Champions League anti-climax

Two weeks ago this blog suggested that what this entertaining and intriguing group stage needed to ensure it lives long in the memory was for matchday six to throw up several fixtures on which qualification for the knockout stage was dependent. Sadly, that has not come to pass. Instead we're stuck with a terrible damp squib of a final round of games, with only three round of 16 places (Juventus or Chelsea in Group E, Benfica or Celtic in Group G, Galatasaray or Cluj in Group H) up for grabs. Mike Adamson

Modest Mexès plays down wondergoal

"I saw this extraordinary goal and the ball looping into the air. At the time I didn't believe he'd scored, as it seemed impossible that it would go in!" With Philippe Mexès's last club goal coming 18 months previously, it's easy to understand why the Milan manager, Massimiliano Allegri, was agog at the site of his avuncular 30-year old centre-back leaping into the air 18 yards from goal and looping a delicious overhead kick into the top-left-hand corner of the Anderlecht goal. Mexès was modest afterwards, calling it "lucky". Surprising, yes. Lucky, no. His technique was sublime and, while comparisons with his former team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic's effort against England are a little far-fetched, Mexès can at least point to the fact that he actually beat a goalkeeper who was in his goal and trying to save it. It also helped Milan, who have had a torrid time in Serie A so far (they're 12th), to seal a last-16 spot. Gregg Bakowski

Can Celtic alter their mindset?

Celtic have done superbly well to get themselves into a position whereby all they need do in their final game against Spartak Moscow is better the result that Benfica achieve at Barcelona. All the more so when one considers the rearguard action it has taken to reach this point, highlighted by the statistic showing Neil Lennon's men have managed only 33 shots in their five matches whereas the opposition have had 108 at Fraser Forster's goal. While it says plenty about the goalkeeper's ability that he has conceded only seven times in the group stage, it also emphasises how resolutely his defence and midfield have coped with almost unrelenting pressure, not to mention the tactics Lennon has hitherto employed. Now it will be fascinating to see how Celtic deal with having to change their approach, which surely they must do, needing to take the game to Spartak to claim all three points, rather than sit back and hit the opposition on the break or at set-pieces. A draw may be enough but Celtic cannot rely on that. What's more, they must do it without the suspended Victor Wanyama. Mike Adamson

Fergie will not be so forgiving when Saturday comes

Alex Ferguson takes pride in his team's ability to bounce back from disappointments but not even the Manchester United manager was too bothered about the club's second 1-0 defeat in four days. Ferguson praised his young team for handling the boisterous atmosphere in Istanbul and said he was "satisfied" with their performance. He will play a similarly inexperienced team for the visit of Cluj in United's final group game. Ferguson chose to focus on the positives. Nick Powell, who was scoring for Crewe against Morecambe this time last year, played well in his first competitive start. Phil Jones made a welcome return for his first game of the season. And the young Norwegian striker Joshua King came off the bench to make his second appearance for the club.

The scoreline may not have concerned Ferguson but his team's inability to create chances without Wayne Rooney should worry the manager. United had three attempts on target against Galatasaray, with the most dangerous of those coming from a deflected Javier Hernández shot. They weren't much better on Saturday evening when Robin van Persie and Hernández ground to a halt against Norwich.

Ferguson praised the Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy after that game but United's strikers barely troubled him. Without Rooney to link the midfield and attack, Ferguson's team struggle to create chances. Losing twice has not provoked much ire from the United manager but expect to see some fireworks if his team fail to put the ball in QPR's net on Saturday. Rooney will be back in the team after recovering from tonsillitis and the opposition could not be more hapless. If United turn on the style, Mark Hughes could be waving goodbye to his job. At least he can take comfort from knowing that some of the Old Trafford crowd remember his more successful moments in the game. Paul Campbell

