latest success a 4-1 victory at Málaga CF on Saturday night. Such form has elevated Barça to the summit, a position which Dynamo also occupy in Ukraine. Runners-up last term, Dynamo are seven points clear of nearest challengers and UEFA Cup contenders FC Metalist Kharkiv, Yuri Semin's men recording their ninth successive Premier League victory on Saturday with a 4-0 home defeat of FC Karpaty Lviv. Elsewhere, Celtic FC won for the seventh time in as many Scottish Premier League matches when they defeated Heart of Midlothian FC 2-0 while, after a stuttering start to the season in Germany, FC Bayern München's upturn in form continued with a fourth straight Bundesliga win, 3-1 at home to DSC Arminia Bielefeld.
| Group A | Chelsea FC 5-0 Sunderland AFC
(Alex 27, Anelka 30 45 53, Lampard 51)
Luiz Felipe Scolari: "We played very good football, on the ground, feet to feet, and the players changed position very well. We had ten chances to score a goal and that was better than other games when we have not been shooting very well. Joe Cole played his best game. He helped to defend when we didn't have the ball and tried hard when we received the ball. This is what I want from my players. Lampard can score 150 goals in his career. One goal every two or three games is fantastic for a midfielder. This season we need to think who is the best in the world. It is Frank Lampard. Anelka has played more than in other season and he has more confidence now. He tries his best in every game." | AS Nancy-Lorraine 1-0 FC Girondins de Bordeaux
(Hadji 70)
Laurent Blanc: "We feel frustrated. We played against a very defensive team who simply sat back and won with their one shot on target. I'm happy for them but it's very frustrating to come away with nothing when we could have had at least a point. We just lacked strength in attack." | Juventus 2-0 AS Roma
(Del Piero 38, Marchionni 48)
Luciano Spalletti: "We started well and deserved a goal in the first 20-30 minutes. Then Del Piero scored a great free-kick and my players started to worry about losing again and it's difficult to play when you play with fear. We weren't expecting such a situation so it's not easy for any of us. However, my players gave their all until the final whistle and I can't ask for more than that." | CFR 1907 Cluj 1-0 AFC Unirea Urziceni
(Koné 52)
Maurizio Trombetta: "We won a very important match. It was well deserved and it is important also that we are not out of the title race – in fact, we have never been out. Now, after the important match against Bordeaux, we have to bridge the points difference between us and the higher-placed teams. Before Bordeaux we will try to ensure the players are recovered." |
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| Group B | Panionios GSS 1-2 Panathinaikos FC
(Kumordzi 67; Gabriel 22, Goumas 84)
Henk ten Cate: "This victory is huge for us. When one works in such a big club and so many negative results pile up, the pressure is tremendous. I am very satisfied with the way my team reacted today and with the support we had. All matches are important – the ones we lost and the ones we won." | Reggina Calcio 2-3 FC Internazionale Milano
(Cozza 34, Brienza 52; Maicon 8, Vieira 23, Córdoba 90)
José Mourinho: "We played a great game and I would have said the same thing if the score was 2-2. We reacted very well after Reggina's second goal, creating several opportunities and showing a great team spirit. The victory was important but even if we had not scored the third goal I could say nothing to my players because they did everything they could to win." | Werder Bremen 5-1 Hertha BSC Berlin
(Kaká 14og, Diego 20, Rosenberg 41, Pizarro 59 85; Cicero Santos 69)
Thomas Schaaf: "We got into the match nicely and this time we did a lot of things right. We attacked the opposition early on and attacked to the end. The whole team showed its abilities better than before." | Anorthosis Famagusta FC 2-0 APOP / Kinyras Peyias FC
(Frousos 88 90)
Temuri Ketsbaia: "Congratulations to my players for the victory. It was a tough game against a side that is difficuilt to beat and it is no coincidence that our opponents have already secured ten points this season. They are a team with good players and our job wasn't made any easier by the fact that we were heading into this match on the back of a heavy defeat against Omonia. Now we look towards our next Champions League game and we need to now rest and then prepare properly for that game. I would like to thank our supporters who never stopped cheering for us tonight despite our bad defeat in Nicosia in our last game." |
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| Group C | FC Basel 1893 3-0 FC Sion
(Perović 9, Huggel 45pen, Stocker 62)
Valentin Stocker, Basel midfielder: "It's great that I scored and I was nicely supplied by Marko [Perović]. I take every day as it comes, I give it all I have in training and I hope I will be playing at Barcelona. It's a dream to play in that stadium." | FC Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 FC Zorya Luhansk
(Moreno 23 79, Willian 68; Xhihani 2)
Mircea Lucescu: "I am not satisfied that we had to put in so much effort to win the game before the crucial Champions League game against Sporting. But nevertheless, it is very important that we earned three points in the championship. It must lift our players' mood before the trip to Lisbon." | Málaga CF 1-4 FC Barcelona
