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Since we're all done and dusted with the Arsenal portion of the Champions League group stage, we get to spend today relaxing and watching a bunch of other clubs duke it out over who's winning what group and who's getting relegated to the Europa League. Here's what you need to know:
Group E
The games
- AS Roma vs. Manchester City
- Bayern Munich vs. CSKA Moscow
What's at stake
Bayern Munich have won the group, but the other three teams are all on five points. Considering the unlikelihood of Bayern losing to CSKA, the other game is basically a play-in for the knockout round. City and Roma drew their first game, so a win for either puts them through. A draw means we drop to tiebreaker #4, "higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question." A 1-1 draw means it's goal difference, which City (-1) would win over Roma (-4).
Check out the tiebreakers if you haven't already, by the way. UEFA is horrible.
Assuming Bayern win, the loser between City and Roma goes to the Europa League.
Group F
The games
- Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain
- Ajax vs. APOEL Nicosia
What's at stake
A tie or win for PSG means they win the group. A Barcelona win gives them first place. Ajax and APOEL are playing for Europa League; it's the same idea only Ajax is the one with a one-point advantage.
Group G
The games
- Maribor vs. Schalke 04
- Chelsea vs. Sporting Lisbon
What's at stake
Chelsea have won the group and have nothing to play for but a sense of sick pride. Sporting need a win to guarantee advancement. If they draw against Chelsea and Schalke wins, they'll be level on points and descend into the tiebreak quagmire. Sporting are ahead of Schalke 7-6 on aggregate and lead 3-2 on away goals, so they'd go through.
Of course, Chelsea are the worst, so they'll probably beat Sporting and deny them happiness of any sort.
Maribor could catch Schalke for third with a win, and get into the Europa League.
Group H
The games
- Porto vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
- Athletic Bilbao vs. BATE Borisov
What's at stake
Porto and Shakhtar have both advanced to the knockout stage already, and Porto has secured the group win. They're playing for pride. Athletic and BATE, on the other hand, are separated by one point for the Europa League spot. An Athletic win or draw sends them on, a BATE win gives them a little more European soccer to play.
All games start at 2:45 Eastern time.