In the afternoon matches, the Spaniards suffered a humiliating defeat in Cyprus, while Garnacho wasn’t enough for the Blues. In the evening, the Blaugrana were held to a 3-3 draw and salvaged a point in the dying moments; it was smooth sailing for Manchester City and Newcastle. Ajax and Benfica are in deep crisis
Soccer is now played at a high level across the globe, and Chelsea and Villarreal paid the price—in different ways—having to settle for a draw against Qarabag and Pafos, respectively. Not exactly Champions League heavyweights, to be clear. Yet both the Azerbaijanis and the Cypriots managed to throw a wrench in the works. Maresca’s team—which lost Lavia to injury after just a few minutes—was held to a 2-2 draw in Azerbaijan, while Villarreal actually fell to Pafos. The momentum in the first half was all in the Spaniards’ favor, but as soon as they returned from halftime, they were caught off guard by Luckassen’s header off a corner kick that decided the match. Barcelona also reminded everyone that soccer is unpredictable, in an entertaining match full of twists and turns. It was Bruges who took the lead through Tresoldi, only to be immediately equalized by Ferran Torres. Borges put the Belgians back in front, and in the second half, a perfectly executed play by Yamal made it 2-2. Borges toys with Szczesny again, then Tzolis’s own goal sets the score at 3-3. And to think that Barça is lamenting two shots off the woodwork (Lopez hitting the post and Koundé hitting the crossbar), while Bruges is complaining about a goal disallowed in the closing minutes for an alleged foul on Szczesny. It was smooth sailing for Manchester City against Borussia Dortmund, led by an inspired Foden who scored two virtually identical goals: left-footed, with a low trajectory to the goalkeeper’s right. In between came a goal from the usual Haaland, while Anton narrowed the gap before Cherki joined the party. Two headers secured Newcastle’s victory over Athletic: Burn’s curling effort in the first half and Joelinton’s clinical finish in the second. Tonali was named man of the match. It was a dark night for Benfica and Ajax. Mourinho’s side didn’t look bad, but they failed to convert their chances against Bayer Leverkusen, so Schick sealed the deal in the 65th minute with a header. In Amsterdam, all eyes are on Victor Osimhen, who scores a hat-trick (including two penalties) for Galatasaray to take the lead in the single-group stage scoring charts.
Champions League, today’s results — Results and scorers from today’s matches:
Qarabag-Chelsea 2-2: 16′ Estevao (C), 29′ Andrade (Q), 39′ pen. Jankovic (Q), 53′ Garnacho (C).
Pafos-Villarreal 1-0: 46′ Luckassen.
Manchester City-Borussia Dortmund 4-1: 22′ Foden (M), 29′ Haaland (M), 57′ Foden (M), 72′ Anton (B), 90+1′ Cherki (M).
Bruges-Barcelona 3-3: 6′ Tresoldi (C), 8′ Torres (B), 17′ Borges (C), 61′ Yamal (B), 64′ Borges (C), 77′ own goal Tzolis (B).
Newcastle-Athletic Bilbao 2-0: 11′ Burn, 49′ Joelinton.
Benfica-Bayer Leverkusen 0-1: 65′ Schick.
Ajax-Galatasaray 0-3: 59′, 66′ (pen.) and 78′ (pen.) Osimhen.
