Champions League matchday five fixture

November 24, 12:53 AMMiami Soccer ExaminerJuan Arango

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This is the time in the tournament when the spots for the knockout stage begin to fill and the destiny of various teams is at stake in this tournament.   The defending champs are on the ropes for truly the first time in the Guardiola regime and they will have to find a way in order to obtain the three points.  They run the risk of being the first champion (Marseille was not allowed to defend their title due to a match fixing scandal) to not advance from the group stage since the inception of the Champions League back in 1992-93. 

With the flu as well as injuries affecting key players, Josep Guardiola has no choice but to go out and battle because a draw favor the four-time Italian champs.  Add to that the fact that Barcelona will have to match or do better than Rubin Kazan.  Their ability to only earn one point in two matches against the two-time Russian champs have placed them in a very precarious situation; although Inter are not in an ideal spot either. 

A nerozzurri loss at the Nou Camp will see them forced to beat Rubin at the San Siro.  If they learned anything in this tourament so far is that Rubin will play you tough anywhere- ask Barcelona. 

Destiny is in their own hands as this will be the marquee match of the matchday because of the storyline that everyone was waiting for.  Samuel Eto'o returns to his old stomping ground.  The place where he won three league titles, three Spanish Super Cups, two Champions Leagues, a European Supercup, as well as winning the Pichichi once will bring lots of emotion to the Cameroonian international.  Destiny is also in the hands of Inter as this match is being looked at by many as one of the mose important matches of the Mourinho era.  The Special One was brought here to win games like these and eventually hoist the Champions League trophy into the sky. 

Trying to survive

Liverpool are also fighting for their tournament lives as they head to Hungary in a must-win match against Debreceni.  A draw will see Liverpool's streak of five consecutive knockout stages will be snapped.   Another team who risks their own long streak from snapping is Bayern Munich.  This would mark the first time in the team's illustrious history that they do not get out of the group stage since the inception of the Champions League back in 1992-93.  Bayern did not qualify from 1992 to 1997 to the tournament; since then it has been 12 consecutive years that they have gotten out of their group. 

It's academic

Group D is all but wrapped up.  The only thing still in play is the order that Chelsea and Porto will finish up in.   

The case is also the same in Group C where AC Milan and Real Madrid will punch their ticket to the knockout stage with wins against Marseille and Zurich respectively.  In Madrid's case they could be looking over this match as they will be getting ready to travel to Barcelona to play their eternal rivals in a key Spanish league clash this coming Sunday. 

Olympiacos will be trying to do their thing and hope that Arsenal can defeat Standard Liege in order to take their spot in the next round. 

Stuttgart will head to Ibrox to face Rangers in a crucial Group G match that could put the Germans in position to obtain the second place spot behind a qualified Sevilla, who will try to lock up the top spot in the group as they face Unirea Urziceni in Romania without Arouna Koné who is presently in Belgium caring for his daughter.

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