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Barcelona
This week, an all-time classic was born. More than a football game, more than a theater of the absurd. Somehow, Barcelona won 5-4 in Lisbon. Rafinha was the hero with two goals, including the winner on the counter-attack, which broke Benfica's heart as they wanted a penalty at the other end. Rafinha's first shot, which cut Benfica's lead to 3-2, was almost unique. Anatoly Trubin, goalkeeper of Benfica, somehow knocked his clearance off the Brazilian's head And then to Benfica's net. Robert Lewandowski, on the other hand, converted two penalties and is now tied with Cristiano Ronaldo for the most successful spot kicks in Champions League history (19). Barça's unlikely victory didn't faze Wojciech Szczesny. The Polish keeper, who came out of retirement on the Costa del Sol in response to Barça's call, gifted Benfica with two goals, first hitting Alejandro Balde for the first and then conceding a penalty with a blunder. , Vangelis Pavlidis was able to score a hat-trick in this match. 30th minute. Szczesny had a moment of redemption with a late save from Angel Di Maria to make it 4-4 before a crazy game came to an almost unbelievable conclusion. “It was a crazy game,'' Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a comeback like this.”
atlético madrid
Diego Simeone's Atletico side's victory over Bayer Leverkusen could spell the end for his 15 years in charge at the club. His team played poorly and Pablo Barrios was given a red card for a high tackle on Nordi Mukiele. Piero Hincapje then rose high and scored a header to give Leverkusen the lead at half-time. Atlético did what they often do under Simeone. They fought back with a goal from Julián Alvarez. Having signed a contract in the summer, I did my best for this tournament. Then the provocation began and the temptation for the Leverkusen player to lose his head began. And it was Giuliano Simeone, the manager's son, who got the job done, giving Hincapie his second yellow and leveling the score. Then came the winning drive, which Alvarez converted, sending Simeone on his trademark celebratory run along the touchline. Coach Simeone said, “This game will remain in the memories of everyone who watched it,'' but the way they won was very familiar.
celtic
If one of UEFA's objectives in extending the competition was to give clubs from smaller leagues a chance to progress, perhaps Celtic would be the poster child. Brendan Rodgers' problems in the Champions League date back to his time at Liverpool, but he has finally found the success he deserves in his second season at Celtic. The team, which lost 7-1 to Dortmund in October, won 1-0 against Young Boys, who are at the bottom of the Champions League, and will advance to the final tournament. Just, just. An own goal from Loris Benito after Adam Ider's shot put Rodgers' side through to the play-off round, but then Daenen Maeda was beaten with a red card. Compatriot Kogo Furuhashi, who played perhaps his last game for Celtic and is reportedly set to move to Rennes, ended the game with a hat-trick of goals conceded. “We came through it and played some great football, but we also showed another way to win,” Rodgers was pleased. Celtic have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2013.
slip down
manchester city
Perhaps Sunday's walk at Ipswich wasn't really about City's machine finding gear again. Perhaps Paris Saint-Germain's second-half performance was inspired, but PSG deserve credit for the type of comeback that has failed them so many times before. Still, it's a real shock to see City sit 25th in the table with one game remaining, albeit against Club Brugge next Wednesday. There have been plenty of red flags floating around for City this season as PSG wreaked havoc in the second half. PSG realized that by pressing aggressively they could win the ball in dangerous positions. There were also painful gaps in City's defense. Not many teams have 64% of the ball against Pep Guardiola's team. Too many teams are finding ways to beat them this season. Guardiola himself looked lost and alone in the Paris rain. How long can this continue? Wednesday was the ninth time this season that Man City have failed to win a game in which they led, and Wednesday was the first time in the past 115 times that Man City have lost a game in which they led by two or more points. “We have to keep the ball to protect the result and we didn't do that,” Guardiola said. Paris just recently lost control.
borussia dortmund
The announcement of Nuri Sahin's dismissal early Wednesday morning said it all. A club-centric manager, the youth player-turned-star midfielder has recently failed to turn a nursery school of Europe's greatest talent into a winning team. Last season's shock Champions League finalists still have a strong chance of making it to the knockout stages if they can negotiate with Shakhtar Donetsk. But this week they lost to Bologna, one of the competition's toughest. This defeat further cemented Dortmund's slump in the Bundesliga, which is in 10th place. They took the lead against Italy on Tuesday through Panenka's penalty from Serou Guirassi, but then suffered two defensive disasters. He conceded a goal to Theis Dalinga, whose shot was deflected into the path of Samuel Iring-Junior for the Londoner's first goal in the Champions League. Sahin, one of Jurgen Klopp's golden generation, has released key players Julian Brandt and Emre Can in an attempt to shake things up, but to no avail. “In Italy you can't make impromptu decisions based on emotion,” Dortmund sporting director Lars Ricken said. He fired Sahin the next morning.
bayern munich
A raucous night in Rotterdam was also embarrassing for Vincent Kompany's Bayern as they lost 3-0 to a rampaging Feyenoord, although few stadiums are as noisy as De Kuip. Parts of Bayern's defense resembled that of Kompany, the Burnley side that were relegated last season. His front-foot approach has also paid off in the Bundesliga, with Leverkusen falling from last season's near-perfect form and Leipzig also struggling. However, Bayern are 15th in the Champions League and will almost certainly need a play-off due to their poor away form. It was Rotterdam's third away loss. Real Madrid and PSG could be on hand for that extra game, but neither are opponents they can face on the high line. However, it wasn't just defense. Bayern had 30 shots on goal, but only four of them, including Harry Kane, were on target from attack. “This is not an individual problem. Defense starts on the attacking side before the ball reaches the backline,” Kompany said.
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Vangelis Pavlidis (Benfica)
Even after two nights where things and permutations changed every few seconds, it felt like returning to the Stadium of Tuesday Lights and honoring the forgotten heroes of that night. Benfica center forward Pavlidis completed his hat-trick in 30 minutes. The first time he took a powerful left-footed shot from Alvaro Carreras' cross, and the second time he caught the rush of Szczesny's blood and calmly poured the ball into an open net. The third penalty was a well-taken penalty. Submitted in the 80th minute, he could only watch as his brilliant night turned into a disaster for his team.
Luke de Jong (PSV)
Just when PSV needed their legendary striker, who is yet to score in this season's Champions League, for this week's game, he delivered. In the 3-2 defeat to Red Star, he nodded in Joey Vierman's corner kick in the 17th minute and repeated the trick seven minutes later. PSV manager Peter Bosz has been criticized for using the veteran player before Christmas when Ricardo Pepi was in excellent form. However, de Jong led the rearguard effort after fellow goalscorer Ryan Flamingo was dismissed. “We played with guts,” De Jong said. Disease was rampant within the camp. “Usually we call them 'men,' but today they were men,” Boz said. PSV, who are in 19th place, will next face Liverpool, but they still have a good chance of making the play-offs.
Santiago Jimenez (Feyenoord)
With the group stage extended until January, it will be a showcase for the talent available to move in the transfer window. Swedish striker Viktor Gökeres scored in Sporting's loss to Leipzig, Pavlidis showed his ability to lead from the back line and Inter's Lautaro Martínez produced a beautiful performance against Sparta Prague. And Jimenez, who scored two goals for Feyenoord, is likely to be linked with a big-money signing in the near future. Although he has been closely linked with Milan, his scoring ability and quality of performance may put him out of Milan's price range.
