The Champions Blog #2.7

The Champions Blog

The Champions League returned earlier this week and we were already treated to some of the games of the season. Two teams have already sealed direct qualification to the last 16, while others are just points away from qualifying with them. A sea of red cards were given out, costing teams valuable point, indicating things are starting to get heated in the Champions League. With one match day left, every kick of a ball, goal, save and etc, counts. This is the Champions Blog. 

Tuesday 21st: 

Monaco vs Aston Villa (Stade Louis II, Monaco, France)

Atalanta vs Sturm Graz (Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy)

Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen (Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain)

Benfica vs Barcelona (Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal)

Crvena Zvezda vs PSV (Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia)

Liverpool vs Lille (Anfield, Liverpool, England)

Club Brugge vs Juventus (Jan Breydal Stadium, Brugge, Belgium)

Slovan Bratislava vs VfB Stuttgart (Tehelné Pole, Bratislava, Slovakia)

Bologna vs Borussia Dortmund (Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy)

The week of football kicked off with one of the games of not just the Champions League season, but within the 2024-25 season as a whole. Lisbon was the venue and Benfica and Barcelona were the teams battling for the three points, they so dearly needed. Barca would automatically qualify for the last 16 if they were to emerge victorious in Lisbon while Benfica could clinch a top 8 place if they were to win. Barca's only defeat all season came on opening day, which came in a 2-1 loss away to Monaco, but it's just been win after win since the defeat, while Benfica have a tally of 10 points so far, meaning a win is mandatory for Bruno Lage's side. 

Within just 2 minutes, Benfica found the back of the net, as Alvaro Carreras cut the ball into the six yard area following a long cross, before Vangelis Pavlidis was able to pounce from close range, leaving Wojciech Szczęsny with no chance of saving. Barca came close and within the the 10 minute mark, they were awarded with a penalty after Tomas Araujo fouled Alejandro Balde in the penalty area after VAR review. Robert Lewandowski made no mistake from 12 yards out, as he confidently slotted his penalty past Anatoliy Trubin to make it 1-1 inside 11 minutes. Barca looked to remain confident throughout the remainder of the first half, but costly errors defensively from Szcsęsny, lead to Pavlidis to complete his hat trick within the first half an hour. Eventually, Barca slumped throughout the remainder of the half and went into the second half, with a 3-1 deficit.

In the second half, arguably the most bizarre goal of the season was scored by Raphina. Following a goal kick from Trubin, the Ukrainian keeper whacked the ball behind the Brazilian's head, which flew into the back of Benfica's net, giving a bit of hope to the Blaugrana. However, just moments later, disaster struck for Hansi Flick's side as Ronald Araujo slid an unfortunate own goal past Szcsęsny to potentially extinguish any hope left for a Barcelona comeback. However, despite the scores being 4-2 come the 75th minute, the story in Lisbon wasn't over yet. In the 76th minute, Carreras fouled Lamine Yamal inside the penalty area and was booked for the offence. Lewandowski once again stepped up for Barcelona and confidently dispatched his penalty, sending Trubin the wrong way while giving a glimmer of hope to Barcelona. Roughly 8 minutes later, Pedri played a superb through ball to Eric Garcia, as the Spaniard floated above everyone in the penalty area, and headed the ball home, to quiet down the home fans. Finally, in the sixth minute of added time, Ferran Torres smashed his clearance to Raphina who made the run into the Benfica penalty area, before cutting back inside and smashing the ball into the back of the net, sealing a phenomenal victory for the Catalans, while also punching their ticket into the last 16. Benfica, despite all their efforts, just couldn't stop this relentless Barcelona team, who remained focused throughout the second half, and eventually stole the 3 points from Benfica's grasp. 

Elsewhere, Liverpool looked to maintain perfection in the Champions League, having being the only team to gain maximum points so far this season, defeating the likes of Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, and AC Milan. They looked to keep their 100% record carrying on as they face Bruno Génésio's Lille side, who have been unbeaten in 21 matches in all competitions, with their last defeat coming all the way in September, when they were defeated 2-0 by Sporting Lisbon on opening day. 

