AC Milan’s hunt to get into the round of 16 in the Champions League was clobbered at the hands of Liverpool, whilst Leipzig’s fantastic result against Manchester City earned them a Europa League spot despite losing their opening three games of the campaign. Ajax and Dortmund had a goal-fest in their games, whilst both Madrid clubs registered crucial wins.
Fikayo Tomori opened the scoring for Milan, with the former Chelsea man pouncing on a rebound off Alisson, slotting home from close range around the half-hour mark. Their lead, however, lasted just 8 minutes, with the man in form, Mohamed Salah, scoring yet again. In the second half, Liverpool’s saviour at the Molineux was there to gift them three points yet again, as Divock Origi headed home the eventual winner for the Reds, which knocked the Rossoneri out of Europe.
In the other fixture of Group B, a total of three straight reds were issued for both sides, with Porto getting two men sent off whilst Atletico had lost Yannick Carrasco. Antonio Griezmann scored in the second half for Atletico, just before the flurry of red cards started.
Angel Correa and Rodrigo de Paul added two more in two minutes right at the death, which made it 3-0 for the Spanish champions. They didn’t get the clean sheet, however, as Oliveira converted a 96th minute penalty for Porto.
Shakhtar Donetsk and Sheriff had a dead-rubber encounter, which finished 1-1. Fernando dos Santos’ goal kept Shakhtar in the lead until the final few seconds of the game, but an equalizer from Adama Traore in stoppage time denied the hosts their only win of the tournament.
In another crucial contest in the same group, Real Madrid defeated Inter Milan 2-0 with Marco Asensio and Toni Kroos scoring for the hosts. The result saw Real finish top of the table in Group D.
Ajax had already made their way into the round of 16, but played out a 4-2 thriller against Sporting Lisbon at Johan Cruyff Arena. Sebastien Haller’s early penalty was canceled out by Nuno Santos, but Antony got them ahead on the cusp of half-time. David Neres and Steven Berghuis scored in quick succession to take the game totally away from the Portuguese champions. Bruno Tabata got a late consolation, as the game finished 4-2.
Erling Haaland and Marco Reus scored twice each for Dortmund, who smashed Besiktas aside by five goals to nil. Dutch forward Donyell Malen opened the scoring for the men in yellow, before Reus added two more on either side of the first half. Haaland, who replaced the German at the hour mark, took just five minutes to get up and running. He got a second in the final 10 minutes to make it five for Dortmund.
In Group A, only the Europa League slot was up for grabs, which eventually went to Leipzig, who registered a stunning 2-1 over Manchester City. Hungarian Dominik Szobaszlai and Andre Silva scored for Leipzig through breathtaking counters, which left City bemused. Riyad Mahrez struck one back for the Citizens with over 14 minutes left to play, but a silly challenge from Kyle Walker got him a straight red, thus ruining their chances of getting a win.
PSG, on the other hand, got a much-needed result with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi getting on the scoresheet twice each. Mbappe got his first two in the first seven minutes before he made his third goal contribution in the 38th minute to set up Messi’s first of the day. The Argentine stalwart won a penalty in the second half and converted it himself to make it four for PSG, whilst Club Brugge had one consolation coming from Mats Rits.
