A largely positive night for Portuguese in the Champions League began with Luís Castro leading Shakhtar to victory and a famous double over Real Madrid in Ukraine. Castro’s men now have qualification in their own hands in Group H after a 2-0 victory over the competition’s most successful club.
In the later matches, João Félix scored for Atletico Madrid in their 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich as Los Rojiblancos failed to get the win they needed to seal qualification ahead of the final matchday. In Group C, the battle for a Europa League place will go to the final day after André Villas-Boas and Marseille beat Pedro Martins’ Olympiacos 2-1 in France.
“We haven’t achieved anything yet” - Castro
Shakhtar’s win over Real Madrid saw them leapfrog the Spanish side and move into second place in Group B. Two second-half goals from Dentinho and Manor Solomon mean Luís Castro’s men have their destination in their own hands ahead of a trip to Inter next week, in a fascinating group which sees all four teams still in with a chance of progress.
“In life, you always need to be sincere and tell only the truth,” Castro said after the match. “When we played badly, we played badly; when we played well, we played well. Let's take a look at the Champions League. My opinion: this is the most difficult group. I think anyone in this room would never have thought that we would have seven points ahead of the last match of the group. Hardly anyone could imagine such a thing.
“The last round is coming, which will decide everything. We can either crash out of European competition altogether, or continue our path in the Champions League or Europa League. Everything here is very unpredictable. The group is very complex and challenging. We haven't achieved anything yet, but we haven't lost our chances either. In the last round, everything will be decided.”
On his tactical approach, which saw the former Vitoria Guimaraes coach deploy a 4-3-3 system and largely focus on absorbing pressure, Castro admitted Real’s previous struggles influenced his decisions. “Against teams that play with a medium or lower block, they do have certain difficulties. Therefore, we tried to leave little pressure on their third of the field, in order to then apply pressure and play direct, so that our wingers and striker use the free space left by the central defenders.”
A win against Inter at San Siro will see Shakhtar progress to the knockout phase, while a draw will be enough provided Real fail to beat Germans and group leaders Borussia Monchengladbach at the Bernabeu. Castro’s side could also finish bottom of the group with a defeat if Madrid get as much as a point against Gladbach.
Felix on target as Atleti denied
Atletico Madrid were five minutes away from sealing progress from Group A before being denied by a late Bayern Munich penalty in Spain. João Félix scored his third goal in this season’s competition to put the hosts 1-0 up in the first half, but Thomas Mueller’s late spot kick means Atleti must travel to Austrians Salzburg next week needing to avoid defeat in order to qualify.
Félix scored after 26 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, converting Marcos Llorente’s cross with a neat finish, and after the match the Portuguese told reporters he believed Atleti had done enough across the match to take all three points. “We played very well, individually and collectively, but I am sad that we did not get the victory that would have put us in the next round.
“We were winning until minute 85, we had many more chances than they did and we did not secure it. It is useless to just play well and create chances without scoring. Now we have to think about the league, where we are doing well and want to have a good season, then think about Salzburg.”
Villas-Boas leads Marseille to overdue CL win
Marseille ended a remarkable losing streak in the Champions League by coming from behind to beat Greek side Olympiacos 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome. André Villas-Boas’ side came into the match having lost thirteen consecutive matches in the competition, but with a faint hope of securing a Europa League place if they could overcome Pedro Martins’ side.
The Greeks arrived with José Sá and Rúben Semedo in the starting line-up, while Rúben Vinagre and Pêpê Rodrigues were named on the substitutes bench. Martins watched his side take a half time lead through Mady Camara, but two penalties from Dimitri Payet after the break gave the Ligue 1 outfit all three points.
“Yes [it’s a relief], we can’t do anything about the past but we had to stop this run,” Villas-Boas said after the match. “We took a lot of lessons in this Champions League, we were bad in the first four matches, we were not lucky either. It is important for the group, for the confidence.”
Martins not pleased with ref
Martins, meanwhile, appeared more dissatisfied with the referee’s performance rather than that of his team. “We started the game well, we dominated, we didn’t make a lot of mistakes, we moved the ball and counter attacked well. We had an ideal first half. We were not well focused at the start of the second half by conceding this first penalty.
“The second penalty, I want to review it more calmly, to have a clearer opinion. We lost our rhythm because of refereeing decisions that I still can't understand.”
With Manchester City and FC Porto already qualified from the group, Marseille and Olympiacos are both locked on three points heading into the final matchday to decide 3rd place. Olympiacos have the advantage thanks to the head-to-head record, while Martins’ men also the more preferable fixture at home against Porto, while Marseille head to England to meet Manchester City.
By Sean Gillen
