Match day results in the Champions League.

Voluntary decision on the matter

The brightest results of the day in the Champions League were strong-willed victories. And not all of them are expected. Probably the last thing they expected was the surprise that happened in Turin. Of course, Juventus are nowhere near as brilliant now as they were a few years ago. But on his field he could not do anything with Benfica. Although it all started more than pleasant for the hosts.

Already in the fourth minute Milik opened the scoring with a pass from Paredes, who was well known to us. But the quick goal remained Juventus’ only goal in this match. Lisbon attacked more and better, and at the end of the first half another well-known player – Joao Mario – equalized from the spot. Exactly before this, Rafa Silva landed in the frame of Perin’s door.

And at the start of the second half, Benfica scored an early goal thanks to the efforts of David Neres. And this ball became victorious. Juventus had a long time not to lose face in front of their fans, but the trouble is that Turtsy really seemed weaker. Only at the end of the match did Juventus rejoice, but it would already be unfair to Benfica if the Turinese suddenly ran away. Lisbon has made 19 shots on goal (7 on goal) against 11 for Juventus (3 on goal). The Eagles had the ball 56% of the time and were more accurate in passing.

Perhaps the central match of the day was the one between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund. Here he was very close to the hype, but already it would contradict the statistics of the match. The first half was terribly viscous, in which the “citizens” struck four shots, all inaccurate, and the “Borussia” hit once and hit the target. The hustle and bustle got more fun early in the second half as Bellingham put Dortmund ahead with a pass from Royce. And that’s where City moved.

We have to pay tribute to Borussia, they held out, resisted until the end and also held back their former Netherlands goalscorer. However, it didn’t work to put up with the feeling. At 80 ‘Stones equalized the score and at 84’ the same Haaland took the City ahead and brought the victory to the hosts. The result is not sensational, despite the match scenario.
As a result, City scored 12 shots against Borussia’s five and one shot on goal – 3: 2. Grealish and Holland were the best hitters with three attempts each. Also, Erling, in addition to scoring, has a shot on goal, when City were desperately trying to win back another ball.

The third strong-willed victory took place in Israel, where he took Haifa’s “Maccabi” PSG. It seems the Parisians weren’t expecting any problems, but in their best tradition they relaxed and created difficulties, missing in the middle of the first half. True, after 13 minutes Messi re-established his balance, so the fear was premature. And in the second half, Mbappé and Neymar scored once, and the whole magnificent trinity wrote their names on the scoreboard.

But according to the statistics, not everything was so unambiguous and cloudless PSG. Some sort of defeat with a total advantage was expected, but the Parisians owned the ball 56 percent of the time, scored 16 shots against 13 for Maccabi and shots on goal – 6: 5 in favor of the guests. Passing accuracy was equally high on both sides. So, in general, the Maccabi looked decent. But after two rounds he has zero points. Like Juventus, which foresees a stir in the group.

The class wins

In three other cases, the winners-favorites managed to avoid the annoyance in the form of the need to show willpower. Although Real Madrid might be nervous. Without Benzema, there was no creativity in the attack at all and there was a catastrophic lack of sharpness. The confrontation with Leipzig at one point resembled a torment. Especially in the first half and part of the second, until Ancelotti makes a reshuffle.

The “bulls” had a chance, but not even a dispersion. And at the end of the game, the Madrid class took effect. First Valverde and then Asensio broke down the doors of Gulaci and brought another victory to Real Madrid. Real Madrid have won this season so far. In the first half the hosts scored six shots on goal and zero shots on goal, the guests scored three shots on goal with the same six shots on goal. As a result, Real Madrid scored 12 shots with three on goal, while the Bulls made nine, but didn’t hit the target in the second half.

The pair of Serie A leaders are also in favor: Juventus looks on with envy. Milan defeated Dinamo Zagreb with confidence, opening the scoring with a shot by Giroud from the spot just before half-time. At the start of the second half Salemakers scored the second, then the Croatians slightly aggravated the intrigue, having played only one ball thanks to Orsic. But at the end of the game Escape scored the Rossoneri’s third goal. In general, everything is fine. The Milanese have made 17 shots (7 on goal) while Dinamo have made seven (3 on goal). And the hosts have owned the ball 57 percent of the time.

But the most important ruler of the evening was Napoli. Luciano Spalletti’s team just ruined Rangers. True, with a clarification: only in the second half, given that the Scots played in the minority from 55 ‘after the elimination of Sands. Soon Zielinski didn’t score a penalty – McGregor was saved. But soon Politano opened the scoring on another penalty kick. And at the very end of the duel, the revealed “rangers” were punished by Raspadori and Ndombele, who approved the defeat. The Neapolitans have scored 25 shots (10 on goal) with only ten attempts to Rangers (3 on goal).

Without a winner

And three matches ended in a draw. The most unexpected happened in London, where Chelsea failed to beat Salzburg. At the same time, Londoners owned the ball 72% of the time and suppressed the opponent in all respects. But of Chelsea’s 17 shots, only one of Sterling’s early second-half attempts resulted in a goal. And the “Salzburg” scored four shots to equalize the score with one of them: Okafor scored.

Shakhtar had a difficult time in the match against Celtic. The Pitmen conceded an early goal, with Bondarenko scoring an own goal. But they were soon able to level the score. This exchange of goals scored and completed all the productive actions. Although statistically the Scots had a significant advantage. This is in addition to 56 percent of the possession time. They have scored 16 shots (6 on goal) against Shakhtar’s five attempts with two shots on goal.

But at least there were goals. And a meeting ended without them. This is a duel between Copenhagen and Seville. Away Spaniards seemed preferable, but for two these teams have only scored four shots on goal. And Sevilla have not scored without total control of the ball.