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Eagles’ Champions League hopes gone with the wind
The Eagles beat struggling Ankaragücü 1-0 in the domestic Super League on Saturday, but it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory as keeper Rüştü Reçber, defender İbrahim Toraman, German midfielder Fabian Ernst and Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci were injured and therefore were not available for Wednesday’s match.
A highly weakened Beşiktaş side was just not good enough to take on the Germans, who mounted pressure on second-choice keeper Hakan Arıkan right from the starting whistle.
Zvjezdan Misimovic scored with a powerful drive in the 14th minute that left goalkeeper Arıkan dumbfounded. Wolfsburg’s second goal came from midfielder Christian Gentner in the 80th, and Edin Dzeko sealed the victory for the Germans three minutes from time.
Wolfsburg therefore stayed on track to reach the knockout round. The German champion is in second place in Group B with seven points, three behind leader Manchester United, which drew 3-3 with CSKA Moscow to advance to the next stage with two rounds still remaining.
Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli underestimated Wolfsburg before the match. “This Wolfsburg is not a great team. We should be able to take care of them,” he had said. But the towering German side did the talking on the pitch.
“We tried to play good soccer, but we weren’t good enough today,” a visibly frustrated Denizli said in his post-match news conference. “The result was far worse than anticipated. But I can say we performed within the limits of Beşiktaş,” he added, perhaps alluding to several starters who were sidelined by injuries.
CSKA has four points and the Beşiktaş Black Eagles one. So the only chance the Eagles now have is finishing third in the group and continuing their European campaign in the UEFA Europa League, Europe’s second tier competition. But even that is a tall order indeed.
Standings
- Group A P W D L GF GA Pts
- Girondins de Bordeaux* 4 3 1 0 6 2 10
- Juventus 4 2 2 0 3 1 8
- Bayern Munich 4 1 1 2 4 4 4
- Maccabi Haifa 4 0 0 4 0 6 0
Tuesday’s results:
Bayern Munich 0, Girondins de Bordeaux 2;
Maccabi Haifa 0, Juventus 1.
- Group B P W D L GF GA Pts
- Manchester United* 4 3 1 0 7 4 10
- VfL Wolfsburg 4 2 1 1 7 3 7
- CSKA Moscow 4 1 1 2 6 8 4
- Beşiktaş 4 0 1 3 1 6 1
Tuesday’s results:
Manchester United 3, CSKA Moscow 3;
Beşiktaş 0, VfL Wolfsburg 3.
- Group C P W D L GF GA Pts
- AC Milan 4 2 1 1 6 5 7
- Real Madrid 4 2 1 1 11 6 7
- Olympique Marseille 4 2 0 2 8 6 6
- FC Zurich 4 1 0 3 4 1 3
Tuesday’s results:
AC Milan 1, Real Madrid 1;
Olympique Marseille 6, FC Zurich 1.
- Group D P W D L GF GA Pts
- Chelsea* 4 3 1 0 8 2 10
- Porto* 4 3 0 1 5 2 9
- Atletico Madrid 4 0 2 2 2 8 2
- APOEL Nicosia 4 0 1 3 1 4 1
Tuesday’s results:
APOEL Nicosia 0, Porto 1;
Atletico Madrid 2, Chelsea 2.
*Qualify for knockout stages.
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