And the scoring frenzy in Group H.
All seats assigned
Group G “resumes the shot” earlier than expected. And for all positions. Here it is not only known who will reach the Champions League playoffs, but clearly also in terms of positions. The last lap thus becomes a complete formality. To keep hopes in the Champions League, Sevilla had to beat Copenhagen and the Spaniards coped with the task, albeit not without problems.
The first half ends goalless and only halfway through the second half En-Neseri scores. Even earlier, Copenhagen had a success in Dmitrovich woodworking. And in general, the Danes didn’t look like whips. But at the end of the match they opened and scored Isco and Montiel goals in the 88th and 91st minutes respectively.
In general, the result seems logical. Sevilla had 60 percent of the ball, made 15 shots, 11 of which were accurate, while Copenhagen only made two out of ten.
In another match, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund belied their reputation for scoring and attacking. Dortmund held back the Netherlands, who had to be substituted at half-time, counterattacked well and had chances. But in the second half they completely withdrew and only defended themselves when City had just brought the ball. At the same time, the “citizens” had the best chance of winning: Mahrez earned a penalty after a foul by Can. True, he himself did not manage to break through the goalkeeper from the “point”. It is curious that under Guardiola, who has been at City since 2016, his team did not score 25 penalties. And this is more than all the clubs in the English Premier League.
The result of a goalless draw would hardly have upset anyone except perfectionist Guardiola, whose team threw the ball 73 percent of the time and scored eight shots (three on goal) to 11 (four on goal) at home. of Borussia. Now the Citizens move away from the first place, Dortmund – from the second, Sevilla descends in the Europa League and Copenhagen closes the top four.
Goal madness
Two participants in the Champions League playoffs were determined simultaneously in group H, which also met the highest performance. Although the intrigue was preserved only mathematician. Too big PSG and Benfica looked ahead of their competitors in the first four rounds of the group stage. They confirmed their status in the fifth round.
The Parisians performed in the match against Haifa’s “Maccabi”, scoring seven goals. But we must pay tribute to the Israelis: they scored two goals in return. Also, the efforts of defender Abdoulaye Sek, who had never scored in European competitions before. Such a debut: immediately with a brace at the Parc des Princes. And in general the “Maccabi” threw 13 shots with five shots on goal. But the main stars, of course, were Neymar, Messi and Mbappé, who once again tried to deny the rumors about their differences on the pitch.
For the Parisians, seven goals scored are a repeat of their European Cup record. They scored seven each against Rosenborg in 2000 and Celtic in 2017 in the Champions League, and against Gent in the Intertoto Cup in 2001.
Here, Messi and Mbappé scored two goals each, Neymar scored one himself and resulted in Goldberg’s own goal, and Soler, who had made his way to the stars, ended the match at the end. At this rate, the attack trio PSG break all possible records. For example, Messi is just 11 goals from Ronaldo in the race for the title of top scorer in Champions League history: 129 goals against 140.
In this match Messi, in addition to two goals, gave two assists. And now he has 11 goals and 12 assists in 16 games PSG. Last season he scored 11 goals in 34 games. Two assists in this match and Mbappé. He now has 16 goals and four assists in 16 games of the season PSG. Neymar is also in this productive party. He has scored 13 goals and nine assists in 17 games of the season. By the way, for 40 Champions League matches PSG has 22 goals and for Barcelona in the same 40 games he scored 21 goals.
The match between Benfica and Juventus was hardly left behind in terms of performance. Lisbon at home got to work as early as 17 ‘, when Antonio opened the scoring. Keane soon equalized. But even before the break, Joao Mario scored against Juventus from the spot and Rafa from the match.
For the first time in history, Turtsy conceded three first-half goals in the Champions League. At the start of the second Rafa scored a brace and, after Allegri’s massive substitutions, the Italians are almost back in battle. They narrowed the gap to a minimum with goals from Milik and McKenny, but still failed to catch even a draw.
The result seems logical, even if statistically the teams are almost equal. Benfica had a little more ball possession (54%), scoring 15 out of 14 shots and six out of five on goal. Although Rafa was close to hat-trick, he hit a wood at the end of the game.
Now you have PSG and Benfica to 11 points, and reached the playoffs Champions League. Both teams have not a single defeat this season in all tournaments. And Juventus and Maccabi have three points each. They will decide in absentia who will play in the Europa League. How PSG and Benfica will decide in absentia who will go to the 1/8 finals from which place Champions League. Turtsy, among other things, did not enter the Champions League playoffs for the first time since the 2013/14 season.
Real Madrid’s first defeat
So far, in addition to Benfica, PSG and Napoli have had no defeats with Real Madrid this season. But Real Madrid, which moved into the playoffs earlier than expected Champions League from group F, their winning streak was interrupted. We ran into guys from Leipzig who were very energized and combative. In the 18th minute, the Bulls scored twice with the efforts of Guardiola and Nkunku. Before the break Vinicius played a ball.
The slightest difference in score lasted a long time, until after the 80th Werner scored. Only in the recovery time from the spot did he once again reduce Rodrigo’s backlog. But Real Madrid didn’t have time to escape defeat. He had more ball possession in this bout, but the Bulls were smarter, who showed their powerful attitude, delivering 14 to 12 shots for Real Madrid, with a 6-6 draw on correct shots.
In another group match, Celtic tried to fight for the chances of entering the Europa League with Shakhtar and lost them. The Scots got off to a good start, with Yakumakis putting them ahead at halftime. But at the beginning of the second Mudrik equalized. And the tie remained until the final whistle, even though Celtic threw more the ball and hit twice as often. All to no avail. It will be the last.
But the fate of a ticket to the Europa League and the second direction in the 1/8 finals Champions League not solved yet. Yes, Leipzig are only one point behind Real Madrid and already three points behind Shakhtar, but it is with the Pitmen that the Bulls will play in the last round. This will be a head-to-head battle for Champions League. And in the first match, Shakhtar won away with a score of 4: 1.
The return of Milan
In Group E, after suffering two consecutive defeats against Chelsea, Milan were rebuilding. Not without the extra help of the same Londoners, who beat Salzburg away (2: 1). Kovacic opened the scoring midway through the first half, but at the start of the second half the Austrians drew with Adamu. Already halfway through the second half, Havertz put Chelsea back in the lead and set the final score. The game as a whole was also in sharpness, but the Austrians relied on counter-attacks and the Londoners owned the ball more than 70 percent of the time and shot 11 shots on goal at Salzburg’s goal. Thus, Chelsea have carved out a place in the playoffs. But then there are questions.
The “Milan” after the defeat of the “Salzburg” held a match with the “Dinamo” of Zagreb and had to win. He did not wait, defeating the Croatians with a score of 4: 0. Gabbia, Leau, Giroud score on the spot and Ljubičić closes it by sending the ball into his own net. More than twenty shots inflicted by the Milanese, double the opponent, even if he had the ball more often.
The situation in the group is such that Chelsea will certainly be the first, while the rest will solve the problems of the tournament in the last round. Milan are second with seven points so far, they will play with Salzburg, which is a point behind: we will have a hot head-to-head for Champions League. And, in turn, Dinamo are two points behind the Austrians, who have not lost opportunities for the Europa League.
