Brest takes on Sparta Prague and almost qualifies, Barça wins, Inter Milan knocks out Arsenal

Sensation of the start of the Champions League, Stade Brestois 29 surprised everyone by beating Sturm Graz (2-1) and Red Bull Salzburg (4-0) then snatching a draw against Bayer Leverkusen (1-1). The Breton club had the opportunity to almost officially validate their qualification in the event of a victory this evening and traveled to the Sparta Prague pitch. The Czechs had 4 points after 3 days and wanted to come back to match their evening opponent. From the start, the locals imposed their tempo against Brest even if the chances were slow to arrive. Jakub Pešek was going to get a first chance with a volley, but couldn’t find the target (15th). Brest’s response came from Ludovic Ajorque, but he crossed his shot too far to the right (26th). The Bretons gained momentum and on a good ball from Kenny Lala behind the Czech defense, Kamory Doumbia followed well, but completely missed his shot while he was alone in front of the goalkeeper (35th).

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General classification UEFA Champions League

A failure of no great consequence, because Brest would end up forcing the decision. On a corner kick from the left, the ball floated into the area and this benefited Edmilson Fernandes. The Swiss midfielder was going to take his chance to score with a nice volley (1-0, 37th). Managing the end of the first act, Eric Roy’s team arrived at the break in the lead. In the second half, Brest would push to double the lead with a big strike from Pierre Lees-Melou (48th) or Mahdi Camara twice (65th and 75th). Ultimately, the pressure exerted by Brest would end up overcoming the Czechs. On the right, Ludovic Ajorque pressed and crossed towards the penalty spot. In the duel with Kamory Doumbia, Kaan Kairinen would unfortunately deviate into the back of his own net (2-0, 80th). At the end of the match, Victor Olatunji would revive the Czechs in a harmless manner (2-1, 90th +2), however without consequence. With this 2-1 victory, Brest continues its crazy series and climbs to fourth place. Sparta Prague finds itself in 27th place.

Barcelona sticks 5, Inter Milan cracks Arsenal

We left FC Barcelona with a 4-1 success against Bayern Munich and the Blaugrana wanted to confirm their great Champions League against Red Star Belgrade this Wednesday. The Catalans were however going to be quickly surprised since Timi Max Elšnik was going to score as a soloist behind the defense, but he was flagged offside (4th). The response was immediate or almost for Hans-Dieter Flick’s gang with a free kick kicked by Raphinha which found the head of Íñigo Martínez in the Serbian area. The Basque managed to adjust the goalkeeper (1-0, 13th). Close to doubling the lead thanks to Raphinha, but the latter saw his shot go over the target (25th), FC Barcelona was going to falter on a counter initiated by Rade Krunić and concluded by Silas Katompa Mvumpa (1-1, 27th) . However, the Blaugrana could count on Robert Lewandowski. The Pole would score before the break (2-1, 43rd) and even scored twice after returning from the locker room (3-1, 53rd). Better for Barcelona, ​​Raphinha would increase the score following a good cross from Jules Koundé (4-1, 55th). In the middle of the festival, the Blaugranas were going to have fun by scoring a new goal via Fermin Lopez (5-1, 76th) at the very end of the match. Milson saved the honor at the end of the match for the Serbs, in vain (84th). With this 5-2 victory, FC Barcelona are now sixth. Belgrade is one of 5 teams with zero points.

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Another shock of the evening, the duel between Inter Milan and Arsenal had all the makings of a tasty match between two Top 8 candidates who had 7 points in 3 matches. Active, the Italians set the tone from the start with a strike from Denzel Dumfries on the crossbar (2nd) then a less dangerous long-range attempt by Hakan Çalhanoglu (4th). Manhandled, Arsenal reacted with a timid strike from Bukayo Saka (28th) and a header from Mikel Merino (29th), but it was the Milanese who were in control. Medhi Taremi would see a header go over (41st), but subsequently obtained a penalty against Mikel Merino (45th +2). Hakan Çalhanoglu transformed the award before the break with an axial strike (1-0, 45th +3). In the second half, Gabriel Martinelli tried to sound a revolt, but found the small net (47th). From a corner, Bukayo Saka ideally found Gabriel Magalhaes, but Denzel Dumfries saved on his line (59th) before Yann Sommer won in front of Kai Havertz (60th). Ultimately, the Milanese contained quite a few rather imprecise Gunners. Building on this 1-0 success, Inter Milan climbs to fifth place while Arsenal is twelfth.

