The third week of play is over in the tournament of Europe's best. Very little surprises came out of the games in Groups A, B, C and D. German teams dismantled their opponents while both Manchester teams remained victorious in two very close games. Read the details below.

Group A:

Manchester United 1 - Real Sociedad 0

The Red Devils stay on top of the group standings following a tightly-knit victory over the Spanish side. Thanks to Iñigo Martínez, who was caught cold and off-guard  scoring an own goal after just two minutes, Man U is looking strong when they head into the second phase of the group stage. Both teams played with great caution throughout the first half and it took Sociedad until the 49th minute to create some pressure. Seferobic, de la Bella and Zurutuza had some great chances for the Spanish side, but it was not enough to tie the game. Real Sociedad stays on the bottom of the table with no points and is now trailing the group's second seed, Bayer Leverkusen, by six points already.

Bayer Leverkusen 4 - Shakhtar Donetsk 0

Stefan Kießling proved once again why he is one of Germany's big young hopes. He opened the scoring after 21 minutes of play which allowed the German side to take control of the game. Donetsk created almost no chances until Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes netted the two goal lead through a penalty kick. Following an attempt by Bernard for Donetsk, Sidney Sam scored on the ensuing Leverkusen attack after a nice combination that had started in Bayer's own half and included five players. Then marked the point where Donetsk was beat physically and psychologically and as the logical consequence, German international striker Kießling scored his second goal of the night. The group remains wide open, as both teams will meet again Nov. 5, when Shakthar will get their chance to get ahead again as both teams are currently separated by two points in the standings. Leverkusen will host Man U afterwards, while Donetsk will get another home game versus Real Sociedad. 

Group B:

Real Madrid 2 - Juventus 1

Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was once again the man who made the difference for Real Madrid. In a very evenly matched game, the Italian visitors gave the 'white ballet' a tough fight. Despite trailing after just four minutes due to Ronaldo's first goal, Juventus showed no signs of early irritation. In fact, they built up more attacking momentum in the second quarter of the first half and following missed opportunities from Tévez and Cáreces, forward Fernando Llorente scored the equalizer in the 22nd minute. The game now opened up, as Real was not happy with a draw at home and increased pressure. Despite some counter-attacks from the Italian-side, it was Ronaldo again through a penalty kick in the 28th minute who capped the game's scored at 2-1. After a red card early in the second half for Juventus' Chiellini, Real had an easy time controlling the pace of the game and securing the victory. The Spanish are now five points clear in the standings, having won all three matches so far, with Galatasary in second, Juventus in third and Copenhagen last.

Galatasaray 3 - Copenhagen 1

The Turkish side had little trouble in this one, with Felipe Melo scoring after just ten minutes. The team from Istanbul had control of the entire first half as Sneijder and Drogba contributed goals for a comfortable, decisive 3-0 lead at intermission. After the break the pace of the game slowed down as Galatasaray tried to save some of their energy, while Copenhagen seemed beat. Claudemir scored the visitors' honorary goal with two minutes left. The rematch between both teams is likely to decide who will remain a serious contender for the second seed in group B, while both are hoping for Juventus to drop their game against Real Madrid.

SEE MORE: UEFA Champions League Highlights: October 22

Group C:

Anderlecht 0 - Paris St. Germain 5 

PSG needed 17 minutes to respond to some initial pressure by the Belgian side, which was not converted into any success. Then, Zlatan Ibrahimović launched his grand show. Scoring three goals in 19 minutes, the Swedish superstar striker defeated Anderlecht almost single-handedly. Cavani added some variety to the scoreboard making it a four-goal lead, before Ibrahimović capped the game at 5-0. Following this impressive performance, PSG built up a five point lead ahead of Olympiacos and Benfica. With the rematch taking place in Paris, Anderlecht look very likely to face elimination soon, while another draw between the other two teams would bolster PSG's aspirations to win the group.

Benfica - Olympiacos 1-1

For 83 minutes, the future for Benfica's Champions League aspirations looked bleak. After Domïnguez had given the Greek visiting side the lead in the first half, the Portuguese needed a goal. They mounted all the pressure they could and eventually were lucky to convert it for the 1-1 equalizer late in the game. As both teams are tied at four points, the rematch taking place Nov. 5, could be decisive. 

Group D:

Bayern Munich 5 - Victoria Plzen 0

Plzen managed to defend against the constant pressure that the German national champions created for 25 minutes. Then, all the levies broke. Ribéry scored the lead with a penally shot, followed by Alaba's 2-0. After halftime, Bayern took exerted absolute domination over the Czech side and dismantled their defense. Ribéry again, Schweinsteiger and Mario Götze in extra time scored on some of Bayern's myriad opportunities. Bayern have now won every game in the group in a commanding fashion and remain the top favorites to win the competition again. 

CSKA Moscow 1 - Manchester City 2

For about two minutes, Moscow held hope to become a very serious threat to Manchester City. With Bayern Munich playing astronomically good soccer this year again, the competition in this group seems to be all about seed two. When Tošić netted the 1-0 lead for the Russian side, Manchester City needed a quick response in order not to slip into third place in this group and once again miss the next round of the Champions League competition. However, 'the Citizens' scored only two minutes later through Agüero and kept on creating pressure. Only eight minutes later, it was Agüero again, who lifted City up by one. While Moscow kept on fighting, it was the momentum and strategic finesse that allowed Manchester to maintain control of the game. Man City is now in second place, hoping to distance themselves by six points by winning the rematch in two weeks, which would pretty much seal the deal in the struggle for second place.

Reach Staff Writer Alex Wowra here.