UEFA Champions League 2014-15 Results: Cristiano Ronaldo Fails to tie Record Despite Real Madrid Win, Andrea Pirlo Scores in 100th Appearance
Cristiano Ronaldo was shut out on Tuesday, prevented from tying Raul's UEFA Champions League scoring record, but the defending champs, Real Madrid, still managed to beat English Premiere League (EPL) squad Liverpool 1-0 in front of their home crowd at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
Karim Benzema redirected Marcelo's pass during the 27th minute of the game to give Real Madrid their only goal of the night. Ronaldo, who has 70 UEFA Champions League goals in his career, is just one shy of tying the record but Real Madrid's coach Carlo Ancelotti said the Portuguese star was more focused on winning the match than the other distractions.
"Cristiano is working hard for himself and the side, just like other players," said Ancelotti. "I don't think he's thinking about the record, he has time -- it's not his last game. He is focused on playing for the team."
Real Madrid remains undefeated in the Group Stage of the tournament, with 12 points thus far and has a comfortable lead over FC Basel (6 points), who slid into second place in Group B with Liverpool's loss (3 points) and beating Ludogorets Razgrad (3 points) 4-0 win at home. FC Basel's victory over the Bulgarian squad, who is last in the group, was payback of sorts after Ludogorets notched their first win ever Champions League win at the expense of the Swiss club last month.
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Andrea Pirlo of Juventus celebrated his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League tournament with a goal off a free kick in the 21st minute but the Serie A club had to rally after Olympiakos midfielder Delvin N'Dinga put the Greek champions up 2-1 in the 61st minute. Olympiakos keeper Roberto Gago could not handle Fernando Llorente's header. in the 65th minute, that bounced off the post and Gago's leg to tie the game up 2-2 before Paul Pogba of Juventus blasted a shot past Gago a minute later to give the Italian champions the 3-2 win at Juventus Stadium.
Juventus vs Olympiakos
The victory allows Juventus to keep their hopes alive to advance into the Round of 16, currently tied with Olympiakos with six points but sitting in third place. Both clubs are trying to catch La Liga champs Atlético Madrid, who is atop Group A with nine points. Atlético Madrid cruised past Malmo FF (three points), thanks to goals from Koke and Raúl García, beating Swedish champions on the road in Swedbank Stadion.
Arsenal blew a 3-0 lead against Belgian club Anderlecht, wasting goals from Mikel Arteta, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Anthony Vanden Borre scored two goals in the second half, one off a penalty kick, cut down the lead, while Aleksandar Mitrovic's header in the 90th minute tied the game 3-3.
"Maybe Arsenal thought that they were superior at 3-0 and they could have fun with the public," said Anderlecht coach Besnik Hasi. "But I'm very very proud of my team and they showed their character and their quality. They did fantastic."
Arsenal vs Anderlecht
The draw with Anderlecht (2 points) leaves Arsenal (7 points) in second place in Group D, with group leader Borussia Dortmund (12 points) coming to Emirates Stadium later in the month. Dortmund remains in undefeated in Group Stage play and pummeled Galatasaray (1 point) 4-1 at home in Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night.
In Group C, Bayer Leverkusen (nine points) is slowly separating themselves from the pack on the strength of South Korean striker's Heung-Min Son's two goals defeating Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 on the road in Petrovsky Stadium. AS Monaco, currently in second place with five points, failed to keep up with Leverkusen, taking a huge 1-0 loss on the road in Estadio Da Luz to Primeira Liga champions Benfica after Anderson Talisca rocketed Derley's header past Monaco keeper Danijel Subasic in the 82 minute to give the Portuguese club the victory.
Benfica vs AS Monaco
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