(Duda 13; Xavi 5 53, Messi 19, Welington 82og)
Josep Guardiola: "It was one of those games where you try not to make mistakes. It was hard to play because of the state of the pitch [due to heavy rainfall]. Overall I'm satisfied that we got this win against a physically powerful team who are very bright on the counterattack. This triumph shows we are continuing to get stronger. We did well, gained three more points but we know there's a long way to go in the Liga." | Rio Ave FC 0-1 Sporting Clube de Portugal
(Liedson 40)
Paolo Bento: "We cannot wait to see the other teams' results. Sporting have a clear objective – that is to finish the season in first place. Today we won three important points against a tough adversary and we now have two more [points] than one of our direct opponents [FC Porto]. We are pleased. We played well in some parts of the match and were strong defensively. I must praise my players and their fighting spirit. With ten men we could only win with such organisation and a strong spirit." |
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| Group D | PSV Eindhoven 2-0 Willem II
(Swinkels 9og, Koevermans 57)
Huub Stevens: "Obviously it was a good thing that we took the lead so early. After that we put a lot of pressure on Willem II; we should have scored that second goal much earlier. But Danny [Koevermans] made up for that with a beautiful goal that deserves the goal of the month title. We were well organised and that is what I am satisfied about. Every match you win gives confidence. We collected the three points and I hope all my players avoided injury." | Club Atlético de Madrid 2-0 RCD Mallorca
(Agüero 14 28)
Javier Aguirre: "It's a relief because the team had gone four weeks with just one point and that wasn't enough considering our ambitions for this season. The game was sealed early on and we managed the situation well after that, knowing the three points were all important. We were fully focused during the game, we played with togetherness and didn't give a lot of space to our opponents. It wasn't a wonderful performance but we achieved our goal tonight." | Olympique de Marseille 3-1 AS Saint Etienne
(Cheyrou 21, Ben Arfa 38pen, Taiwo 71; Gomis 22)
Erik Gerets: "It was a good performance from my team. They were so hungry for goals at the beginning that we could have been caught by a counterattack. The second half was quieter with a safer system and less needless distance covered. I hail the spirit of the team, the discipline and the tactical intelligence. It was not so bad for a team in crisis. Ben Arfa? He satisfied me. He has, had and will have magical moments." | Tottenham Hotspur FC 2-1 Liverpool FC
(Carragher 70og, Pavlyuchenko 90; Kuyt 3)
Rafael Benítez: "We were controlling the game, creating enough chances to win – but you can't make any mistake. We conceded the first goal and then you can't make any mistakes. We just couldn't score the second goal, the crossbar, post stopped us. It's just one game but there's a long way to go – we need to start thinking about the next games now in the league and Champions League. We were much better than them for 70 or 75 minutes." |
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| Group E | Manchester United FC 4-3 Hull City AFC
(Ronaldo 3 44, Carrick 16, Vidić 57; Cousin 23, Mendy 69, Geovanni 82pen)
Sir Alex Ferguson: "[We] should have won by ten. We're a bit low after that performance, we didn't take our chances and that's annoying. We should have scored ten or eleven but we frittered our chances away and we've almost been left embarrassed. The only positive from today is that we're creating chances. We're playing some fantastic football at times. Ronaldo could have scored four or five. I don't know how many chances Berbatov made today but we could have scored a lot of goals. We missed all our chances, they've come back to 4-3 and we're left scrambling to get a victory." | Athletic Club Bilbao 1-4 Villarreal CF
(Etxeberria 29; Rossi 24, Pirès 53, Cazorla 59, Altidore 90)
Manuel Pellegrini: "There was little difference between the two sides in the first half. After that, we became more solid at the back, we controlled the ball better and we created ways of getting through their defence. They slowly began to leave more spaces at the back and with a triangle of Rossi, Llorente and Pirès in the middle we created a lot of problems for them." | Heart of Midlothian FC 0-2 Celtic FC
(Maloney 7, Caldwell 20)
Gordon Strachan: "We started off in top gear. They really went and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and when they go down to ten men we can take the sting out of the game and keep the ball. We went down a couple of gears then but that's what happens when you get into a winning position; you can relax a wee bit and that's what we did." | Odense BK 1-1 Aalborg BK
(Runstrom 39; Augustinussen 52)
Karim Zaza, AaB goalkeeper: "This proves we are on the right track and not doing as badly as some people have indicated. OB are a really strong team, and we are very content to get a point against them." |
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| Group F | FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti 1-1 FC Steaua Bucuresti
(Cristea 82; Kapetanos 8)