Bayern by a short header, Salzburg finally wins

Beaten by Aston Villa (1-0) and crushed by FC Barcelona (4-1), Bayern Munich remained disappointed in the Champions League and wanted to make up for it on home turf against Benfica. Dominant, but sterile for 30 minutes, the Germans finally launched hostilities with a superb strike from Harry Kane at ground level, but Anatoliy Trubin intervened (33rd). The Ukrainian goalkeeper would again win ahead of the English striker then Joao Palhinha and Serge Gnabry on the same occasion (38th). A parity score at the break which did not suit the Germans. After half-time, Michael Olise saw his free kick easily stopped by the Benfica goalkeeper (49th) who disgusted the Recorder. The latter would again be impeccable twice against Leroy Sané (59th and 64th). However, he could no longer delay the inevitable and Harry Kane found Jamal Musiala on a cross victoriously headed by the latter (1-0, 67th). Unable to react, Benfica lost a short header 1-0 and now finds itself 19th. Bayern Munich doubles its evening opponent and climbs to 17th place.

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While Bayern Munich beat Benfica thanks to Musiala (1-0 for the Recorder), in the other matches, we were entitled to a duel between VfB Stuttgart and Atalanta. Two attractive teams who had achieved great things in their respective championships last season and who had been able to show themselves at the start of the competition. However, the first act was quite dull. There was certainly a dangerous strike from Mario Pasalic (9th) at the start of the game or the too-cross shot from Deniz Undav before the break (45th +1), but that was about it. Entering at the break, Charles De Ketelaere immediately appeared on the right side by blasting the German defense and crossing in front of goal for Ademola Lookman who would score from close range (1-0, 52nd). At the end of the match, Nicolo Zaniolo even hit the nail on the head for the Italians (2-0, 88th). La Dea moves back to 9th place when Stuttgart is in 27th place.

Finally, the final match of the evening pitted Feyenoord against Red Bull Salzburg. With six points in two matches, the Dutch club was offensive from the start and Igor Paixao quickly tested Janis Blaswich (8th). However, the Rotterdam club would become more and more sterile as the minutes passed and this benefited Salzburg. On good work on the left, Oscar Gloukh crossed towards the far post for Karim Konaté who would score with a header (1-0, 45th +2). Returning from the locker room, Igor Paixao came close to equalizing, but his header went over the target (47th). Feyenoord would nevertheless give up a second time on a corner. Taking advantage of a mix-up, Karim Konaté managed to score a double (2-0, 58th). In superiority after the expulsion of Chris Nadje (80th), Salzburg was going to scare itself when Anis Hadj Moussa scored with a great inspiration (2-1, 81st). Karim Konaté could have seen a triple, but he was going to send his penalty onto the crossbar (84th). No problem though since Daouda Guindo was responsible for cleaning the left corner (3-1, 86th). Salzburg gains its first points and climbs to 30th place. Feyenoord finds itself 21st.

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The matches of the evening:

• Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) 2-5 FC Barcelona (Spain) : Silas (27th) and Milson (84th) for Red Star; Inigo Martinez (13th), Robert Lewandowski (43rd and 53rd), Raphinha (55th) and Fermin Lopez (76th) for Barça

• Feyenoord (Pays-Bas) 1-3 Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) : Anis Hadj Moussa (81st) for Feyenoord; Karim Konaté (45th +2 and 58th) and Daouda Guindo (86th) for Salzburg

• Inter Milan (Italy) 1-0 Arsenal (Angleterre) : Hakan Çalhanoglu (45e +3 sp) pour l’Inter Milan

• Paris Saint-Germain (France) 1-2 Atlético de Madrid (Spain) : Warren Zaire-Emery (14th) for PSG; Nahuel Molina (18th) and Angel Correa (90th +3) for Atlético

• Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 1-2 Stade Brestois 29 (France) : Victor Olatunji (90th +2) for Sparta; Edimilson Fernandes (37th) and Kaan Kairine (80th, CSC) for Brest

• VfB Stuttgart (Allemagne) 0-2 Atalanta (Italy) : Ademola Lookman (52nd) and Nicolo Zaniolo (88th) for Atalanta

• Bayern Munich (Germany) 1-0 Benfica (Portugal): Jamal Musiala (68e) for Benfica