ekansekans's blog: "df"

LONDON -- Exactly 200 days after winning the Champions League, Chelsea lost its grip on the trophy to mark the shortest title defence in the competitions history. Juventus eliminated the reigning champions by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 on Wednesday, with Galatasaray and Celtic also qualifying for the last 16 in a thrilling final round of group-stage matches. Chelsea needed to better Juventus result in Ukraine to finish second in Group E, and kept its part of the bargain by thrashing FC Nordsjaelland 6-1 for Rafa Benitezs first win as interim manager. It was in vain, however, as Olexander Kuchers own goal earned Juve victory and top spot ahead of Shakhtar. "We knew it could happen, unfortunately the damage had been done before," said Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, whose side became the first reigning champion to exit at the group stage. Galatasaray beat Braga 2-1 to finish ahead of CFR Cluj, which won 1-0 at below-strength Manchester United, in Group H. Celtic defeated Spartak Moscow 2-1 in Group G thanks to a controversial late penalty to oust Benfica, whose 0-0 draw at Barcelona was marred by a left knee injury to Lionel Messi. Lying on a stretcher, Messi was driven off the field on a cart, jeopardizing the Argentina stars hopes of breaking Gerd Muellers 40-year-old scoring record for a calendar year. Messi has 84 goals, one less than the German great, with four more games left in 2012. "Tests have confirmed tonight that the player Leo Messi suffered a bone bruise on the outside of the left knee," Barcelona said in a statement, adding that he could be fit for the La Liga match against Real Betis on Sunday. Messi had gone on as a second-half substitute, with Barca already qualified for the knockout stage. Bayern Munich topped Group F by thrashing BATE Borisov 4-1, finishing ahead of Valencia despite the Spanish sides 1-0 win at Lille. Both Bayern and Valencia were already sure of going through. Chelsea, Cluj and Benfica will bemoan the fact that they have been eliminated despite picking up 10 points from six matches, a tally that would usually put a team through. It was a bittersweet night for Benitez, who claimed a first win in four matches since being parachuted in as a replacement for the fired Roberto Di Matteo. He will also have welcomed the sight of Fernando Torres returning to form, scoring two goals to go along with strikes by David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Juan Mata and Oscar. Luizs was a penalty, one of three conceded in seven second-half minutes -- two to Chelsea and one to the Danish visitors. Two were missed. In the end, however, Chelseas blitz of goals were for nothing, leaving the team to fight it out in the Europa League with the eight other third-place finishers in the Champions League. Chelsea finished level on points with Shakhtar, but fell down on the head-to-head record. "The game was out of our hands," Benitez said. "I said before that we had to do our job and, as a manager, you have to be really pleased with the performance of the team." With Manchester City also out, it also means only two English teams qualified for the last 16 for the second season running. Juventus leapt above already-qualified Shakhtar thanks to Kuchers own goal, the defender diverting Stephan Lichtsteiners low cross into his own net in the 56th minute. "Our goal was achieved -- we advanced to the next stage," Juventus coach Antonio Conte said. Like Chelsea, Cluj couldnt have done any more, beating United thanks to Luis Albertos superb swerving effort in the 56th minute at Old Trafford. At that stage, Galatasaray was 1-0 down at Braga but goals by Burak Yilmaz and Aydin Yilmaz turned the game on its head and helped the team through to the knockout stage for the first time in 11 years. United was already guaranteed first place and played largely a reserve team. Benfica, which wasted some great chances in the Camp Nou, was also close to going through only for Celtic to be awarded a debatable penalty in the 81st minute against Spartak. Kris Commons stepped up and smashed the kick in off the crossbar. "The players have been magnificent -- it is a monumental achievement on their behalf," said Celtic manager Neil Lennon, whose team beat Barcelona at home earlier in the group stage. Griffin III Jersey . The Argentina international fell awkwardly following a challenge on Sunday by Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne and came off in the 14th minute of the match at Etihad Stadium. Aguero says on Twitter that "the studies I had done revealed theres no significant injury but it was a very tough hit to my knee. Redskins RG3 Jersey . -- The Oshawa Generals have hired DJ Smith to take over as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League team. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/new.html . The Winnipeg Jets forward has signed an agreement with Dinamo Minsk during the NHL lockout and will depart for Belarus on Saturday, according to agent Craig Oster of Newport Sports.(Sports Network) - The Toronto Blue Jays hope to win its first series since taking two of three at Miami in late June when they host the Cleveland Indians this afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game set from Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays, who recorded an 11-9 win versus the Indians on Saturday, got two home runs and three RBI from Edwin Encarnacion. Adam Lind finished 4-for-5 with four RBI and Yunel Escobar homered for Toronto. "The potential for us to do this almost every day with this lineup is pretty high," said Lind. "To score eight in one inning, it takes contributions from one through nine. We need to stay away from shutouts as much as possible, but when we can turn it on like this well be successful." Encarnacion, who just singed a contract extension with the club, has 25 home runs this season. His career high was 26 back in 2008 with Cincinnati. Aaron Laffey allowed eight hits and four runs over five innings for his first win of the season. Toronto will hit the road for six games against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox after todays contest. The Blue Jays will hand the ball to Carlos Villanueva and he will make his third start of the season. Villanueva is 3-0 with a 3.05 earned run average in 24 games (2 starts) this season and threw six scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over Kansas City on July 4. He also fanned seven batters. Villanueva, a right-hander, has faced the Indians twice in relief this season and owns no record and a 1.59 ERA in four career games (1 start) against them. Toronto toook two of three from the Tribe earlier in the year.dddddddddddd The Indians have alternated wins and losses over the past six games. At three games behind the Chicago White Sox for the division lead, Cleveland dropped an 11-9 decision on Saturday and saw Ubaldo Jimenez get rocked for eight runs in only 2 1/3 innings. He allowed seven hits, including two home runs, and walked four. "I just couldnt get my pitches over the plate," said Jimenez. "I fell behind in the count a lot, and once I tried to pitch inside, they just took advantage of it." Michael Brantley, Shelley Duncan and Casey Kotchman all homered for Cleveland, which recorded a 1-0 win in Fridays series opener and will visit Tampa Bay for four games after todays tilt. Brantley has a 12-game hitting streak with six multi-hit efforts in that span. He has three hits in each of his last three games. Derek Lowe hopes to string back-to-back wins together when he toes the rubber for the Indians this afternoon. Lowe ended a five-start winless (0-3) stretch his last time out in a 12-3 pounding of the LA Angels of Anaheim, as he yielded three runs and 11 hits in six innings. Lowe, who has allowed at least three runs in each of his last five starts, is 8-6 with a 4.43 ERA in 17 starts this season. The veteran right-hander started his first season in Cleveland with a 6-1 mark and kicked off the 2012 campaign in a 4-3 win over Toronto. He allowed two unearned runs in seven innings to improve to 7-9 in 42 games (11 starts) with a 4.37 ERA against the Jays. ' ' '