FC Copenhagen - Borussia Dortmund 1-1
FC Copenhagen avoided the humiliation of becoming only the fourth side in UEFA Champions League (UCL) history to exit the competition without scoring a single goal following a spirited 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund.
The hosts made a bright start, but the partisan atmosphere inside the ground was dampened somewhat when Thorgan Hazard became the first player to score a UCL goal at the Parken Stadium this season.
Felix Passlack showed superb perseverance to engineer a crossing opportunity from the right, which Hazard met with a fine volley that beat Kamil Grabara, despite Denis Vavro's best efforts to clear the ball off the line.
It did not take long for Byens Hold to recover though, and they deservedly ended their goalscoring hoodoo when Hakon Arnar Haraldsson scored his first-ever goal in the competition with a clinical first-time finish after he latched onto Viktor Claesson’s sublime pass.
Both teams continued to play with freedom in this dead rubber, and Edin Terzic's side should have retaken the lead just 10 minutes after the restart. Karim Adeyemi raced to the byline and delivered a dangerous ball into the box, but Donyell Malen skewed his effort wide with the frustrated Anthony Modeste also waiting to pounce on the chance.
Julian Brandt and Youssoufa Moukoko were both introduced on the hour mark, and the pair almost combined in devastating fashion. Brandt audaciously teed up Moukoko on the edge of the box, and the 17-year-old’s strike clipped the post.
Jacob Neestrup's men managed to hold on for a point to exit Europe's premier club competition with some respectability after remaining unbeaten in their three UCL home matches, and have now only lost one of their previous six European matches in the Danish capital.
It was a solid rather than spectacular night's work for Dortmund, who extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to five games with this result as they look ahead to the knockout stages.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Viktor Claesson (FC Copenhagen)
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Manchester City - Sevilla 3-1
Manchester City cruised to a fourth straight UEFA Champions League win against Europa League-bound Sevilla with a 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola is now unbeaten against the Rojiblancos since his FC Barcelona days, having last tasted a H2H defeat back in January 2010.
A dead rubber contest was on the cards for both City and Sevilla, with their respective fates in Europe already sealed before kick-off. England Under-21 international Cole Palmer took charge of the first threat, flashing a superb shot from inside the box inches away from the left post, showcasing the hosts’ intention from the very outset.
The visitors then saw a chance of their own midway through the half via Rafa Mir, but couldn’t keep up with the pace of the hungry Citizens, who arrived into the match on the back of successive UCL blanks.
Shortly after Lewis smashed a long-range effort agonisingly past the right post, İlkay Gündoğan pulled off an amazing one-two with Phil Foden, only to blast his shot into the side netting.
A first UCL win after a four-match winless run perhaps inspired the Rojiblancos to draw first blood just minutes later, thanks to a superb corner delivery by Isco that fed Mir’s fantastically directed header into the right corner.
City were never going to be daunted by the opener, but hopes of a first H2H win in the continental competition stood strong for Sevilla going into the break.
Not for long after the restart though, as Lewis went on to become City’s youngest goalscorer in the UCL with a thumping finish into the near post following an inch-perfect assist by Julián Alvarez.
Ruben Dias could have made it 2-1 just moments later, but saw his towering header brilliantly denied by Yassine Bounou’s reflexes.
Having drawn five of their past six UCL outings, Sevilla seemed to be heading into a similar result, when substitute Kevin De Bruyne popped up with a great defence-splitting assist that Alvarez buried into the back of the net with superb accuracy to hand City the lead in the 73rd minute.
Riyad Mahrez all but ended hopes of a comeback for Jorge Sampaoli’s side, as the Algerian winger capped off City’s performance with a beautiful finish into the top corner.
Sevilla are now winless against English opponents in their last eight encounters, with their last victory against an English side arriving in the group stages back in November 2007 against Arsenal.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
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Juventus - Paris Saint-Germain 1-2
Juventus became just the second Italian side to lose five UEFA Champions League group games in one season as they succumbed 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at the Allianz Stadium. The Old Lady will compete in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) in 2023 after finishing third in Group H, 11 points adrift of the top two.