Most of the first half, lacked proper chances as both teams managed to carefully maintain possession in attempt to find a way to break the opposition's defence. Eventually, Mohamed Salah managed to capitalise for the Reds, as he scored his 22nd goal of the season, as the Reds unleashed another one of their classic clinical counter-attacks. Curtis Jones played a lovely through ball to Salah as the Egyptian slotted the ball home with a first time finish, defeating Lucas Chevalier, who darted towards Salah, in a desperate attempt to clear the ball. Salah came close again when Luis Diaz played a long ball to the Egyptian. He controlled it well and brushed off Gabriel Gudmundsson, showing great strength, but his shot whiskered wide off the left post, and Lille survived a major scare. Liverpool would then go into the first half maintaining a slim 1-0 lead. 

In the second half, the Reds picked up where they left off as Kostas Tsimikas played a superb cross to Jarell Quansah. The young defender headed the ball towards goal, but his header skewed just over the bar, giving Lille yet another narrow escape. Eventually, things would get bad to worse for Lille, as Aïssa Mandi received a second yellow card for a silly challenge on Luis Diaz. Just a few minutes later, Lille managed to restore parity with Liverpool, when Gudmundsson passed to Hakon Haldarsson. The Icelandic struck the ball goal wards, but Tsimikas blocked the ball but it fell in the path of Jonathan David. The Canadian pounced on the opportunity and equalised things for Lille. The Canadian also conceded Liverpool's first goal in the Champions League since Christian Pulisić scored the opening goal for AC Milan in the Red's 3-1 win in Milan. Thankfully for the home supporters, their team managed to react quick enough as Harvey Elliott, unleashed a half-volley following a Liverpool corner which took a heavy defection off Ngal'ayel Makau, sending Chevalier the wrong way. Later on, Salah looked to get a brace for himself but Chevalier pulled off a top-drawer save to deny the Egyptian, keeping Lille in the game. Darwin Nuñez looked to seal victory through a tap-in in added time, but it was offside, and the goal was disallowed. It wouldn't matter for Arne Slot, as the Reds capped off a 2-1 victory, and their seventh straight victory in Europe this season, securing a place in the last 16. Liverpool are now guaranteed to finish at least 2nd. 

Pictures Above: Barcelona players celebrating their last-minute winner over Benfica. Liverpool forward, Darwin Nuñez scoring a tap in which happened to be offside. 

Earlier that day, Aston Villa travelled to Monaco, with the latter needing this win if they want to automatically qualify for the last 16. Aston Villa and need a point, just one point to secure a place in the top half of the table. However, unfortunately for Unai Emery's side, things won't go as planned in the French Riviera, as Wilfried Singo's early goal was enough to see off Villa and boost their hopes of qualifying for the last 16. 

Strugglers, Sturm Graz took a trip to Bergamo to face Atalanta, who have been in fine form in this competition. Atalanta recently slumped a defeat to Real Madrid at home recently, much to the unluckiness of Gian Piero Gasperini's side. Sturm Graz's first Champions League campaign since the 2000-01 season, has been far from enjoyable having lost every game besides a 1-0 victory to Girona. In Bergamo, Atalanta put on full attack, as La Dea put 5 past the Austrian champions, with goals coming from Mateo Retegui, Mario Pašalić, Charles De Ketelaere, Ademola Lookman, and Marco Brescianini. 

Later on, all eyes turned to what would be an enthralling encounter in the Spanish capital between Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, with both sides in fine form and have the credentials to progress directly to the last 16. In the first half, things would go horribly wrong for Diego Simeone's side as they ended the first half with a goal down and a man down, as Pablo Barrios was sent off following a clumsy yet dangerous tackle on Nordi Mukiele, while Piero Hincapié scored for Leverkusen right before half time. However, the game turned on its head as Julian Alvarez netted seven minutes into the second half, before Hincapié saw red following a second yellow. Leverkusen unfortunately had a sucker-punch of a finish as they got a taste of their own medicine when Alvarez scored a 90th minute winner to hand the three points to boost Atletico's chances of qualifying for the last 16. 

Peter Bosz's PSV took a trip to the Slavic side of Eastern Europe to face off Crvena Zvezda, who after an emphatic 5-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, faced a brutal reality check, after their 2-1 defeat at AC Milan. PSV's Champions League campaign might not be over, but they need a win in Belgrade if the want to help improve their chances of qualifying for the play-off places. The first half started brilliantly for PSV as they scored 3 before half-time, with Luuk de Jong grabbing a brace before Ryan Flamingo made it 3 with 2 minutes of the first half remaining. However, things would go differently for PSV in the second half, as Flamingo got sent off 5 minutes into the half before Cherif Ndiaye and Nasser Dijga sought to make things interesting with the score at 3-2 at the 80th minute mark. However, the home side couldn't find the goal to rescue a point, and Craven Zvezda's elimination from the Champions League was confirmed. 