Vidal head and shoulders above his peers

While Roman Abramovich ensured that, in England at least, there was little time on Wednesday morning to wallow in Juventus's dismantling of Chelsea the night before, it now looks highly likely the continent will have further opportunities to marvel at the Old Lady in the new year. Andrea Pirlo and his beard may garner most of the attention in Juve's midfield but it is Arturo Vidal who we can't wait to see more of, the Chile international who complements the veteran Italian with his abundance of skill, dynamism and versatility. Mike Adamson

Serious questions should be posed about Mancini

The glaring statistic in Manchester City's dismal Champions League record this season is the zero in the wins column from their five group games. In Abu Dhabi, the club's hierarchy will gaze at this, consider Sheikh Mansour's £1bn investment in the Blues and pose serious questions about Roberto Mancini's ability to move them forward in the challenge against the continent's elite. "Worse" than last year was the Italian's assessment of the three points gathered so far against the 10 won then. Mancini may not lose his job immediately but to strengthen his position City had to appear serious Champions League contenders, at least. Instead, they are out again before Christmas. By anyone's assessment this is not good enough. Jamie Jackson

The Joy of Six

Mancini and Roberto Di Matteo have copped plenty of flak for their inability to steer their clubs through to the knockout stage (although given another fortnight it is not altogether impossible Di Matteo would have seen Chelsea qualify). But in Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, the two English clubs have not been eliminated, or pushed close to elimination, by a bunch of mugs. Along with Barcelona and Bayern Munich they form arguably the six strongest teams in this year's competition. Mike Adamson

Premier League ranks third

Arsenal and Manchester United will hope to prove that previous point wrong over the coming months but a lowly 45% win rate for English sides in this year's Champions League does not augur well. By comparison, Spanish sides have won 60% of their matches and German teams 66%. The La Liga and Bundesglia representatives have also scored approximately two goals for their opponents' every one, but the Premier League teams have managed only 35 to the opposition's 30. Those numbers in full:

England Played 20 Won 9 Drawn 5 Lost 6 For 35 Against 30

Spain P20 W12 D5 L3 F43 A21

Germany P15 W9 D5 L1 F30 A16 Mike Adamson

Arsenal have reasons to be cheerful



The barometer of Arsenal games these days is the level of stress and so there was something reassuring about them beating Montpellier at what proved to be a canter. The last time that could be said was in the 3-1 win at West Ham United, and that was back on 6 October. The club's support has been through the wringer but, with Wojciech Szczesny, Jack Wilshere and others returning to fitness; Santi Cazorla in sparkling form and Olivier Giroud proving his worth, there are reasons to believe that Arsenal could fashion some stability. They are now certain to lose at Aston Villa on Saturday … David Hytner

Shakhtar Donetsk … bandits without morals?

In this era of diving, racism accusations and scandalous ticket prices, the fury felt by Nordsjaelland over the lack of sportsmanship displayed by Shakhtar Donetsk players during the teams' game on Tuesday feels somewhat lacking in perspective. Yes, it would have been nice had Luiz Adriano not scored Shakhtar's opening goal from an uncontested drop-ball, and Taras Stepanenko could have been a gent and allowed Nicolai Stokholm to run straight towards the visitors' goal and immediately score in return but, seriously, was there any need to call those involved "bandits without morals"?

More criticism followed from inside the Danish club – a report of the match on Nordsjaelland's website was headlined "Scandalous Shakhtar take focus away from football" while Jan Laursen, Nordsjaelland's sporting director, later said: "I hope my boy was in bed by the time Shakhtar scored a goal of that character – that sort of thing doesn't belong anywhere," – giving the impression that some heinous scandal had taken place during the tie, which Shakhtar went on to win 5-2. Now Adriano has been charged by Uefa for "violation of the principles of conduct", suggesting the referee would have been within his rights to stop the Brazilian in his tracks and book him. But if our team were 1-0 down in an important European tie and one of our strikers was presented with a clear chance to equalise in similar circumstances, would you want them to take it? Some would say no but many, even if they do not admit it, would say yes. Sachin Nakrani