Needing to equal Maccabi Haifa’s result to continue their participation in European competition this campaign, the Bianconeri made a brilliant start and applied plenty of pressure to the visitors’ defence.
An early Manuel Locatelli effort flashed wide of the post, before the Parisians struck in devastating fashion on their first venture forward.
Kylian Mbappe showed his outrageous talent to spin Federico Gatti, sit Locatelli down and fire from outside the area, with the ball eventually going in off the post.
In the process, the 23-year-old became the youngest player in UCL history to reach the 40-goal mark, taking the record from teammate Lionel Messi.
Massimiliano Allegri’s men didn’t let their heads drop after falling behind and continued to pile forward. Locatelli, Juan Cuadrado and Fabio Miretti all went close, before the hosts’ first shot on target yielded the equaliser.
Locatelli released Cuadrado on the right, and the Colombian expertly headed across goal to find Leonardo Bonucci at the back post, the Juve captain slamming home his first UCL goal since 2016.
With PSG faltering, Christophe Galtier made two changes to his side and they paid immediate dividends. Juan Bernat had endured a tough night against Cuadrado, but his replacement Nuno Mendes was on the scoresheet within a minute of his introduction.
Slotted in by Mbappe on the left, the Portuguese defender provided a striker’s finish to beat Wojciech Szczesny in sublime fashion.
There would be no way back from Mendes’ strike, but Juventus were handed a boost with the long-awaited return of Federico Chiesa, appearing in a competitive match for the first time since January following a serious knee injury. Haifa’s heavy loss at Benfica means Juve finish third in the group, while PSG maintained their unbeaten record in all competitions this season, a run that now stands at 20 matches (W16, D4).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)
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Maccabi Haifa - Benfica 1-6
Benfica recorded their best-ever UEFA Champions League points tally in a group stage campaign with a dominating 6-1 victory over Maccabi Haifa, who finished bottom of Group H.
Roared on by the frantic Sammy Ofer Stadium Maccabi Haifa clearly understood their task of trying to overtake Juventus in Group H to seal third spot and confirm a place in the Europa League knockout stages.
With the 12th man playing their part, Maccabi nearly took a shock early lead when Dean David latched on to a loose ball and dragged his shot inches wide. Benfica had ambitions of their own though - to better PSG’s result at Juventus to try and seal top spot in Group H - and the Portuguese side rode the early Maccabi storm and soon gained control.
Chances began to flow for the Eagles. Goncalo Ramos first struck the post from Fredrik Aursnes’ cutback before Ramos was more successful moments later when Nicolas Otamendi teed up the striker, who headed past Josh Cohen and into the bottom corner.
Incredibly, the home supporters’ volume was cranked up further following the goal and Maccabi won a penalty when Alexander Bah handled in the area.
Following a quick VAR check, referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot and Tjaronn Chery confidently lashed past Vlachodimos to continue Maccabi’s run of scoring in ten consecutive Champions League home games.
Eager to avoid another early Maccabi onslaught, Benfica composedly dictated the tempo of the game after half-time and looked likely to end their two-match losing streak in Israel when Bah made up for his earlier error with a teasing cross that was met by Petar Musa’s towering header.
Maccabi had no answer to Benfica’s dominance in the second period as Alejandro Grimaldo’s dipping free-kick nestled into the bottom corner before Rafa Silva scored his fifth goal in four matches with a delicate chip over Cohen.
Unsatisfied with four, Benfica added two late goals when Henrique Araujo tapped in from Bah’s through ball and Joao Mario lashed a low 20-yard strike into the bottom corner.
Benfica showed resilience and class to hold off Maccabi in the early stages and their patience paid off as the Eagles remain unbeaten in all 21 matches this season.
Maccabi showed glimpses of quality on their first Champions League proper campaign in 13 years and Barak Bakhar’s attentions will swiftly turn to qualification for elite European football again next season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rafa Silva (Benfica)
