Two teams have already secured access to the 1/8 finals.
In the spotlight
Perhaps the main intrigue of this matchday was how the match between Milan and Chelsea would end. The first meeting between them ended unexpectedly with a landslide victory for the Londoners with a score of 3: 0. And now the Rossoneri have somehow had to take revenge on their own pitch. The Milanese warmed up well between matches: they beat Juventus in Serie A. But the plan didn’t work.
The beginning seemed to promise well for Milan, but the dismissal immediately intervened. Already at 18 ‘the Rossoneri were in the minority. Tomori was sent off for interrupting Mount’s one-on-one exit. Of course, this episode was pivotal. With Tomori sent off, Chelsea took the lead with Jorginho converting the penalty. And soon Aubameyang extended the lead.
And that’s where the teams stopped. It appears that Chelsea have lost interest and have kept the situation in check with a comfortable score and numerical advantage. I didn’t even have to try harder. As a result, Londoners owned the ball more than 70 percent of the time, scoring 15 out of seven shots – Milan only had one clear attempt per game.
Chelsea are now only at the top of Group E, one point clear of Salzburg and three points clear of Milan and Dinamo Zagreb. It seems that the Londoners will have no problems getting out and Milan will have to deal with the Austrians and Croats in the remaining two matches. It is also quite a challenging task.
Decreased by two
It should be noted that there weren’t that many matches where the winner was generally determined. In addition to the Milan match, there are only two such matches. And none, by the way, with three or more goals. Perhaps the main sensation happened in Israel, where the local Maccabi hosted Juventus in Haifa. Nobody took the Israeli club seriously, rating it as the weakest participant in the group stage. But this is no longer the case.
Juventus have a hint of trouble already in the seventh minute, when they conceded Omer Atsili’s first goal. At half time, Turtsy is forced to replace the injured Di Maria with Milik. And the time of trouble ends with a brace from Atsili, just before the break. Furthermore, it cannot be said that Maccabi was just lucky. The Israelis were not inferior to their opponent in passing quality, in ball control, they scored eight shots against Juventus three and could lead great, but they hit the door once.
Juventus failed to radically change something in the second half, despite all their efforts. He became much more in possession of the ball, but the game didn’t get any sharper. As a result, only ten shots were made by the Turinese against 14 by Maccabi. Yes, the guests were more precise in the second half. But the “Maccabi” has already simply guarded its lead and done so without losses.
Now it can be argued that Maccabi and Juventus will compete for a place in the Europa League playoffs in the distance match. They have three points. Who would have thought that before the start of the group stage.
Another match in which the winner was finally decided was the duel between Celtic and Leipzig. The Germans once again proved their superiority, this time on the road. Although there has been a fair fight for a long time, and in the first half at Celtic, Tyler and O’Reilly hit the bulls’ door frame. The Germans had more possession, they did it better, but the Scots hit more often.
The key was the end of the game. The account was only opened at the 75th minute. Leipzig gave Werner the lead. And when Celtic rushed to recover with particular zeal, they got the second ball, from Forsberg. Two victories over the Celts bring Leipzig to second place in the group with six points. But Celtic remain last with only one point. There is a risk of becoming the worst group stage team in a group that cannot be called deadly.
Lost world
Immediately five matches of the game day ended in a draw. But the subtitle shouldn’t be misleading: the games came out very different and some were more combative than any “non-peaceful”. For example, the meeting between Shakhtar and Real Madrid in Warsaw. There, after the first half, which appeared to be under Madrid’s control, Zubkov activated the “Real Madrid expert” mode and opened the scoring. Last week it was he who scored in Madrid when Shakhtar lost 1-2. Now here it is again. And this time it was more difficult for Real Madrid.
Of course, Madrid was quick to recover, but they took a risk. At Shakhtar, Traore hits a wood, there were other occasions. Their missed chances from time to time and Madrid. The drama shifted to recovery time, when Rüdiger, arriving on offense, threw the ball forward with his head, in front of Trubin, who flew into Antonio’s face with his fists, causing him to bleed. At this price, Real Madrid was given a draw. Real are leading Group F with ten points, four over Leipzig and five over Shakhtar. Ancelotti’s side will now definitely not drop below second place, so Real Madrid have secured access to the Champions League playoffs.
Another brilliant draw took place in Denmark, where Copenhagen hosted Manchester City. For the first time in the season, Guardiola did not release Haaland and suffered from it. Although even here the circumstances were not the best for the “citizens”. At the beginning Mahrez did not convert a penalty: the goalkeeper saved him. And soon Sergio Gomez left the guests in the minority, after receiving a red card for a foul of last resort.
Curiously, the City’s safety margin was enough to have an advantage even in the minority. Citizens have had possession almost 60 percent of the time, landing 14 shots, hitting four on goal, while Copenhagen only had six shots, hitting once on goal. The Danes had no special chances, but they got the goalless draw.
Another battle in this group took place in Dortmund, where Borussia hosted Sevilla, who are not having the best season and, apparently, aspire to their beloved Europa League. Even if on 18 ‘Sevilla scored with Nyanza’s efforts. However, Bellingham soon restored the balance. And in general, the match turned out to be peaceful, not particularly acute. Only seven hits on behalf of Borussia, nine – at Sevilla. As a result, Manchester are leading with ten points, three points clear of Dortmund. And Seville and Copenhagen have only two points each. So here, perhaps, everything is clear. And already one hundred percent “City” has reached the playoffs Champions League, forming the company “Real”. There are two of these teams.
Finally, almost everything is clear in Group H, where mathematically no one guaranteed the exit, but it is difficult to believe that „PSGand Benfica will not qualify for the playoffs. They played a draw in both games. In addition, the second game turned out to be very boring, weak in scoring chances. And on Mbappe’s penalty, Benfica responded to Mario’s penalty. The opponents have dealt seven hits: there is a tie in all respects. Parisians and Lisbon have eight points, while Juventus and Maccabi have three.