Dorinel Munteanu: "I consider this result totally unfair, because we were the better team. We hit the crossbar and a post, had many chances to score and in the end football punished us. Despite that, I'm very satisfied with how my players played and I congratulate them. We have huge potential. We can obtain very good results and performances, but we have a hard work to do so." | FC Bayern München 3-1 DSC Arminia Bielefeld
(Klose 25, Ribéry 77, Podolski 85; Wichniarek 30pen)
Jürgen Klinsmann: "I am pleased that we have three points and could extend our run. We had to be patient against a very compact Arminia team and we could have scored a couple more goals. Lukas Podolski has shown exactly the reaction I had expected from him." | Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 Le Mans UC 72
(Benzema 22, Juninho 57)
Claude Puel: "We delivered a good hard-working performance. It was an interesting game in terms of it was well finished and a well-done job. We performed strongly and never let Le Mans settle into their play. The second goal was important. We could from that point rest players for the Champions League game on Wednesday. We have now to recover as we must be able to repeat such efforts soon." | AC Siena 1-0 ACF Fiorentina
(Kharja 76)
Cesare Prandelli: "I think we played really well for about an hour. Then Siena suddenly went close to scoring on the counterattack and we lost our balance as Siena grew in confidence in the latter part of the game. I think today we only lacked a goal when we were dominating in the first half. However, I believe our defenders and midfielders have to start scoring because we cannot always count on goals from our attackers." |
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| Group G | A. Naval 1° Maio 1-0 FC Porto
(Daniel 54)
Jesualdo Ferreira: "We were the better team in the first half and created chances. In the second half we conceded a strange goal, but otherwise we did what we had to do. The players tried everything and created enough chances to win; the ball just didn't want to go in. We are unhappy and dissatisfied, but I cannot fault the players' attitude. It's not often we're in this sort of situation, but we can't call it a crisis." | Eskisehirspor 2-2 Fenerbahçe SK
(Anderson 17, Edu 45og; Alex 14 33pen)
Luis Aragonés: "We made a good start to the match. My players created some very good chances to extend their lead but failed to convert them. This was something unexpected for us but such things can happen in football. We scored and then they caught us. Unfortunately, the game ended in a draw." | FC Dynamo Kyiv 4-0 FC Karpaty Lviv
(Milevskiy 17, Bangoura 25 53, Aliyev 45pen)
Yuri Semin: "We played well going forward. We created some good opportunities and scored some nice goals. We weren't at our best in defence, though, as Karpaty always looked dangerous in front of goal." | Stoke City FC 2-1 Arsenal FC
(Fuller 11, Olofinjana 73; Clichy 90)
Arsène Wenger: "We had a lot of the ball but we didn't create many chances today because they were well organised. We should have scored the first goal today to make them come out, but they took advantage of their throw-ins. If you have a guy who can throw in like that [Rory Delap], anything can happen; it's like a real set-piece with 20 men in the box. We were prepared for that but they defended well and were well organised and committed − and they were better than us physically. We were punished very hard today." |
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| Group H | Juventus 2-0 AS Roma
(Del Piero 38, Marchionni 48)
Claudio Ranieri: "We can finally see a bit of light after the darkness. We had a bad period but I will be happy only when I will have all my players back from injury. Tiago played a brilliant game in midfield, giving the right tempo to the whole team. We made a couple of mistakes in the first 20 minutes but we played a very good game in general." | FC Zenit St. Petersburg 1-0 FC Khimki
(Danny 16)
Dick Advocaat: "I can't say that we played as well as we are able to, but the most important thing is that we deserved the three points. This win should help give us confidence." | UD Almería 1-1 Real Madrid CF
(Piatti 81; Raúl 38)
Bernd Schuster: "We had chances we should have taken advantage of but I'm happy with the attitude of my players. We're satisfied with a point but we're leaving with the feeling that we could have had all three. Once again we have failed to take advantage of some good counterattacking opportunities. We felt comfortable and our control was good. We know we had the quality to finish off this game but it wasn't to be." | FC BATE Borisov 2-1 FC Torpedo Zhodino
(Rodionov 5, Bliznyuk 25; Sheryakov 36)
Viktor Goncharenko: "Everybody could see that it was a nervous performance. We won thanks to our two forward players who have the ability to score from nothing. Obviously I'd like to keep this quality and united squad together but I understand that this will be virtually impossible. Many of our guys will receive tempting offers. We'll try but it will be hard to keep them. Most of them have won everything they can in Belarus so it would be hard to motivate them in the future. We have already started looking for replacements, and I'm mentally prepared to start building a new team." |
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