An exciting night of champions league football with a lot of exciting games to recap. Yesterday night had 8 games and from all the groups there were some teams who were fighting to qualify for the knockout stages to the round of 16. Some teams had already dropped to Europa league whilst some knew that a loss would take them out of Europe’s competitions in total( champions league and Europa league)
Group A which had Napoli, Liverpool, Ajax and Rangers was already decided with Napoli topping the group. Liverpool second, Ajax qualifying for Europa but could miss out on it if they were beaten by rangers by a wide margin.
In group B we had Bayer Levcerkusen, Clun Brugge, Porto and Atletico Madrid. Club Brugge was the group had already qualified but needed a win final games to make sure they top the group. Porto too had qualified but needed to win against Atm and wish that Club Brugge loose or draw to Leverkusen. Atm had dropped out and into the Europa but had to make sure to avoid defeat against Porto or they could be totally out of Europe too.
In group C we had Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Vitoria Plzen. Out of all the groups, group C was done and dusted. A team loosing or winning wouldn’t have changed the standing of the teams. As things were, Baryern were leading at the top with a huge margin, Inter had also qualified with a big gap from Barca and Plzen on the other hand had no points up until the last match day.
In group D, they had all to play for. We had Tottenham, Marseille, Frankfurt and Sporting. No team had qualified yet, all teams could still be knocked out from the group stages and that was where the fan was.
Now let’s us recap all of the group stage matches of yesterday’s night.
Yesterday i previewed all the matches that were gonna he played. You can have a look at it Tuesday champions league preview
Liverpool Vs Napoli (2-0)
After loosing the first leg by a huge gap a lot of us wrote Liverpool off. Don’t get me wrong, I knew the Mach was at Liverpool’s Fortress Anfield but after they defeat to Leeds at Anfield I didn’t think they could do It here. Moreover they had already qualified and were just fighting and playing out of pride.
Napoli have been on fire in the league and also in the champions league. Prior to this encounter with Liverpool they had not lost a match both in the champions league and in the the league. In this group, they had played 5 and won all 5 convincingly. So looking at how things were even if Liverpool were gonna win it won’t be by much.
The match started on a fine not and we saw what Liverpool wanted to do. They wanted all 3 points and they fought hard until the last minute of the game. Napoli on the other hand had a normal day at the office, they looked to cause problems for Liverpool and they had a good game. They were able to get a goal first but upon checks from the VAR it was disallowed. I wonder how things would have panned out if that goal was not disallowed.
The match went on up until the 80 something minute for the scoring to open. From a corner Van Dijk looked like scoring but he header was thwarted away by the keeper. Salah was the faster player to get to the ball and had a simple job of tapping the ball into the net. Since the goal came late the match looked to be decided but in the dying minutes of the game Van Dijk has another header which was again stopped by the keeper. He could only send his save onto the line of the goal. Once again a Liverpool player was there to tap it in; it was Darwin Nunez and the match was settled.
Rangers Vs Ajax( (1-3)
The two sides battling for Europa league. One had to score with a significant margin and the other had to get at least a point. Ajax needed only a point to make sure they qualified for the europa league. It didn’t look like Rangers could get anything from this match as they had not a single point from their 5 group stage games so far. The last time these two sides met Ajax smashed them by 4 goals to nil.
If Rangers wanted to qualify they would have to score by 5 goals with no response from Ajax which looked impossible. Ajax was able to grad the first 2 goals in the first half. Ranger could only get a consolation goal in the second half through a penalty only to conceded a third goal.
They go out of Europe with no points from their 6 encounters. This means they have lost all the 6 games they played against Napoli, Liverpool and Ajax conceding a total of 22 goals and scoring just 2 goals in the process.
Bayer Leverkusen Vs Club Brugge (0-0)
Group B had been decided in the previous match day but the first spot was not decided yet. If club Brugge wanted the first spot they would have to beat Leverkusen and get all three points. Leverkusen on the other hand had little hope of qualifying for Europa league. They needed to get a point or win and then hope that Porto beat Atm.
Their match was not that interesting as they didn’t get a lot of clear cut changes to win the game. Both sides had no much threat at goal and at the end of the match Brugge had already qualified.
It seemed Brugge didn’t care much about the match cause they had already qualified. I think they should have tried winning the game as it will help their cause. Being the second in the group will make them face a tougher opposition in the next round.
