While Lille offered Sturm Graz in pain (3-2) and Atlético de Madrid had secured against Slovan Bratislava (3-1), the fight for the top 8 of the Champions League continued this Tuesday evening. At home, Borussia Dortmund hosted FC Barcelona in a match where the winner could assert themselves as Liverpool’s only runner-up. The Catalans started the match better with a dangerous cross from Alejandro Baldé that Dani Olmo could not deflect correctly (3rd). Raphinha in turn was too short on an interesting cross from Jules Koundé (5th). Rhythm and desire on the part of the Blaugranas which were symbolized by this nice outside of the foot of Lamine Yamal for Raphinha whose shot missed the target (14th). Just behind, the Germans reacted, but Marcel Sabitzer struck just above Iñaki Peña’s goal (18th). If the pace was going to drop, it was to accelerate just before the break. First, Jules Koundé attempted a volley that Gregor Kobel was going to repel (36th) then Dortmund came close to opening the scoring on a header from Serhou Guirassy, but Iñaki Peña narrowly pushed back in front of his line. The Guinean was offside anyway (40th).
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General classification UEFA Champions League
Returning from the locker room, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was launched behind the Catalan defense on the left side and served Serhou Guirassy at the far post who was going to finish, but his goal was refused for an offside by Bynoe-Gittens (50th). The Catalan response was clear with an excellent ball from Dani Olmo in the depth for Raphinha who went to beat the goalkeeper (1-0, 53rd). But Dortmund were not going to let the match go like that and Serhou Guirassy pushed Pau Cubarsi to make a mistake before converting the penalty (1-1, 60th). The match would then descend into madness with a counter goal from Ferran Torres (2-1, 75th), but Serhou Guirassy would put the Germans back in the match once again (2-2, 78th). Marcel Sabitzer even thought of giving Dortmund the advantage, but his goal was refused for an offside position by Serhou Guirassy and Ferran Torres was finally going to plant his double after a lot of work from Lamine Yamal (3-2, 85th). With this 3-2 victory, FC Barcelona takes second place behind Liverpool and Dortmund falls to ninth place.
Juventus puts Manchester City in great danger, AC Milan scares itself
Another duel of European big names this Wednesday, the clash between Juventus Turin and Manchester City. Two teams who are not going through their best period, and this was clearly felt during a particularly boring first period. A strike from Yildiz on the Turin side and a dive from Haaland masterfully released by Di Gregorio on the City side, that’s all that needed to be remembered from the first 45 minutes. The match heated up after the break with Vlahovic opening the score. Gatti attempted a return in the area, the ball was finally centered again, on the head of the Serbian striker who deceived Ederson, guilty of a handball, for his 4th goal of this Champions League season.
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Manchester City therefore monopolized the ball, as usual, but struggled to appear dangerous. Gündogan sent a beautiful curling shot, and fell on a still perfect Di Gregorio. Far from being cured, the Mancunian club was even going to concede a second goal, on the counter. Launched on the right by McKennie, Timothy Weah saw his first cross blocked, so he targeted the far post, towards McKennie, who had arrived with a bang. The American offered himself a superb volley which Ederson could do nothing about. Juventus thus sealed a prestigious success, which allowed it to move up the rankings, while Manchester City was sinking dangerously…
In a good position in the standings, AC Milan still needed one victory to consider itself qualified and above all to maintain the dream of a possible top 8. For this, it was necessary to get rid of Red Star Belgrade who were surely playing their last chances of qualification. And the Milanese logically dominated with a first strike from Rafael Leao repelled by Ivan Gutesa (14th). If the nugget Andrija Maksimovic responded for the Serbs (17th), it was the Italians who had the match in hand with a dangerous header from Tammy Abraham (31st). Finally, the Rossoneri’s efforts were rewarded just before the break. Served behind the Serbian defense by a nice ball from Youssouf Fofana, Rafael Leao controlled and adjusted the goalkeeper (1-0, 42nd). In the second half, Milan would slow down and be surprised by a recovery from Nemanja Radonjic at the feet of Yunus Musah. His following shot crucified Mike Maignan (1-1, 67th). In a quagmire, AC Milan would finally sting at the end of the match thanks to a header on the bar from Francesco Camarda. Tammy Abraham followed and gave the Italians the advantage (2-1, 88th). With this 2-1 victory, AC Milan climbs to twelfth place.
