WednesdayZenit 1-0 AnderlechtFC Porto 3-2 Dynamo KievD Zagreb 0-2 PSGArsenal 0-2 Schalke 04Montpellier 1-2 OlympiakosMálaga 1-0 MilanAjax 3-1 Man CityDortmund 2-1 Real MadridLONDON – Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal and AC Milan suffered painful Champions League defeats on Wednesday which complicated their chances of progressing from an increasingly intriguing group stage.German sides shone the brightest as Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund downed nine-times European Cup winners Real 2-1 at home while local rivals Schalke 04 pulled off a 2-0 win at Arsenal after Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s second-half opener.His ex-side Milan, seven-times winners, continued their poor form with a 1-0 loss at a Malaga outfit who have suffered similar financial constraints to the Italians but who are coping much better and top Group C with maximum points.English champions Manchester City, who failed to get out of the group phase last term, are risking the same ignominious exit this time after losing 3-1 at Ajax Amsterdam.Big-spending City are bottom of Group D on one point from three of the six pool matches.Man City need a miracle Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini admitted it will take a miracle for his side to reach the knockout stage after blaming himself for Wednesday’s crushing loss.“It’s my fault because I prepared badly for this game,” said the Italian. “There’s one team with seven points, one team with six and one with three. It will be a miracle.”“I think that they played better than us, they played better football, probably it is my fault because probably I prepared badly this game,” Mancini told Sky Sports amid media criticism over switching defensive systems.Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored again as Paris St Germain won 2-0 at Dinamo Zagreb to stay second in Group A behind Porto, who beat Dynamo Kiev 3-2 after Jackson Martinez’s double, but fellow French side Montpellier fell 2-1 at home to Olympiakos Piraeus.Montpellier are bottom of Group B on one point with the Greeks on three and Arsenal on six, a point behind conquerors and new leaders Schalke, who will reach the last 16 if they beat the fitful Londoners in Gelsenkirchen in the next game on November 6.Schalke, who warmed up for the match with a Bundesliga derby win in Dortmund, are the first non-English side to win a European game at Arsenal in nine years.Huntelaar’s thumping 76th minute finish and Ibrahim Afellay’s tap-in 10 minutes later amid more loose defending marked a well-deserved win against a side who had just one shot on target and lost at Norwich City at the weekend.
