Champions League Roundup: Leipzig beat Real, PSG put seven past Haifa
PSG - Maccabi Haifa 7-2
While Maccabi proved to be a threat on the counter in the opening 15 minutes at the Parc des Princes, PSG’s quality shone through when it was needed. The Parisians found themselves in front in the 19th minute when a counter-attack was capped off by Mbappé finding Messi in the box, where the Argentine managed to curl his effort home with the outside of his foot.
It went from bad to worse for the visitors only ten minutes later when Mbappé found himself unmarked inside the box, and side-footed a shot into the same far corner to double PSG’s lead on the half-hour mark. The home side were relentless as their attacking trio rounded out a superb first half when Messi set up Neymar less than five minutes later, and the Brazilian sent his shot in off of the post, all but driving the final nail into Maccabi’s coffin before the break. While Abdoulaye Seck headed home a goal from a set-piece for the visitors in the dying minutes of the half, Messi answered minutes later with his second of the night, a sublime curling finish after some great link-up play with Mbappé to restore PSG’s three goal advantage at the break.
Dramatically, the Greens found another way back into the game in the opening five minutes of the second interval when Seck nodded home his second of the night after a scramble in the box. While the away side proved to have goals in them on the night, it was clear they had no answer for the Parisian’s attacking quality, as Mbappé curled home his second on the night just past the hour mark. Neymar’s cross was deflected in by Sean Goldberg for an own-goal and PSG’s sixth, taking any wind out of their counterparts’ sails on the night. Messi flexed his attacking muscles once again in the dying moments, picking out Carlos Soler who dispatched the hosts seventh to cap off a thoroughly dominant performance.
Despite leaking goals on the night, Maccabi can take some consolation by hanging with the Paris club for some spells of play. However, the result all but ensures the Isreali outfit will finish bottom of the group come next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
RB Leipzig - Real Madrid 3-2
Having booked their place in the last 16 for a 26th consecutive season, Real Madrid knew a win would secure top spot in the group. Leipzig got off to an incredible start, scoring two goals inside the first 20 minutes. First Joško Gvardiol latched onto a rebound, smashing home a header to send the home crowd berserk, before Christopher Nkunku banged a belter in off the crossbar just five minutes later to further unsettle the visitors.
It was all about the visitors thereafter, as they tried to assert their dominance in the face of a stern Die Roten Bullen outfit. Fired by the pace of Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo on either wing, Real Madrid pushed on – with the former coming the closest by hammering the ball directed towards the roof of the net, only to see Janis Blaswich brilliantly deny him with a terrific save. However, Blaswich was left helpless right before HT when Vini Jr met Marco Asensio’s lofted cross to send a header in off the right post to halve the hosts’ lead.
Marco Rose’s side looked confident enough to keep the ball and mount attacks, but they had to be wary of an outfit notorious in terms of late comebacks, especially on the continental stage. Real Madrid tried to hit the hosts on the counter attack in search of an equaliser but struggled to break through a relentless Leipzig side. As the final minutes dawned, Timo Werner flashed a shot wide of the left post, before scoring his side’s third of the evening, thanks to a simple tap-in from Mohamed Simakan’s low cross on the back of a counter attack - Leipzig’s eight consecutive UCL game scoring after the 75th minute.
Rodrygo added a second Real Madrid goal in stoppage-time from a penalty but it was nothing but a consolation. The reigning European champions’ finally fell for the first time this season, tasting a first defeat this campaign and their first in the UCL in seven games. It also marks their first loss in 14 games against German opposition, as the East Germans register a sixth consecutive home win across all competitions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Benfica - Juventus 4-3
Benfica went into the game on the back of a 21-match unbeaten run, and Roger Schmidt’s men quickly set about making it another magical European night at the Estádio da Luz. Helped by a meek Juventus starting XI that avoided tackling at all costs, the Portuguese side dominated the early stages and took the lead after 15 minutes. António Silva was on the end of an Enzo Fernández cross after a quickly taken corner, and the teenager notched his first goal in professional football with a glancing header that flew past Wojciech Szczęsny between the Juventus sticks.
An unlikely equaliser followed, as Benfica failed to defend a corner and Moise Kean bundled home from close range. La Vecchia Signora would be level for just four minutes, however, as João Mário fired home from the penalty spot after referee Srđan Jovanović perhaps unfairly judged that Juan Cuadrado had handled in the area. There was nothing debatable about Benfica’s third goal, though, as R.Silva underlined his excellent first-half performance by delicately flicking home a Mário cross.
It was the first time Juventus had ever conceded three first-half goals in the UCL, and the fortunes of Massimiliano Allegri’s team did not look like changing initially after the interval. Eight minutes into the second half, Leonardo Bonucci gifted possession to Álex Grimaldo and the full-back threaded a delightful ball through to R.Silva, who nonchalantly lifted it over Szczęsny.
What looked like a comprehensive victory became a nail-biter as Arkadiusz Milik volleyed home from a Samuel Iling-Junior cross, and just two minutes later Weston McKennie scrambled home to bring his team to within one strike of salvaging an unlikely point. As Juventus poured forward, R. Silva missed a late chance to calm the nerves of the home fans, as he hammered his shot against the post when one-on-one with the goalkeeper. In the end, though, the Eagles held on to a deserved victory and, if Paris Saint-Germain fail to beat Juventus next week, a win over Maccabi Haifa will secure top spot in Group H for Schmidt and Co.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rafa Silva (SL Benfica)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Celtic - Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1
Coming into the contest with just a single point from their opening four matches in Group F, Celtic looked to start on the front foot, as Georgios Giakoumakis fired an early chance wastefully over the bar. The visitors grew into the match after a slow opening 15 minutes, with the lively Mykhaylo Mudryk at the heart of everything good for the Miners.
