Going up
Barcelona
This week produced an all-time basic; much less soccer match than theatre of the absurd. Someway, Barcelona triumphed 5-4 in Lisbon. Raphinha was the two-goal hero, together with a counter-attacking winner to interrupt the hearts of Benfica, who had wished a penalty on the different finish. Raphinha’s first – which lower Benfica’s result in 3-2 – was near distinctive. Anatoliy Trubin, the Benfica goalkeeper, someway smashed his clearance off the Brazilian’s head and into the Benfica internet. Robert Lewandowski, in the meantime, scored two penalties, that means he’s joint prime with Cristiano Ronaldo for many profitable spot-kicks (19) in Champions League historical past. Barça’s unbelievable win additionally spared the blushes of Wojciech Szczęsny. The Polish keeper, who got here out of retirement on the Costa del Sol to reply Barça’s name, gifted Benfica two objectives, first clattering into Alejandro Balde for the primary then blundering to concede a penalty that allowed Vangelis Pavlidis to finish his hat-trick within the thirtieth minute. Szczęsny had his second of redemption with a late save at 4-4 from Ángel Di María earlier than a mad match reached its virtually unbelievable conclusion. “A loopy sport,” mentioned Hansi Flick, Barcelona’s coach. “I don’t suppose I’ve ever skilled a comeback like this.”
Atlético Madrid
Diego Simeone’s Atlético pulled off a victory over Bayer Leverkusen that will properly outline his 15 years in cost on the membership. His staff had been enjoying badly, and Pablo Barrios had been red-carded for a excessive deal with on Nordi Mukiele. Then, Piero Hincapié climbed excessive for a header to seize Leverkusen a half-time lead. Right here’s the place Atlético did what they so typically do beneath Simeone. They battled again by way of Julián Alvarez’s objective; the summer time signing has saved his greatest for this competitors. Then started the provocation, the temptation for a Leverkusen participant to lose his head. And it was Giuliano Simeone, the supervisor’s son, who received the job performed, tempting Hincapié right into a second yellow, to stage out the numbers. Then got here the drive for a winner, and Alvarez received it, sending Simeone on a trademark celebratory run down the touchline. “It’s a sport that might be remembered by the folks that noticed it,” Simeone mentioned, although the way of victory was terribly acquainted.
Celtic
If one in all Uefa’s goals in extending the competitors was giving golf equipment from smaller leagues a greater likelihood of progressing, then maybe Celtic may be the poster youngster. Brendan Rodgers’ issues within the Champions League date again to his time at Liverpool however ultimately, in his second spell at Celtic, he is ready to trumpet some certified success. The staff that misplaced 7-1 to Dortmund in October might be within the knockout spherical, because of their victory over Younger Boys, who’re backside of the Champions League desk, 1-0. Solely simply although. It took an personal objective from Loris Benito – after Adam Idah’s shot – to take Rodgers’ staff by way of to the playoff spherical, and there was the even later lack of Daizen Maeda to a purple card. His compatriot, Kyogo Furuhashi, enjoying in all probability his final sport for Celtic – the striker is reportedly set for Rennes – signed off with a hat-trick of disallowed objectives. “We’ve constructed by way of it and performed some nice soccer, however confirmed alternative ways to win as properly,” mentioned a delighted Rodgers. Celtic enter the Champions League knockouts for the primary time since 2013.
Slipping down
Manchester Metropolis
Maybe that Sunday stroll at Ipswich was not really the Metropolis machine discovering its gears once more. Although maybe an impressed second-half efficiency from Paris Saint-Germain, the kind of comeback PSG have been on the flawed finish of too many instances, deserves the credit score. Nonetheless, with one match to go – albeit towards Membership Brugge subsequent Wednesday – the sight of Metropolis at twenty fifth within the desk is a honest shock. There have been lots of the warning indicators which have rung out this season for Metropolis as PSG precipitated havoc within the second half. PSG discovered that in the event that they pressed aggressively, they might win the ball in harmful positions. There have been aching gaps in Metropolis’s defence too. Not many groups have 64% of the ball towards a Pep Guardiola staff. Too many groups are actually discovering a option to beat them this season. Guardiola himself regarded misplaced and lonesome within the Paris rain. How lengthy can this proceed? For the ninth time this season, his staff did not win a match they led, and Wednesday was the primary time within the final 115 events that Man Metropolis have misplaced a sport the place they led by two or extra objectives. “To defend the end result you must preserve the ball and we didn’t do this,” mentioned Guardiola. Paris was simply the newest lack of management.
