At the end of the 7th day of the Champions League, Kylian Mbappé’s Merengue crushed a very weak Salzburg. Both Milan and Arsenal have assumed their status unlike Bayern Munich, sunk by Feyenoord.
A job (very) well done. Merciless, Kylian Mbappé’s Real Madrid, without any surprise, made short work of a very weak Salzburg team (5-1) on its Santiago-Bernabéu pitch this Wednesday. At a slow pace during the first quarter of an hour, the Merengue accelerated at will to finally crush their opponent, already eliminated from the competition before this meeting.
Smart Mbappé, Vinicius all fired up
The man of the first period was named Rodrygo, author of a nice double (23rd and 34th), well helped by Jude Bellingham, an inspired decisive double passer. The constellation of Madrid stars could revise their ranges. Discreet in finishing so far, Kylian Mbappé, upon returning from the locker room, confirmed his return to form by taking advantage of a huge error by German goalkeeper Blaswich (48th). An opportunistic goal before the Vinicius show. Seeing his attacking comrades shine, “Vini” slammed his fist on the table, also offering himself a double in his pure style of destabilizing dribbler (55th and 77th). The contract was fulfilled by Real Madrid even if, at the end of the match, Bidstrup saved the honor for the Austrian side. Now 16th in the rankings, the reigning European champion can still dream of a favorable scenario to finish in the top 8. On condition of winning next Wednesday, in Guingamp, against Stade Brestois.
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Bayern Munich is sinking
It’s the surprise of the evening. Unlike Real Madrid, Bayern Munich missed the boat. Worse, he fell from a great height. Trapped by a double from the Mexican Santiago Gimenez, fierce (21st) then clinical from the penalty spot (45+9), the Bavarians – very feverish defensively and uninspired in attack – tried to react in vain during the second half. But it was not the evening for Vincent Kompany’s men, crucified by the counter-attack concluded by Ueda (89th). With this debacle, FC Bayern almost buries its hopes of a top 8 and will host Slovan Bratislava next week while the surprising Feyenoord Rotterdam will meet in Lille. For a match that will be worth its weight in gold.
-Arsenal and the two Milans at a slow trot
Also favorites this evening, Arsenal did not tremble for a single second at the Emirates Stadium to dismiss Dinamo Zagreb and move into 3rd place in the standings. Declan Rice (2nd), Kai Havertz (66th) and Martin Odegaard (90+1) validated London’s success against a Croatian team which fell to 26th place. At the same time, the two Milan secured three precious points, with the same score of 1-0. Rafael Leao became a scorer (37th) for the Rossoneri of Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez during the reception of Girona while the Nerazzurri of Marcus Thuram were able to count on their captain Lautaro Martinez, author of a beautiful half-volley at the start of the game (12th), on the Sparta Prague lawn. In the standings, Inter – who will host AS Monaco next Wednesday – is 3rd, AC Milan follows in 6th place.
Finally, in the final match of the evening – which was not broadcast by Canal+ due to a Swiss sponsor banned in France – Celtic snatched a deserved success against Young Boys from Bern, Loris Benito scoring the only goal of the match against his side (86th). Well off with an affordable schedule, the Scottish club climbs to 18th place and will play, at a minimum, the play-offs reserved for teams located from 9th to 24th position.
All the results of the evening:
Sparta Prague 0-1 Inter Milan
Arsenal 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Celtic Glasgow 1-0 Young Boys de Berne
Feyenoord Rotterdam 3-0 Bayern Munich
AC Milan 1-0 Girona
Real Madrid 5-1 Salzburg
