Chris Maduewesi
Member
Real Madrid have qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League after beating Liverpool 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The defending champions made it four wins on the bounce, recording all 12 points which meant that irrespective of what happens in their last two games of the group, they have gone through.
Brendan Rodgers stunned so many people with his starting 11 at the Santiago Bernabeu, fielding an under-strength line-up for the fixture.
Captain Steven Gerrard was left out of the starting eleven, as was Raheem Sterling, Coutinho and Mario Balottelli.
With Liverpool hosting Chelsea at Anfield this Saturday, the reasoning behind the strange starting team, was interpreted as preserving the players for the weekend's game.
However, the Liverpool players who started the game were not cowed by the prospects of playing against the world's best, as they composed themselves to put in a good shift for their side.
The only difference in the game was the 27th minute strike by Karim Benzema, who eluded Kolo Toure to stab in a cross from Marcelo.
Cristiano Ronaldo tried on a couple of occasions to score, but there was no way he could beat Simon Mignolet who was impressive for Liverpool, making good saves for his side.
The closest Madrid came to scoring again was in the second half when Gareth Bale struck the bar, but Liverpool will be impressed with the way they contained coach Carlo Ancelotti's team.
Meanwhile, the shocker of the night came at the Emirates stadium where Arsenal gave up a three-goal lead to end up drawing 3-3 to visiting Anderlecht.
Arsenal scored two goals in the first half and added a third as at the 58th minute in what looked done and dusted.
But it was not to be as they blew the lead and committed some defensive errors that allowed the Belgian team leave London with a point.
The implication of the result is that Arsenal are in line to finish second of their group for a successive which could see them come up against Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the last 16.
Results:
Juventus 3 - 2 Olympiakos
Malmö FF 0 - 2 Atletico Madrid
FC Basel 4 - 0 Ludogorets
Real Madrid 1 - 0 Liverpool
Zenit St Petersburg 1 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Benfica 1 - 0 Monaco
Arsenal 3 - 3 Anderlecht
Borussia Dortmund 4 - 1 Galatasaray
The defending champions made it four wins on the bounce, recording all 12 points which meant that irrespective of what happens in their last two games of the group, they have gone through.
Brendan Rodgers stunned so many people with his starting 11 at the Santiago Bernabeu, fielding an under-strength line-up for the fixture.
Captain Steven Gerrard was left out of the starting eleven, as was Raheem Sterling, Coutinho and Mario Balottelli.
With Liverpool hosting Chelsea at Anfield this Saturday, the reasoning behind the strange starting team, was interpreted as preserving the players for the weekend's game.
However, the Liverpool players who started the game were not cowed by the prospects of playing against the world's best, as they composed themselves to put in a good shift for their side.
The only difference in the game was the 27th minute strike by Karim Benzema, who eluded Kolo Toure to stab in a cross from Marcelo.
Cristiano Ronaldo tried on a couple of occasions to score, but there was no way he could beat Simon Mignolet who was impressive for Liverpool, making good saves for his side.
The closest Madrid came to scoring again was in the second half when Gareth Bale struck the bar, but Liverpool will be impressed with the way they contained coach Carlo Ancelotti's team.
Meanwhile, the shocker of the night came at the Emirates stadium where Arsenal gave up a three-goal lead to end up drawing 3-3 to visiting Anderlecht.
Arsenal scored two goals in the first half and added a third as at the 58th minute in what looked done and dusted.
But it was not to be as they blew the lead and committed some defensive errors that allowed the Belgian team leave London with a point.
The implication of the result is that Arsenal are in line to finish second of their group for a successive which could see them come up against Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the last 16.
Results:
Juventus 3 - 2 Olympiakos
Malmö FF 0 - 2 Atletico Madrid
FC Basel 4 - 0 Ludogorets
Real Madrid 1 - 0 Liverpool
Zenit St Petersburg 1 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Benfica 1 - 0 Monaco
Arsenal 3 - 3 Anderlecht
Borussia Dortmund 4 - 1 Galatasaray