Monaco collapses against Benfica, LOSC wins in Bologna

Two new French clubs on deck in the Champions League. After the defeats of PSG and Brest in Munich and Barcelona, ​​AS Monaco and LOSC were able to restore the tricolor image. For AS Monaco, it was with the reception of Benfica Lisbon from Angel Di Maria. A formidable opponent, and Adi Hütter decided to line up his typical team, with Akliouche, Ben Seghir and Golovin to accompany Embolo. The trio showed their advantage quite quickly in the match. A first hot situation brought on by an Akliouche center had put Trubin under pressure. Then a high-class ball release signed by the Golovin-Ben Seghir duo resulted in a shot from Vanderson, pushed back by the goalkeeper directly onto the Russian midfielder, who intelligently served Ben Seghir for the opener (1-0, 13th ).

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The Champions League standings

An ideal start for the Monegasques who had the merit of waking up the more incisive Portuguese. When put under pressure, Hütter's players lost the balls more quickly, like Lamine Camara who sometimes put his team in danger. The Lisbon club was sharper in the duels and bothered its opponent much more. But Di Maria lost his duel against Majecki (36th). In the process, Otamendi narrowly missed the target with a header. Monaco was hot, and so was the referee. The man in black, Rade Obrenovic, did not sanction Carreras with a second yellow card, but gave one to Zakaria and Kehrer, who came to denounce the late tackle from the left side. In the process, Akturkoglu made the same tackle and collected a yellow card… ASM finally regained some control at the end of the first period after long minutes of hesitation.

AS started off very strongly in the second period, and Embolo found the post, after a good ball from Akliouche into the area (46th). The Principality club could bite its fingers, since it was going to offer a goal to Benfica, on a completely missed back pass from Caio Henrique, from which Pavlidis took advantage (1-1, 48th)! Monaco thought they would react quickly with a goal from Akliouche, launched by Embolo, but it was narrowly offside. The flag also fortunately rose for Benfica's goal scored by Bah on a Di Maria serve to sanction an offside by Di Maria. Monaco thought they were doing well, but the referee struck again with another card, Singo this time, who was sent off. We could already imagine the resounding declarations of the Monegasques on the refereeing at the end of the match, when the Mawissa-Magassa duo appeared. Back cross from the first, clear shot from the second, and Monaco regained the advantage (2-1, 67th). It was then a question of holding on at 10 against 11. But the infernal Di Maria was going to play a bad trick on the Monegasques. A first ball placed on the head of Cabral for the equalizer (2-2, 84th), then another on the head of Amdouni (2-3, 88th), recalling the (bad) memories of the supporters of Louis II . In the space of a few minutes, AS Monaco went from 2nd in the ranking to 9th. Let's hope that ASM will not regret this nightmarish end to the match on the evening of the 8th and final day.

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LOSC ensures

The second French club entered this evening, LOSC traveled to Bologna, who had not yet won during this phase of the league. Not an easy move, however, and Bruno Genesio set up a solid 4-3-3, with André, Mukau and Bouaddi in midfield, and Zhegrova on the bench. LOSC conceded a goal from former Toulouse player Dallinga, but the latter was ultimately flagged offside. Concentrated and serious, the Mastiffs contained willing but limited Italians, lacking offensive talent. And also a bit unlucky, like this restart blocked by two teammates, who offered a good ball to David on the left. The Canadian overflowed and crossed behind for Mukau, who tried twice to deceive Skorupski (0-1, 44th).

However, LOSC lost its solidity during a free kick taken by Lykogiannis. Lucumi appeared at the near post to cut the trajectory and deceive Chevalier, for once stuck on his line (1-1, 63rd). A bamboo blow on the heads of Lille? It was a misunderstanding of the character of this team, which reacted immediately. Fernandez-Pardo overflowed on the left and crossed back. Who tumbled down to resume victoriously? Mukau of course! The 20-year-old Congolese midfielder came to score his double in the Champions League to give his team the advantage (1-2, 66th).

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PSV turns Shakhtar upside down

In the other matches of the evening, in addition to Liverpool-Real Madrid (for which you can find the notes), a tempting Aston Villa-Juventus was contested in England. Attractive in principle, much less so on the ground. Handicapped by numerous absences, particularly in attack, the Old Lady focused on defending well against the uninspired Villains. The first shot on target only came in the 31st minute of play. Digne found the crossbar on a free kick, but we were far from an offensive festival. Aston Villa thought they would score in injury time, but the goal was disallowed for a charge on Di Gregorio. Celtic Glasgow conceded a draw at home against Bruges, with already one of the most ridiculous goals of the season, with Carter-Vickers' CSC.

Borussia Dortmund did not particularly shine on the lawn of Dinamo Zagreb. He relied on a brilliant effort from Bynoe-Gittens in the first half and a header from Bensebaini in the second. Finally, a major feat for Shakhtar Donetsk who won on the pitch of PSV Eindhoven, despite having been undefeated for almost 2 years on their pitch in Europe! A success acquired in the first half, and which the expulsion of Pedro Henrique in the second half did not endanger.

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The complete Champions League standings

The results from 9 p.m.:

• AS Monaco 2-3 Benfica : Ben Seghir (13e), Magassa (67e) to Monaco; Pavlidis (48e), Cabral (84e), Amdouni (88e) for Benfica
• Bologna 1-2 LOSC : Lucumi (63rd) for Bologna; Mukau (44th, 66th) for LOSC
• Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid: MacAllister (52e), Gakpo (76e)
• Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus
• Dinamo Zagreb 0-3 Borussia Dortmund : Bynoe-Gittens (41e), Bensebaini (57e), Guirassy (90e)
• Celtic Glasgow 1-1 Bruges: Maeda (60th) for Celtic; Carter-Vickers (26th csc) for Bruges
• PSV Eindhoven 3-2 Shakhtar Donetsk : Tillman (87th, 90th), Pepi (90+6th) for PSV; Sikan (8th), Zubkov (37th) for Shakhtar