The round of 16 in the soccer Champions League continued to take shape on the penultimate day of the preliminary round.
As teams number six to nine, the former title holder FC Chelsea (Group E) with his national player Kai Havertz, Paris St. Germain after a gala by his star ensemble and Benfica Lisbon (both H) under the German coach Roger Schmidt together with Bundesliga Vice champion Borussia Dortmund (G) the round of the best 16.
As the loser of the day, Juventus Turin lost 3: 4 (1: 3) in Lisbon in the group phase.
Cup winners RB Leipzig’s premature jump in Group F was prevented by Shakhtar Donetsk with a 1-1 (0-1) win at Celtic Glasgow. Michailo Mudrik kept the Ukrainians in the running for a place in the round of 16 with his equalizer (58th) after the Scots had taken the lead through Georgios Giakoumakis (34th).
Chelsea continue, Milan in pole position
Chelsea won Group E at Austrian champion Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 (1-0). Havertz scored to win 19 minutes after the break. For the former Leverkusen player, the goal was his first goal of the season in Europe’s premier club. After Mateo Kovacic (23′) gave the English the lead, Chikwubuike Adamu (49′) brought the hosts a temporary equaliser.
In the duel between Chelsea’s group opponents, AC Milan put themselves in pole position for the race for the second place in the round of 16 with a 4-0 (1-0) win at Dinamo Zagreb and at the same time helped Chelsea to win the group. Matteo Gabbia (39′), Rafael Leao (50′), Olivier Giroud (59′) and an own goal by the hosts (69′) gave the Rossoneri their clear win.
PSG celebrates crazy shooting festival
Dortmund’s rival FC Sevilla struggled in vain for a long time in the game to preserve their chances of the round of 16 for the ultimately worthless victory. After Youssef En-Nesyri (61′) put Dortmund’s rivals in the lead, Isco (88′) and Gonzalo Montiel (90’+2′) eliminated all doubts about success in the closing stages, before the Danes even received a red card against Davit Choscholawa (90+5) were decimated.
In Group H, too, all the dice have already been cast. PSG celebrated a shooting match against Haifa thanks to their brilliant stars Lionel Messi (19th and 45th), Kylian Mbappe (32nd and 64th) and Neymar (35th). An own goal by the guests (67th) and Carlos Soler (84th) set the final chords under a lavish football evening. Haifa’s double goalscorer Abdoulaye Seck (38th and 50th) was only able to shorten twice.
Shortly after kick-off there was a risk of a scandal when the German referee Felix Zwayer (Berlin) interrupted the match for a few minutes because smoke bombs and firecrackers had been set off. After the restart, the game went on without any further disruptions worth mentioning.
Lisbon knocks out Juve
Without ex-national player Julian Draxler (muscle injury), Lisbon played the Turnin guests against the wall before the break. Before the break, Anotonio Silva (17′), Joao Mario (28′, penalty kick) and Rafa Silva (35′) created a supposedly reassuring lead when Moise Kean (21′) conceded a goal, which Rafa Silva (50′) regained. ) initially expanded. In the closing stages, however, goals from Arkadiusz Milik (77′) and ex-Schalke player Weston McKennie (79′) helped Juve to catch up and made Schmidt’s team tremble again.
Before the fifth round, defending champions Real Madrid, England’s champions Manchester City and the German record champions Bayern Munich, Belgian representatives FC Bruges and the Italian former champions SSC Napoli had already qualified for the round of the top 16.