Fc Porto Vs Atletico Madrid (2-1)
Before this match Porto had already qualified and needed a win to top the group. On the other hand Atm was out of the champions league into the Europa. It was not fully so as they needed to get at least a point to make sure they stay in the third place. Before the encounter with Atm they had beaten then leaders club Brugge by 4 goals to nil.
Atletico Madrids form has been pretty bad lately so I knew this encounter will be difficult for them especially after knowing they have dropped out from the champions league. Their form in the league too has not been any good at all.
Porto did good to start the game well. Atletico caused their own downfall by missing a last minute penalty against Leverkusen. By missing this penalty they squandered their chances of qualifying for the champions league. If they had won that match they could have taken it to a last minute battle between them and Porto. They could have stolen Porto’s spot from them.
Bayern Munchen Vs inter Milan (2-0)
Both of these teams coming into this match had qualified already. But on the other hand Bayern wanted to set a record. If they win this match against Inter they will be the first team to win all their group stage matches three times. Most of football fans knew they will go on to set that record but it was two big team facing each other.
Inter after beating Plzen in match day five had nothing to loose yesterday so they didn’t play that preservative style that they picked up against Barca . This time round they looked to press high and win ball high on the pitch. They did a good job in the opening minutes of the game but little details caused their loss.
Some people might have disagreed with the refs decision to not award them a penalty after Mane looked to block the ball with his hand. I for one think it was not a penalty. The ball was headed for his face and the safest and quickest way was to shield his face with his hand. Am sure it happened out of reflex even though we can argue that the ball was on target but then the safety of the players too matter. They lost the game by 2 goals to nothing with Pavard scored the first goal and Chopo got the second.
Viktoria Plzen Vs Fc Barcelona (2-4)
Barcelona were knocked out of the champions league by match day 4. They knew that coming back will be difficult as they were defeated by inter and they drew to them. Their draw shattered their champions league hopes of qualifications was now rested on Plzen beating inter Milan which looked impossible.
Inter beat Plzen and qualified which sinked Barca’s hopes. So it was only normal that Xavi will look to rest some of his key players so that they could fight for Laliga and other trophies. This match was not important but at least they had to win it. Plzen had not won or drawn in any match prior to this. They had played 5 and lost 5 each after conceding a lot of goals. There was nothing much left to be done as they had to show pride and play to please their fans.
But it didn’t happen for them. They conceded the first goal as early as the 6th minute and were two goals down in the first half. They tried to fight back as they won a penalty in the opening minutes of the second half to halve Barca’s lead. 3 minutes later Barca got their third. Plzen got their 2nd making it 3 -2 to which I thought we would have an entertaining end to this match but it didn’t happen as Barca grabbed their 4th to seal the victory.
Marseille Vs Tottenham (1-2)
The only English side to have not yet qualified from their group was Tottenham. In group D all teams still had a chance to qualify and all teams were at risk of being knocked out.
I remember I was telling someone here that Spurs will be bad in the first half and then pull up in the second. They did just that. They were dominated, outplayed and had just a single shot in the whole of the first half. They didn’t have a good game in the first and to add to it they conceded the first goal.
This took them to the Europa spot making things complicated for them. In the second half they didn’t waste time to get that equaliser through lenglet , this took them to the 2nd. In the dying minutes of the game they had a 3 on one. Spurs didn’t waste time to give the ball to Hojbeg who moved with the ball from the Center of the park. He scored a beauty by hitting the ball from the middle of the park. Giving spurs a 2-1 lead, they top the group and are through to the next round.
Sporting CP Vs Frankfurt (1-2)
Group D had another match that was exciting. When Marseille were leading by a goal to nil Sporting too was leading. This meant Marseille and Sporting was set to qualify. It looked like a night of comebacks for spurs and Frankfurt. We have all seen the quality and threat that Frankfurt pose from the Europeans escapes this year.
They had to fight from a goal down to qualify or risk the chance of even qualifying for Europa league. If the results had stayed that way it would have meant they won’t be in Europe next year.
As soon as sporting scored they got a penalty to equalise. When the second half started they played their best football as if their lives depended on it. Well they had to win or get knocked out. They got the winning goal in the 70th minute and they are through.
This is a recap of yesterday(Tuesday) champions league games. I hope you guys enjoy reading it and have a nice day.