Celtic regained control of proceedings after the half-hour mark, and broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when Giakoumakis reacted fastest inside the six-yard box to sweep a neat finish beyond Anatoliy Trubin. With HT approaching, both sides came close to finding the net, as Giakoumakis saw a long-range strike superbly palmed around the post by Trubin, while at the other end, Mudryk was thwarted by a well-timed block from Joe Hart.
The second half began with Shakhtar looking the more threatening in attack, but Oleksandr Zubkov spurned a glorious chance to level the scores when he diverted a cross-cum-shot into the side-netting from close range. There was to be no reprieve for the hosts minutes later, however, as Mudryk jinked his way past a couple of defenders on the edge of the box and fired a rasping drive beyond the outstretched dive of Hart.
With time ticking into the final 30 minutes and the scoreline delicately poised, Celtic may have regained the lead had Kyogo Furuhashi’s scuffed effort straight into the arms of Trubin been hit with more purpose. At the other end, the visitors missed an even better opening, as Mudryk’s square ball was inexplicably diverted wide by substitute Danylo Sikan with the goal at his mercy.
Celtic desperately searched for a late winner in the final few minutes, but Matt O’Riley wasted their best opportunity, directing a cushioned volley narrowly wide of the target. The result leaves Shakhtar in third place, three points behind RB Leipzig ahead of a winner-takes-all clash next week. Meanwhile, Celtic’s European campaign ends in disappointing fashion, as they sit four points adrift at the bottom of Group F with just one match remaining.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mykhaylo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Zagreb - AC Milan 0-4
After watching RB Salzburg lose to Chelsea in Group E’s earlier fixture, both of these sides knew that only a win would keep their destiny in their own hands. Yet, given the club’s comparatively rich history of success on the continent, Milan’s subsequent lack of urgency was surprising. Against expectations, it was the hosts who pressed first for an opener, as Robert Ljubičić fired just wide for Zagreb, before Luka Ivanušec forced Ciprian Tătărușanu into a comfortable save.
But the Rossoneri finally kicked into gear after the half-hour mark, and started to find some quality in the final third. Pierre Kalulu’s fizzed cross from the right found Olivier Giroud, whose powerful header was well denied by Dominik Livaković, before the visitors broke the deadlock moments later. Sandro Tonali’s free-kick was brilliantly delivered into a dangerous area, where Matteo Gabbia met it with a powerful diving header, scoring his first goal for the club.
Stefano Pioli’s men picked up where they left off after HT, doubling their advantage within four minutes of the restart when Rafael Leão finally broke his UCL duck for the season. Showing some true Portuguese class, he dribbled straight through the heart of the Zagreb defence before emphatically finishing at the near post, putting Dinamo on the brink of seeing their long unbeaten home run end at 23 games.
And the game was wrapped up by the hour mark when Tonali was brought down by Ljubičić inside the area. Giroud slammed a regal penalty into the top corner, before Ljubičić scored a comical own goal to seal his side’s fate in agonising fashion. Milan’s work long done, the closing minutes were a quieter affair as Dinamo inwardly begged for the FT whistle.
Milan leapfrog Salzburg into second place in the group, and they’ll face the Austrian champions in their final outing, knowing anything other than a loss secures their first passage to the UCL knockouts since 2013/14. As for Dinamo, they have nothing but time left in the UCL, making it six defeats from as many meetings with Milan in a truly chastening way.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sandro Tonali (AC Milan)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Dortmund - Manchester City 0-0
With City already through, it was all on Dortmund to get the win they needed to keep alive their hopes of winning Group G. However, Der BVB’s priorities evidently lay with getting a draw to simply ensure progress, giving way to a cagey opening, though a defensive oversight from City led to the first real opening. Karim Adeyemi sprinted down the right flank after being played onside by John Stones, but despite being presented with a plethora of options as his teammates breathlessly broke into the box, he opted to shoot and saw a weak effort easily by deputising City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
That caused immense frustration, but Adeyemi wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, later putting the ball on a plate for Youssoufa Moukoko, who somehow spurned the chance to score his first UCL goal poking wide. A fine first-half defensive effort saw the Cityzens fail to register a shot on target for the first time since the reverse fixture, leading to a double substitution at HT, with Pep Guardiola sacrificing the talismanic Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian consequently missed scoring in five consecutive UCL appearances for a record equalling third occasion, and was also absent from the field when City were awarded a penalty as Emre Can dangled a leg and brought down Mahrez. With Haaland not an option from 12 yards, the Algerian stepped up left-footed and unleashed a powerful effort, only to be denied by a spring-heeled Kobel who reacted superbly.
In the end both sides were happy with the draw, and City became only the second side to stop Dortmund scoring in their last 21 UCL ties. As for Dortmund, they have now failed to beat English opposition in their last ten attempts (D2, L8) – a statistic they will likely need to put right if they are to reach the serious end of the competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)