Arsene Wenger’s side had lost in Piraeus on three separate occasions in recent seasons but France striker Giroud gave them a first-half lead and crucially doubled their advantage shortly after the restart following superb play by Joel Campbell.
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In Bayern’s case in particular, they are relieved of the suffocating week-to-week intensity that Premier League clubs have to endure, allowing Pep Guardiola to keep players fresh for the Champions League at little or no risk to his club’s dominance in the Bundesliga.
DYNAMO KIEV 1, MACCABI TEL AVIV 0 (at Kiev, Ukraine) – A goal from Denys Harmash gave Dynamo Kiev a place in the last 16 for the Ukrainian champion.
Title-holder Barcelona already had qualified and was sure to win Group E. Playing without Neymar, who sustained a groin strain in the final practice Tuesday, and Luis Suarez, who was rested, Barcelona still went ahead through Messi.
Three of the Premier League’s four involved teams have made it through to the knockout stages of the competition.
Arsenal believe they are capable of beating any of the remaining sides in the competition and could face Barcelona, or other top Spanish sides like Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid. BATE finished last with five points.
LYON 2, VALENCIA 0 (at Valencia, Spain) – Valencia was eliminated after a loss in new coach Gary Neville’s first game in charge.
There are a couple of teams that made a surprise early exit from Europe’s top club competition this season.
“It’s obvious a team struggling so much as we are is not obviously a candidate to win the Champions League”, he told reporters. “It’s disappointing. Obviously we wanted to win the game, but we have no complaints”, said Neville. When we won with Inter in 2010 we were not candidates.
The win over Porto was Chelsea’s best performance of the season, but midfielder Oscar warned they will have to start transferring their impressive European form into league points.
Despite retaining the loyal support of the Chelsea fans, who chanted his name throughout Wednesday’s game, Mourinho’s position at Stamford Bridge has come under intense pressure after his side lost eight of their first 15 English league games this season.
Chelsea striker Diego Costa says his relationship with Jose Mourinho is “amazing” and admitted he was wrong to throw a training bib towards him.
Chelsea can meet Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent in the next round and Mourinho accepts that many clubs would gladly settle for a tie against the London club.
No team can play a club from their group or any side from their own association, meaning there will be no el Clasico, Madrid derby or all-English affairs at this stage.
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“I think everybody wants to play us”, he added.