Club Brugge hosted Juventus in what would turn out to be a very uneventful game. Throughout the first half, both teams just maintained possession and lacked attacking chances. At the end of the first half, both teams had a combined xG of 0.14. It took up to the 85th minute for any team to register a single shot on target, proving why this game was uneventful. Eventually, the lack of chances lead to the teams sharing the points in a 0-0 draw. 

Slovan Bratislava hosted a desperate VfB Stuttgart who needed maximum points in their final two games if they want to finish in the knockout play-off rounds. Slovan Bratislava's maiden Champions League campaign has been far from enjoyable, as they failed to accumulate a single point in this entire campaign, while having a goal difference of -16. The visitors got off to the start they wanted as rising star, Jamie Leweling grabbed himself a  first half brace, giving Stuttgart a 2-0 lead going into the first half in Bratislava. In the 85th minute, Idjessi Metsoko looked to make things interesting as he pulled one back for the home side, but two minutes later, Fabian Reider sealed the three points that Stuttgart so desperately needed. As for Slovan Bratislava, it's game over in the Champions League for them. 

Bologna's first Champions League campaign since the 1964-65 season hasn't been enjoyable for their fans, as the Italian side accumulated only two points from two draws up till now. They face against Borussia Dortmund, whose poor performances both domestically and in Europe have left the club in a tight position. Dortmund started off well, leading 1-0 into the half time interval courtesy of a penalty from Serhou Guirassy. However, the fortunes changes within just two minutes midway through the second half as goals from Thijs Dallinga and Samuel Iling-Junior sealed a famous win for Vicenzio Italiano's side, leaving Dortmund in a tight spot. Eventually, just a day after, Nuri Şahin was sacked from his role as Dortmund coach, meaning that their final game against Shakhtar Donetsk would be managed by caretaker manager, Mike Tullberg. 

Pictures Above: Monaco defender, Wilfried Singo heading the ball into the net. Ademola Lookman of Atalanta scoring a header against Sturm Graz. Atletico Madrid players, Reinildo Mandava and Julian Alvarez celebrating after scoring against Bayer Leverkusen. Bologna forward, Samuel Iling-Junior scoring the equaliser against Borussia Dortmund. 

Wednesday 22nd: 

RB Leipzig vs Sporting CP (Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany)

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Brest (Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany)

AC Milan vs Girona (San Siro, Milan, Italy)

Sparta Praha vs Inter Milan (epet ARENA, Prague, Czech Republic)

Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb (Emirates Stadium, London, England)

Celtic vs Young Boys (Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland)

Feyenoord vs Bayern Munich (De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands)

PSG vs Manchester City (Parc de Princes, Paris, France)

Real Madrid vs Red Bull Salzburg (Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain) 

An exciting encounter was upon us in the city of lights between the French and English champions, PSG and Manchester City. PSG recently made transfer headlines around the world as they signed Kvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli for 70 million. Man City have also been busy in the January transfer window, acquiring Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt and Abdukhodir Khusanov from Lens. The two teams are struggling to adapt to the new format of the league phase, but hope to progress through the play-offs. It was a massive test for both sides, and a win would help improve their credentials in qualifying for the play-off round.  

The first half kicked off and both teams immediately started attacking, looking to find the goal to put them ahead. PSG had the first big chance of the game when a free kick was whipped into the Man City penalty area, within the 10th minute. João Neves managed to get a head to the cross, but his effort sailed over Ederson's net. Just a few moments later, City had a chance of their own when the side went on the attack. Saving's shot was initially blocked by Marquinhos, but it fell nicely to Kevin de Bruyne, who's fierce shot wasn't enough to beat Donnarumma as he was able to comfortably save the Belgian's shot. PSG managed to get on the scoresheet around the stroke of half time when Achraf Hakimi, following a clinical counter attack from the Parisian side, but after a lengthy VAR check, the PSG celebrations died down quickly, as the goal was disallowed. A huge let-off for Man City was given as the sides went into the half with the score at 0-0. 

