SGE says goodbye with defeat
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Bayer Leverkusen reached the playoffs in the Champions League with a convincing victory. Kasper Hjulmand’s team easily beat FC Villarreal 3-0 (2-0) and secured their place in the second round. “I would say: interim goal achieved. We now have two more important games in front of us so that we can advance to the next round,” said goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.
In front of 30,210 spectators in the sold-out Leverkusen Arena, Malik Tillman scored the goals with a brace (12th/35th minute) and Alejandro Grimaldo (57th). The Spaniards, who had already been eliminated from the premier class before the game, did not play with their best line-up and made eight changes compared to their last league game – a 2-0 loss against Real Madrid.
Despite 0-2 against Inter: BVB is playing in the playoffs
Despite a defeat against Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund reached the playoffs for a place in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Coach Niko Kovac’s team lost 0-2 (0-0) to the leaders of the Italian Serie A. This means that BVB remains in the competition, but lost a better starting position for the deciding games.
Because Borussia slipped out of the top 16, the Westphalians have to play their playoff second leg away. In front of 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Dortmund stadium, BVB was safe at the back for a long time, but remained harmless at the front. Federico Dimarco gave Inter the lead with a free kick in the 81st minute, Andy Diouf (90+4) increased the lead in stoppage time. The playoffs will be drawn on Friday at 12 p.m. in Nyon, Switzerland.
FC Bayern celebrates thanks to Musiala’s comeback goal and Joker Kane
A fantastic starting eleven comeback from Jamal Musiala and a joker goal from Harry Kane have secured FC Bayern a top starting position for the knockout phase of the Champions League. With a 2-1 (0-0) draw at PSV Eindhoven, the German record champions celebrated their seventh win in their eighth game at the end of the preliminary round. The Munich team moved into the round of 16 as second in the league phase and, as desired, avoided the famous FC Arsenal until a possible final.
The long-injured Musiala’s first Champions League goal in almost eleven months (58th), the winning goal from Kane, who came on after an hour (84th) and a very good goalkeeping performance from Manuel Neuer’s representative Jonas Urbig, guarantee Bayern now return games in front of their home crowd up to the semi-finals. In the end, Ismail Saibari’s 1-1 equalizer (78th) no longer mattered. In stoppage time, Eindhoven’s Mauro Júnior was shown a yellow-red card for repeated foul play.
Frankfurt ends Champions League season with defeat
Crisis club Eintracht Frankfurt said goodbye to the Champions League with a defeat in the home straight of the coaching search. Eintracht lost 0-2 (0-0) against Tottenham Hotspur on the last matchday of the league phase, which was meaningless for them in terms of sport. Of all people, ex-Frankfurt player Randal Kolo Muani initiated the SGE’s defeat with his goal in the 47th minute.
The 27-year-old left Eintracht for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2023 after a training strike and was consistently booed by Eintracht supporters. But he refrained from making a big celebration pose in front of 58,000 spectators. Substitute Dominic Solanke made it 2-0 (77′). While Tottenham’s victory made it a direct entry into the round of 16, the Hessians had no chance of advancing to the knockout phase with just four points before kick-off.