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Feyenoord returns to the top 24, Stuttgart unfolds and revives
Twenty-fifth and provisionally first eliminated from this group stage of the Champions League, the Dutch club Feyenoord wanted to get back in the right zone against Sparta Prague. For this, Brian Priske’s players – who were returning to his former club – started the match strong. On a right side corner hit on the right and deflected to the near post by a Czech defender, Gernot Trauner appeared at the second to finish with his solid bald head (1-0, 9th). Enough to knock out Sparta Prague since in the seconds that followed, Igor Paixao took advantage of a recovery in the central circle to run full length and double the lead with a heavy strike (2-0, 10th). Managing their advantage, Feyenoord would subsequently unfold. On the right of the Czech area, Anis Hadj Moussa scored a third goal with a sublime curling shot (3-0, 31st). Manhandled, Sparta Prague would however reduce the gap before the break via Albion Rrahmani (3-1, 42nd). In the second half, Santiago Giménez would give more weight to the Dutch success after another defensive blunder (4-1, 63rd). The Czechs would reduce the score with an own goal from Thomas Beelen (4-2, 79th). With this 4-2 victory, Feyenoord moved back into the top 24 with an 18th place. Sparta Prague is 29th and qualification is slipping away for the Czechs.
To maintain hope of qualifying for the play-offs, Stuttgart hosted Young Boys from Bern with the desire to get back on track. For its part, the Swiss team especially wanted to save honor in its campaign with five initial defeats. And it started well for the visitors. Moving to the right of the German area, Alan Virginius served behind Lukasz Lakomy who finished with a superb strike (1-0, 6th). However, Stuttgart would slowly return to this meeting. On a nice one-two on the right, Angelo Stiller found Josha Vagnoman in the area who played back to him. The German midfielder was responsible for resetting the scoreboards (1-1, 25th). The Germans would even take control of the debates at the start of the second half thanks to Enzo Millot (2-1, 53rd). Better, Chris Führich (3-1, 61st) drove home the point with a superb curling shot. Passer on the first goal, Josha Vagnoman would join the party after an offering from Enzo Millot (4-1, 67th). Coming into play, Yannick Keitel also finished with a long shot (5-1, 76th). A large 5-1 victory which allows Stuttgart to move up to 26th place and get back on track. The Young Boys of Bern are last with 0 points.
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Finally, the last match of the evening saw Benfica challenge a Bologna team who were playing out their last hopes in the competition. Benfica quickly got into action with a nice offering from Angel Di Maria for Vangelis Pavlidis (2nd), but the Greek was flagged offside. A big alert for the Italians who were going to suffer from the pace of the Portuguese. Just after, Vangelis Pavlidis had another attempt, but his shot went over the target (16th). The Aguias insisted and just before the break, Angel Di Maria’s missile was narrowly repelled by Lukasz Skorupski (43rd). Subsequently, Benfica and Bologna went blow for blow in the second half, but whether it was Lukasz Skorupski or Anatoliy Trubin, the two goalkeepers multiplied the saves. With this 0-0 draw, Benfica stagnates in 15th place. Only 33rd, Bologna gleans its second point, but the chances of qualification disappear.
The matches of the evening:
- Juventus (Italy) 2-0 Manchester City (Angleterre) : Dusan Vlahovic (53e) et Weston McKennie (75e) pour la Juventus
- Borussia Dortmund (Allemagne) 2-3 FC Barcelona (Spain) : Serhou Guirassy (60th sp and 78th) for Dortmund; Raphinha (53rd) and Ferran Torres (75th and 85th) for FC Barcelona
- Feyenoord (Pays-Bas) 4-2 Sparta Prague (Czech Republic): Gernot Trauner (9th), Igor Paixao (10th), Anis Hadj Moussa (31st) and Santiago Giménez (63rd) for Feyenoord; Albion Rrahmani (42nd) and Thomas Beelen (79th, CSC) for Sparta Prague
- AC Milan (Italy) 2-1 Red Star Belgrade (Serbia): Rafael Leao (42nd) and Tammy Abraham (88th) for AC Milan; Nemanja Radonjic (67th) for Belgrade
- Arsenal (England) 3-0 AS Monaco (France): Bukayo Saka (34th and 78th) and Kehrer (88th csc) for Arsenal
- Stuttgart (Germany) 5-1 Young Boys from Bern (Switzerland): Angelo Stiller (25th), Enzo Millot (53rd), Chris Führich (61st), Josha Vagnoman (67th) and Yannick Keitel (75th) for Stuttgart; Lukasz Lakomy (6th) for Young Boys
- Benfica (Portugal) 0-0 Bologne (Italie):
Pub. the 11/12/2024 23:01
– UPDATE 11/12/2024 23:24