City would switch up in the second half as only five minutes in, following a great run by Manuel Akanji. The Swiss passed the ball to Bernardo Silva with the Portuguese international taking a shot at Donnarumma. The Italian saved his effort but Jack Grealish was there to pounce on the rebound and give City the lead they so desired. City's start to the second half got even better as only 3 minutes later, Erling Harland netted a close range finish, following a deflected shot by Matheus Nunes, providing a two goal cushion for Guardiola's side. PSG didn't take long to respond though as Ousmane Dembele netted a close range finish following a brilliant run from Bradley Barcola to make things interesting in Paris. PSG found the equalizer 4 minutes later, when Desire Doue's curling effort crashed against the crossbar, before Barcola tapped home the rebound, scoring the 4th goal in the span of 10 minutes. After 18 minutes of persistent PSG counter attacks, the home side found the lead, when Vitinha's free kick found an unmarked Joao Neves, leaving the youngster to head the ball home from close range, sealing the completion of the comeback for PSG. Gonçalo Ramos sealed the win for PSG in the 2nd minute of stoppage time, with a beautiful curling finish, but it was originally called for offside. However, one lengthy VAR check later, and PSG's goal stood after it was revealed the ball took a deflection off Joško Gvardiol en route to goal. PSG sealed their well-deserved 4-2 victory, boosting their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs while leaving City on the brink of a humiliating exit. 

Elsewhere, draggled and desperate, RB Salzburg took a trip to sunny Spain, to face the reigning champions, Real Madrid. Loses and draws are no longer an option for Thomas Letsch's side, as the dethroned Austrian champions need to pull off a shocker in Madrid, if they want to at least make the play-off round. Meanwhile, Real Madrid were on the edge as they sat 20th in the table. Los Blancs know that if they want to make the knockout rounds and defend their title, wins here and next match day are mandatory. 

 

RB Salzburg almost stunned everyone in the Santiago Bernabeu following a clinical counter attack which saw managing to get an attempt on goal. However, Oscar Gloukh's shot steered wide off the post before going out for a goal kick. Soon enough, it was Real's turn to attack, and they scored with the first attempt. Vinicius Jr dinked a lovely though ball to Jude Bellingham, with the Englishman taking a light touch on the ball before Rodrygo hit the ball with the side of his foot into the bottom left corner, giving Real the lead in the 23rd minute. 10 minutes later, Rodrygo and Bellingham combined again with latter playing a beautiful back heel pass to the former before he produced a stunning first-time finish with lots of finesse on his shot, flying into the back of the Salzburg net, making it 2-0 before the break. Real Madrid's hope of making the last 16 where signified tremendously while RB Salzburg's campaign was hanging by the thread. 

Real dominant performance continued into the second half as Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Jr joined the party in the second half. The Frenchman and Brazilian scored twice in the span of 10 minutes for Real Madrid, with Mbappé netting in the 48th minute and Vinicius netting in the 55th minute. Mbappé scored following a calamitous error from Janis Blaswich, leaving him to poke the ball into the net, while Vinicius Jr's goal 7 minutes later came following a beautiful trademark pass from Luka Modrić, before the Brazilian skipped past a few defenders, cutting inside and unleashing a powerful effort on goal, defeating Blaswich, while making it 4-0 to Real Madrid inside the 10th minute of the second half. That goal was also Vinicius's 100th goal for Los Blancos. And he made 101 in the 77th minute, following a lovely team play from Real Madrid. The hosts attacked the defence of Salzburg with pace and perfection. Fede Valverde saw Vinicius making his trademark run, and the South Americans combined, with Vinicius pulling off another vintage goal, slipping past the Salzburg defence before slotting it into the back of the net. Mads Bidstrup gave the visitors reason to smile when his volley off the edge of the penalty area defeated Courtois, denying Real Madrid a clean sheet. However, RB Salzburg's consolation goal didn't matter in the slightest as the Austrian side is now eliminated from the tournament. Meanwhile Real Madrid are now one win away from making the play off round. 

Pictures Above: PSG midfielder, João Neves celebrates after scoring against Manchester City. Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid turning around RB Salzburg goalkeeper, Janis Blaswich, before scoring his goal. 

Earlier that day, Sporting CP travelled to Saxony, Germany to face RB Leipzig, who have lost every single match in the Champions League this season and are already out of the competition. Sporting's life in the post-Ruben Amorim era has been far from easy as but look to salvage what they can. Benjamin Šeško gave the hosts the lead almost 20 minutes in through a simple goal which he effortlessly tapped into an open net following a brilliant run. Leipzig got another through David Raum but VAR disallowed the goal for offside. Later on that game, the recently silent Viktor Gyökeres got his moment through a beautiful solo goal and an unstoppable strike which got his tally in the Champions League to six goals. However, the Sporting celebrations were halted after three minutes when Yussuf Poulsen regained Leipzig's lead and eventually got their first win of the season and Leipzig's first Champions League win since December 2023. 

