The group stage's lowest-scoring success stories
Friday, December 5, 2014
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AS Monaco FC could progress on matchday six with just two goals in their Group C campaign; UEFA.com meets the only teams to have made it through with three goals scored.
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AS Monaco FC have the chance to set a bizarre UEFA Champions League record when they host FC Zenit in their final Group C game. Draw 0-0 and they will have qualified for the knockout rounds having scored just two group stage goals; if Bayer 04 Leverkusen simultaneously lose at SL Benfica, Leonardo Jardim's men might even win the section with two strikes. UEFA.com meets the only two teams who have made it through the UEFA Champions League group phase with three goals.
AS Roma, 2002/03 first group stage
W2 D3 L1 F3 A4
Roma assistant coach Italo Galbiati called the 3-0 home defeat by Real Madrid CF in their Group C opener "a massacre", but Fabio Capello's side rallied to scramble through. If the ensuing stalemate at AEK Athens FC was hardly impressive, nor was the 1-0 win at KRC Genk – who had goalkeeper Jan Moons sent off after just ten minutes – or 0-0 draw in the home leg two weeks later, but in one of only two Group C appearances, the talismanic Francesco Totti hit an uncontested winner at Real Madrid on matchday five, Francesco Antonioli performing brilliantly to keep a clean sheet. Roma then drew 1-1 with AEK on matchday six, the Greeks denied a second group stage place after drawing all six of their fixtures.
Villarreal CF, 2005/06 group stage
W2 D4 L0 F3 A1
The Yellow Submarine would reach the semi-finals as debutants, having conceded just once to top Group D. Manuel Pellegrini's team kicked off with goalless draws against Manchester United FC and LOSC Lille, and were then held 1-1 at home by SL Benfica. "We are taking heart from the fact it needed an unbelievable goal from Manuel Fernandes for them to draw," defender Jan Kromkamp told UEFA.com. Better was to come: Marcos Senna's long-range missile earned a 1-0 victory in Lisbon next time out, and after a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford, Antonio Guayre's solitary strike at home to Lille took them through, with United finishing bottom. "I wouldn't say we played all that well," midfielder Juan Riquelme noted; the history books do not concur.