The first half of fixtures for Match Day 5 of the 2012/13 Champions League season were completed tonight with all but one of the four groups in action still to be decided.
In Group E, reigning champions Chelsea have seen their progression to the knockout phase take a massive blow after losing 3-0 to Juventus in Turin.
Fabio Quagliarella, Arturo Vidal and Sebastian Giovinco heaped misery on the Blues who will now have to beat Nordsjaelland and hope Shakhtar Donetsk see off Juventus in the final group fixtures after the Ukraine side hammered the Danes 5-2 courtesy of a Luiz Adriano treble and Willian double.
Group F is decided after Valencia and Bayern Munich drew 1-1 in Spain with Lille's 2-0 triumph over BATE Borisov denying the Belarusians their chance to move closer to the top two.
Both Valencia and last season's runner-up Bayern are now on 10 points from five outings - four clear of BATE - who missed the boat by losing to Lille who notched up their first points of the campaign.
Lionel Messi went within five goals of Gerd Muller's scoring record of 85 in a calendar year by notching his 80th goal of 2012 with a brace as Barcelona eased past Spartak Moscow 3-0 in Russia.
The Argentine ace struck in the 27th and 39th minutes following Dani Alves' opener as the Catalan giants went five points clear in top of Group G after Benfica edged Celtic 2-1 in Portugal.
Those two sides both sit on seven points with the Hoops more favoured to go through as they host Spartak in the final match whilst Benfica have the unenviable task of playing Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
And in Group H, Manchester United were toppled 1-0 by Galatasaray but the result did not alter the Red Devils' progress to the next stage as they sit five points clear of the Turkish club who were joined on seven points by CFR Cluj.
A Rui Pedro hat-trick led the Romanians to a 3-1 home win over Braga who are now out of calculations with second place to be decided when Cluj head to Old Trafford on December 5 and Gala' meet Braga away on the same date.
Tomorrow night is highlighted by Manchester City's must-win meeting with Spanish champions Real Madrid in Group D whilst Ajax host Borussia Dortmund in the same group.
Arsenal host Montpellier in Group B and require Schalke to defeat Olympiakos in order to qualify whilst AC Milan have to beat Anderlecht in Group C to join group leaders Malaga in the next phase.
2012/13 UEFA Champions League scores - Match Day 5
Group E
Juventus (ITA): 3 (Fabio Quagliarella 38', Arturo Vidal 61', Sebastian Giovinco 90+1') Chelsea (ENG): 0 Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy - 39,670
Nordsjaelland (DEN): 2 (Morten Nordstrand 24', Kasper Lorentzen 29') Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR): 5 (Luiz Adriano 26'/53'/81', Willian 44'/50') Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark - 17,054
Group F
BATE Borisov (BLR): 0 Lille (FRA): 2 (Djibril Sidibe 14', Gianni Bruno 31', red card: Sidibe 74') Stadyen Dynama, Minsk, Belarus - 22,810
Valencia (SPN): 1 (Sofiane Feghouli 77', red card: Antonio Barragan 33') Bayern Munich (GER): 1 (Thomas Muller 82') Estadio Mestalla, Valencia, spain - 35,407
Group G
Spartak Moscow (RUS): 0 Barcelona (SPN): 3 (Dani Alves 16', Lionel Messi 27'/39') Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - 67,325
Benfica (POR): 2 (Ola John 7', Ezequiel Garay 71') Celtic (SCO): 1 (Georgios Samaras 32') Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal - 47,065
Group H
Galatasaray (TUR): 1 (Burak Yilmaz 54') Manchester United (ENG): 0 Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul, Turkey - 50,278
CFR Cluj-Napoca (ROM): 3 (Rui Pedro 7'/15'/33') Sporting Braga (POR): 1 (Alan 17') Stadionul Dr Constantin Radulescu, Cluj, Romania - 14,635