Borussia Dortmund
Wednesday’s early-morning announcement of Nuri Sahin’s sacking mentioned all of it. The coach with the membership at his coronary heart, youth participant turned star midfielder, is the newest to fail to show Europe’s nice kindergarten of expertise right into a successful staff. Final season’s shock Champions League finalists are nonetheless probably qualifiers for the knockouts, ought to they negotiate Shakhtar Donetsk. However this week they misplaced to Bologna, one of many competitors’s strugglers. Defeat solely hardened the decline we’ve seen within the Bundesliga, the place Dortmund sit tenth. That they had led in Italy on Tuesday, by way of Serhou Guirassy’s Panenka penalty, however then got here a pair of defensive disasters. Thijs Dallinga was allowed to faucet residence, and the identical participant’s shot was then deflected into Samuel Iling-Junior’s path for the Londoner’s first-ever Champions League objective. Sahin, one in all Jürgen Klopp’s golden technology, had dropped main males Julian Brandt and Emre Can in an try and shake issues up, however it was to no avail. “You’ll not get an informal choice from me in Italy based mostly on emotion,” mentioned Dortmund sporting director Lars Ricken. He sacked Sahin the next morning.
Bayern Munich
A raucous evening in Rotterdam – there are few noisier stadiums than De Kuip – was additionally a humiliation for Vincent Kompany’s Bayern, as they misplaced 3-0 to a rampaging Feyenoord. Among the Bayern defending resembled that of the Burnley staff Kompany received relegated final season. His front-foot strategy is working within the Bundesliga, as Leverkusen slip from the near-perfection of final season, and Leipzig labour too. Within the Champions League although, Bayern are fifteenth, and can virtually actually require a playoff due to their poor away kind; Rotterdam was their third defeat on the highway. Actual Madrid and PSG might await in that further pair of matches and neither are opponents to play a excessive line towards. It wasn’t simply the defending although. Bayern rained down 30 pictures on objective, however solely 4 had been on course from an assault together with Harry Kane. “It’s not about one particular person, defending begins from the attackers earlier than the ball even will get to the backline,” mentioned Kompany.
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A great week for …
Vangelis Pavlidis (Benfica)
Even after two nights the place issues and permutations shifted each few seconds it feels apt to return to Tuesday on the Stadium of Mild and hail the forgotten hero of the evening. Pavlidis, Benfica’s centre-forward, scored a 30-minute hat-trick, the primary a thumping left-foot effort from Álvaro Carreras’s cross, the second noticed him seize on Szczęsny’s rush of blood to calmly run the ball into an open internet, and the third was a well-hit penalty. Subbed off within the eightieth minute, he might solely watch as what had been a wonderful evening become catastrophe for his staff.
Luuk de Jong (PSV)
Simply when PSV wanted their legendary striker, who had but to attain within the Champions League this season going into this week’s sport, he delivered. Of their 3-2 defeat of Pink Star he first nodded in a nook from Joey Veerman within the seventeenth minute after which repeated the trick seven minutes later. PSV coach Peter Bosz has been criticised for enjoying the veteran when Ricardo Pepi was in good kind earlier than Christmas. However De Jong led a rearguard effort after fellow goalscorer Ryan Flamingo was dismissed. “We performed with guts,” mentioned De Jong. There had been an outbreak of illness within the camp. “Usually I deal with them as ‘guys’, however as we speak they had been males,” mentioned Bosz. The Nineteenth-placed PSV have Liverpool subsequent however retain a good playoff likelihood.
Santiago Giménez (Feyenoord)
The group stage’s extension into January makes it a show for expertise who might transfer within the switch window. Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres scored in Sporting’s defeat at Leipzig, Pavlidis confirmed off his line-leading capabilities and Inter’s Lautaro Martínez rattled in a magnificence towards Sparta Prague. And Giménez continues to seem like a big-money buy within the near-future as he rattled in two objectives for Feyenoord. He has been carefully linked with Milan, although his high quality of goalscoring and performances might take him out of their value vary.
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