Brest travelled to Gelsenkirchen to face of Shakhtar Donetsk who seem to have completely fallen apart, with only 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses. Shakhtar's Champions League campaign were now on the ropes and can only be salvaged if they were to get a positive result from this fixture. Thankfully for Marino Pusic's men, they managed to grab a 2-0 win with goals from Kevin and Heorhiy Sudakov, which but Brest in a tight position. 

To sum it up, Girona's debut European campaign hasn't pleased their fans at all. Girona looked to get things back on track following a win on Matchday 3 against Slovan Bratislava, but losses against PSV, Sturm Graz and Liverpool, left them in a tight position, and are now on the ropes of elimination. However, things wouldn't get better for Míchel's Girona side as Rafael Leão awarded Milan the three points, Sérgio Conceição a win on his Milan Champions League debut and Girona their grave in the Champions League. 

Sparta Praha have started the Champions League strongly, with a win and draw in their first two games, but have crumbled since then, losing all their games since Matchday 2, conceding 17 while only scoring 3. They face Inter Milan who up to date, have only conceded one goal all competition, while their striker and captain, Lautaro Martinez is on red hot form. He proved it again today, as he scored the lone goal in the 12th minute to secure a simple yet effective win which sent Inter into the last 16 and Sparta Praha crashing out of the competition. 

Arsenal have been doing well in the competition so far, as Mikel Arteta has wrapped up a total of 13 points, with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, while their opponents, Dinamo Zagreb, who have 8 points, with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, meaning a loss would significantly their chances of qualifying for the knockout play-off round. The Gunners wasted no time and within 2 minutes, Declan Rice opened the scoring with a low smashing effort which drove into the net. In the second half, Kai Havertz grabbed the second for Arsenal following a header which was delivered into the penalty area by a beautiful Gabriel Martinelli cross, before Martin Ødegaard sealed the deal with his strike in the second minute of stoppage time, sealing a satisfactory 3-0 victory for the last 16 chasers. 

Celtic's Champions League campaign has by far been one of their best in recent years, accumulating a total of 9 points from 6 matches, leaving them way above the elimination places. They face a Young Boys side who have lost every single game and currently sit bottom of the table. Celtic came at the Swiss side multiple times but for 85 minutes, they had no luck. However, 5 minutes from stoppages and after 3 offside goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, the fortunes changed for Brendan Rodgers's side. After a clinical counter attack, Adam Idah unleashed a shot on goal, which was initially saved by Marvin Keller, before Loris Benito accidentally deflected the ball into his own net, awarding Celtic a nervy 1-0 and the three points they desperately needed. 

High flyers, Bayern Munich travelled to Rotterdam to face a Feyenoord side who have shown some great performances this season such as pulling off the comeback in Manchester. They now face probably their biggest task yet, facing off a star-strutted Bayern side, who could make the knockout round play offs if they were to win in De Kuip. However, Feyenoord's main man, Santiago Giménez was able to answer the calls for Feyenoord, as he netted twice before half time. One from a drilling finish following a Bayern defensive error, and one from an unstoppable penalty which flew into the top left corner. Bayern weren't able to thwart Feyenoord's unlikely lead in the second half and look to salvage points, and by the 89th minute, Ayase Ueda's composed finish sealed the deal for Feyenoord, sealing a 3-0 win against the Bavarian giants, the three points which will help them qualify for the knockout play-off round, while ending Bayern's unbeaten run in 2025. 

Pictures Above: RB Leipzig players celebrating after scoring against Sporting CP. AC Milan midfielder, Tijjani Reijnders, dribbling the ball while Girona's Yangel Herrera tries to intercept. Arsenal midfielder, Declan Rice celebrating after scoring against Dinamo Zagreb. Feyenoord forward, Santiago Giménez taking and scoring his penalty against Bayern Munich. 

Matchday 7 of the Champions League was for sure to give us all a run for our money, as we were treated to the best comeback in the Champions League in a while, with some stunning results and the continuation of some incredible runs. With one more match day to go, it's all to play for. Every kick of a ball, pass, goal and save matters. The Champions League will return soon following the exciting conclusion of the inaugural league phase.