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Dortmund top, Leverkusen second

Jonathan HardingDecember 9, 2014

On a subdued night in Europe for Germany's sides, Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 against Anderlecht while Bayer Leverkusen drew 0-0 in Portugal - a result that saw them miss out on top spot in their group.

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Fußball Champions League Gruppe D Borussia Dortmund - RSC Anderlecht
Image: Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images

After leading Dortmund to a win against Hoffenheim on Friday night in the Bundesliga, Jürgen Klopp made six changes to his starting eleven against Anderlecht - the most notable of which was the first start of the season for Nuri Sahin.

With Arsenal taking an early lead in Turkey, Dortmund knew a defeat would tip the scales for top spot out of their favor. Ciro Immobile's shot on the turn forced a good save out of Anderlecht goalkeeper and captain Sylvio Proto, before Dortmund's own goalkeeper, Langerak made a smart one-on-one save to deny Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Proto was on hand again to first deny Shinji Kagawa with a fine reflex save, before denying Immobile again. In tune with the nature of the game, then Anderlecht had another chance on goal - Sasa Kljestan firing over with Langerak seemingly beaten. The first half ended with Ibrahima Conte looking for a penalty after a challenge from Nuri Sahin, but he was denied one and the first 45 minutes ended without any goalscorers.

Ilkay Gündogan continued to pull the strings in midfield, but Proto kept responding to keep Anderlecht level. That was until just before the hour mark when a smart pass from Sahin was tucked away by Ciro Immobile - the Italian's fourth Champions League goal in five games.

As frustrated a figure as Proto was, he returned to making saves - twice denying a confidence-sapped Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Fußball Champions League Gruppe D Borussia Dortmund - RSC Anderlecht
Ciro Immobile has been in fine European form for DortmundImage: Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images

Dortmund's inability to take their chances came back to haunt them again though when Anderlecht got an equaliser in the final 10 minutes. Great work on the right wing by Anthony Vanden Borre ended in a cross that Aleksandar Mitrovic headed in from close range.

There was no late drama as Dortmund held onto a draw that saw them finish top of their group for the second consecutive year.

Lacklustre Leverkusen through in second

With their weekend defeat to Bayern behind them, Leverkusen made five changes to their line-up - Drmic, Hilbert, Boenisch, Kruse and the retiring Rolfes all started.

In Portugal, Leverkusen also faced a much-changed Benfica side, who had more than one eye on their weekend clash against Porto. Nevertheless, it was the hosts who imposed themselves early on and should have taken the lead. With the goal at his mercy, Lima clipped the bar.

Half an hour in and the play was bogged down in the middle of the park, with the home side continuing to show more ideas. Lima dragged another effort wide of the far post before the break as Leverkusen defence looked disorganised and brittle.

Fußball Champions League Gruppe C Benfica Lissabon Bayer Leverkusen
Leverkusen were drawn into a battle that they never looked like winningImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Bernd Thissen

Inside the first two minutes of the second half, Leverkusen showed more intent than in the whole of the first, but continued to misplace the final pass or lack ideas in the final third. Needing a win to progress in light of Monaco's win, Leverkusen lacked enough in most areas of the pitch to deserve top spot. Karim Bellarabi curled wide before Stefan Kiessling, off the bench, nearly got on the end of a cross late on. In the end, it was far too little and far too late from Roger Schmidt's men who ended the group-stage in second having missed three chances of securing top spot.

Omer Toprak picked up a second yellow card late on to further spoil an already disappointing display.

Elsewhere in Europe

Monaco's 2-0 win over Zenit meant that not only did the French side end up winning Group C, but they did so scoring only four goals in six games. Arsenal took a quick lead against Galatasaray, but their 4-1 winning-margin was three goals shy of moving Dortmund off the top Group D (after Dortmund's draw).

Liverpool crashed out in the group stages despite late heroics from Steven Gerrard. Brendan Rodgers' ten-men drew 1-1 at home to Basel in a result that puts the Swiss side through with group winners Real Madrid. The Spanish side continued their incredible form, beating Ludogorets 4-0 - Cristiano Ronaldo got on the scoresheet to take his all-time Champions League goal tally to 72, only two behind Lionel Messi. Atletico Madrid and Juventus drew 0-0, leaving the Italian champions in second and registering Olympiakos' 4-2 win against Malmö only good enough for third.