3 things from Wednesday's Champions League action: Liverpool drop points in Bulgaria

The fifth matchday of the Champions League came to a close Wednesday, and a picture is beginning to emerge of what 16 clubs we'll see in the knockout stages of the tournament.

Liverpool's chances of progression took a serious hit after Ludogorets Razgrad scored a late equalizer, Juventus emerged with three necessary points away to Malmo and are now the verge of reaching the round of 16, and Arsenal looked far better against Borussia Dortmund than they did when the two sides last met.

theScore's Carlo Campo, Gianluca Nesci and Gord Brunt run down three things from Wednesday's Champions League action.

Liverpool can't stop conceding goals, allow late equalizer versus Ludogorets Razgrad

Carlo Campo: On a day where former Liverpool 'keeper Bruce Grobbelaar likened Simon Mignolet to Dracula "because at least Dracula comes out of his coffin now and then," Mignolet conceded a howler that helped Ludogorets grab a 2-2 draw against Brendan Rodgers' side.

Then again, not all the blame can be placed on Mignolet as the offense for the Merseyside club isn't exactly getting the job done either. In fact, Ludogorets are the only club which Liverpool have scored two goals against in their past 11 Champions League fixtures.

And then there's this:

However, defending Mignolet can be tough when he allowed Ludogorets to open the scoring only three minutes into the fixture following his failure to handle a shot from Marcelinho.

It only took five minutes for Liverpool to find an equalizer courtesy of some shambolic defending from the Bulgarian club and a casual header from Rickie Lambert. And their first-half pressure was then rewarded just before the interval when Raheem Sterling sent a phenomenal pass across the face of goal that Jordan Henderson merely needed to tap in.

Any hope of Liverpool's first win in five matches, however, was destroyed in the 88th minute, when Georgi Terziev headed in a corner kick that triggered wild celebrations from the home supporters at the Nacionalen Stadion Vasil Levski.

Liverpool's Champions League fate now comes down to the final matchday of the group stage as they'll need nothing less than all three points against Basel at Anfield.

Rare away victory puts Juventus on the cusp of qualification

Gianluca Nesci: It wasn't pretty. In more ways than one.

From the state of the pitch - which could be likened to your typical unkempt front lawn in the harshest of winters - to the actual football on offer, Juventus and Malmo slogged through 90 minutes at the Swedbank Stadion on Wednesday, with the Italian side securing a vital 2-0 victory.

Goals from Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez were enough for Max Allegri's men, who picked up their first road victory in the competition since they defeated Celtic in the Round of 16 two seasons ago. 

After 45 minutes, it seemed as though that ominous run was going to continue. 

Claudio Marchisio, arguably the best player on the pitch for the Bianconeri, could not find it in his feet to fire any of his shots to either side of Robin Olsen - a pandemic that has plagued the Italian club in many a Champions League contest before.

Tevez, until finding the net in the 88th minute, had the same issue. Arturo Vidal marched to the beat of the same drum.

Alas, it took much-maligned striker Llorente to realize that the best way to beat the giant Danish-Swede (all 6-foot-6 of him) was to eliminate him from the equation entirely.

Side note: It's completely disconcerting to think that Juventus' florescent kits weren't the worst green thing to grace your television screens today.

Tevez, battling his own demons in the competition, put the contest out of reach late on, with no small bit of help from the potato patch pitch that had drawn complaints and worry from members of the squad heading into the game.

Juventus - now second in Group A behind Atletico Madrid on nine points - go into their final match of the round against the Spanish side knowing that a draw will be enough to secure qualification into the knockout stages of the competition. A win by two goals, meanwhile, will allow them to advance as group winners.

In more ways than one, that match should be more attractive than this one.

Arsenal capture surprising victory, advance to Round of 16

Gordon Brunt: Saying this was a vintage Arsenal performance would suggest the team had been playing well this season.

However, the team's ability to control the midfield against a strong Borussia Dormtund side was a major factor in Arsenal's 2-0 victory as they advanced to the Round of 16 for the 15th straight season.

The performance was a far cry from the team's bitterly disappointing loss to one of the worst Manchester United sides in recent memory.

The Gunners looked assertive and dangerous during their attempts to put pressure on a surprisingly poor Dortmund defence.

Asrenal captured an early lead inside the first five minutes of the match after Yaya Sanogo bagged his first goal in an Arsenal shirt when a Santi Cazorla through ball found the Frenchman in front of goal for the finish past Roman Weidenfeller. Cries for offside were ignored as memories of the weekend's awful performance were erased in a flash.

Making a rare start alongside Sanogo was Arsenal 'keeper Emiliano Martinez who was needed to replace an injured Wojciech Szczesny. Martinez did everything that was asked of him in this game, putting in an impressive performance to earn the clean sheet.

Arsenal were rewarded for their positive play when Alexis Sanchez doubled the team's lead in the second half courtesy of a sublime, curling shot past Weidenfeller to send the Emirates into a frenzy.

The match didn't end without a recurring Arsenal theme taking place. Mikel Arteta and Sanogo were forced to leave the match after suffering calf and hamstring injuries, respectively. The former's prognosis seems to be the more serious of the two as manager Arsene Wenger expects to be without the team's captain for a substantial amount of time.

The optimistic Arsenal supporter, however, may look at this win as a momentum shift in the way things have transpired thus far, with hopes the team will use this result as fuel to produce positive results during the busy holiday schedule.

With past Round of 16 draws putting Arsenal up against Europe's elite teams - Bayern Munich (twice), AC Milan and Barcelona - chances are that the optimism within the club will fade.

Wenger's solution?: