The sixth matchday of the Champions League began with two matches early on Tuesday evening. Liverpool FC consolidated their lead in the table with a 1-0 away win in Girona. Meanwhile, Dinamo Zagreb and Celtic FC drew 0-0.
Champions League: Liverpool stays at the top of the table
The Reds started the game powerfully and had their first opportunity early on. After a corner, Joe Gomez came unchallenged to head the ball, which Paulo Gazzaniga was able to defuse brilliantly in the FC Girona goal (4th). The Argentine was also there against Darwin Nunez. (7th). But the Catalans had the best opportunity to take the lead. A cross missed by Daley Blind slipped through to Oriol Romeu, who was denied by Alisson from close range (11th). Shortly afterwards, Bryan Gil also missed a promising chance to finish (14th).
Things continued cheerfully, both teams almost completely avoided midfield skirmishes and sought a quick route to the top without any fuss. Girona had no respect for the Champions League leaders and continued to record promising finishes. On the other hand, Gazzaniga was able to excel once again against Nunez (35th). The fact that it was still 0-0 at half-time was entirely due to the poor conversion of chances and strong goalkeeping performances from both teams.
After the hosts started the second half bravely, Liverpool gained more and more control of the game as the game went on. The Reds now nipped the Spaniards’ transition moments in the bud much more quickly and recorded longer passages of possession. But the northern English team needed the necessary bit of luck to take the lead: Donny van de Beek had kicked Luis Diaz in the heel from behind, and according to the VAR images, referee Benoît Bastien decided on a penalty kick Mo is wrong could confidently transform (63.).
The LFC then moved more and more into administration mode, but without giving up any of its control of the game. It was visibly noticeable to Girona that playing intensively for a long time had taken a lot of energy. So it ended up being a deserved 1-0, allowing Liverpool to celebrate their sixth win in their sixth Champions League match. The Reds are unlikely to be denied a direct entry into the round of 16.
Dinamo and Celtic neutralize each other
In the duel between two national title holders, Celtic initially had control of the game. Dinamo left possession of the ball to the guests from Glasgow and limited themselves exclusively to occasional switching actions. After a long period of scanning, it was the Celts who had their first chance to score with a direct free kick from Paulo Bernardo (17th). But overall, the Croats managed to largely keep the “Bhoys’” attacking efforts in check. The result: an uneventful game. The most promising opportunity came from Nicolas Kühn, who was denied by Danijel Zagorac from a tight angle (33′). From the hosts’ perspective, Sandro Kulenovic had the best chance shortly before the half-time whistle (45th).
(Photo by Jurij Codrun/Getty Images)
After the break, Zagreb in particular increased the number of hits and was now more present offensively. Marko Pjaca (57th) and Matin Batruina (59th) recorded their first approaches to the goal. Dinamo gave Celtic trouble with their enormous physicality; the Scots, despite their visual superiority, repeatedly lacked the necessary precision. So it was “The Blue Lions” who had the best opportunity of the game in the person of Pjaca. Kasper Schmeichel brilliantly defused the left winger’s header (80′). But the lucky punch didn’t happen: the score remained 0-0, which is completely acceptable given the uneventful 90 minutes.
All news about the Champions League
The games at a glance
FC Girona – FC Liverpool 0:1 (0:0)
Tore: 0:1 Salah (63.)
Dinamo Zagreb – Celtic FC 0:0 (0:0)
Tore: –
(Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
