Champions League: heart-stopping night for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, Liverpool unstoppable
Champions League, results and standings
As many as 33 goals were scored in the nine matches staged on Tuesday in the Champions League, a long evening that gave football's Italy a resounding 5-0 win over Atalanta;Atalanta against Sturm Graz, Bologna's first win in the competition, 2-1 over Borussia Dortmund (the Felsinei are nonetheless arithmetically eliminated from the playoffs), and Juventus's 0-0 draw at the Club Brugge ground that confirms the Bianconeri among the teams that will, at the very least, play in the qualifying round of 16.
Among the other matches, the victories in extremis of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona undoubtedly stand out: the Colchoneros, in ten from 23' for the red card to Barrios, go under against Bayer Leverkusen (Hincapie scored at 46' of the first half), equalize at 52' with Alvarez and, after the second yellow to Hincapie that also leaves the Aspirins in ten from 76', sign again with Alvarez the goal of 2-1 at 90'.
Even more bursting success for the Blaugrana: at the 'Da Luz' in Lisbon, Benfica went ahead through Pavlidis at 2', Lewandowski made it 1-1 on a penalty kick at 13' but Szczesny made two serious mistakes that led to two more Pavlidis goals, at 22' and 30' (the second from the penalty spot). Raphinha shortened the score at 64' but at 68' the Eagles made it 4-2 with an Araujo own goal. From there on, the resounding comeback is triggered: again a Lewandowski penalty at 78' brings Barça to -1, eric Garcia equalizes at 87' and Raphinha at 96' signs the incredible 5-4 that makes Barça fly directly to the round of 16.
Lots of goals in Belgrade, too, between Red Star and PSV: the Dutch overflowed in the first half, with De Jong’s double on 17' and 23' and Flamingo’s goal on 43' but the latter got himself sent off on 50' and the game changed, with the hosts putting the pressure on with goals from Ndiaye on 71' and Djiga on 77'. The comeback remains però incomplete, PSV wins 3-2.
Away win in an Eastern European country also for Stuttgart: Leweling's double at 11' and 36' steered the match in favor of the Germans, Metsoko shortened at 85' but two minutes later Rieder closed the score for the final 3-1. Home success, on the other hand, for Monaco, which with the goal of ex-Torino Singo at 8'8' beat Aston Villa 1-0.
Closing the review is the top of the class, Liverpool, which consolidates its top spot in the standings with its seventh win in as many matches, this time against Lille: Salah at 34' opens the scoring, David equalizes at 62' despite the second yellow, three minutes earlier, to teammate Mandi, but Harvey Elliott at 67' makes the Kop rejoice by giving the Reds the decisive goal.
This is the updated standings, with an asterisk the teams with one game less: Liverpool 21; Barcelona 18; Atletico Madrid 15; Atalanta 14; Arsenal*, Bayer Leverkusen, Inter*, Aston Villa, Brest*, Monaco and Lille 13; Bayern Munich*, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Milan* 12; PSV and Club Brugge 11; Benfica, Sporting*, Feyenoord* and Stuttgart 10; Real Madrid* and Celtic* 9; Manchester City* and Dinamo Zagreb* 8; PSG* 7; Bologna 5; Shakhtar* and Sparta Prague* 4; Girona*, Red Star, Sturm Graz and Salzburg* 3; Leipzig*, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys* 0.
