(AFP) - Real Madrid, Spain, and Manchester City, England, settled their cards to the final price of the Champions League , with two draws, while the position of Italian giants, Juventus, became very difficult after losing in Israel to Maccabi Haifa, 0-2.
In the Polish capital, Warsaw, where Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine is playing its home matches due to the Russian invasion of his country, Real settled its qualification for Group F, with a deadly 1-1 draw, thanks to German Antonio Rudiger.
Real seemed on its way to its first defeat in all competitions since May 8 in the local league against its neighbor Atletico (0-1), by falling behind until the fifth minute of stoppage time before Rudiger gifted him a tie and qualification with a header, after which he was injured, raising his tally to 10 points in the lead, four points ahead of German Leipzig, who won its Scottish host Celtic 2-0, with goals from Timo Werner (75) and Swede Emil Forsberg (84), and five against Shakhtar.
"We didn't play well, but this team never gives up. We qualified for the 16th round on a bad night, and that's good," said Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti.
And he continued, "Shakhtar changed his style of play in order to involve players who were able to cut our passes between the lines, so we had to play on the sides. But this tactic was not effective for us and when they scored, they made things difficult for us."
Real needed a draw to ensure its qualification, but it suffered two things and was close to the first defeat after three consecutive victories, by falling behind in the first seconds of the second half with a header by Oleksandr Zubkov (46) and until the last seconds of the match when German Toni Kroos raised a cross that his compatriot Rudiger met with his head and turned it around. In the net in a rush that led to a collision with the Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin and injured them, but they completed the last seconds.
And in the absence of his Norwegian striker Erling Haaland for some rest, Manchester City settled his qualification despite his goalless draw with his host Copenhagen in a meeting that completed ten players for an hour after Spaniard Sergio Gomes was sent off and missed a penalty kick through Algerian Riyad Mahrez, thanks to Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw. With its Spanish guest, Seville, in Group G.
City raised its score to 10 points in the lead, and thus secured one of the first two qualified places, after Dortmund now has seven points, compared to two each for Seville and Copenhagen.
City's Spanish midfielder Rodrigo said, "Sometimes you have to experience this type of match. We scored a goal that was disallowed, we missed a penalty kick and it's difficult when you play with 10 men. We came away with an important point, we will continue to move forward."
He continued, "The red card changed the game (...) If we look at the way we played 10 against 11, we cannot be sad."
In Group Eight, Maccabi Haifa dealt its guest, Juventus, and its coach, Massimiliano Allegri, a near-fatal blow by defeating the giants of Turin 2-0, while Paris Saint-Germain settled for a new draw against its Portuguese guest, Benfica, 1-1, which delayed one of them qualifying for the final price.
Thanks to two goals in the first half by Omar Atzili (7 and 42), Maccabi achieved its first victory in the group stage since October 29, 2002 and greatly complicated the task of Juventus, who until now had contented themselves with an orphan victory in the previous round against the Israeli team in particular 3-1.
And Tuesday's loss in Haifa, which froze Juventus' balance at three points before his trip to Portugal on the 25th, will increase the resentment of Allegri, who received a double blow by losing the efforts of his new Argentine star, Angel Di Maria, again due to a muscle injury he suffered in the first half.
In an interview with the Italian "Sky Sports" network, club president Andrea Agnelli said, "I feel ashamed as a result of what is happening now. In this type of situation, there is no single person who takes responsibility, and I am talking here about Allegri. It is a situation related to the entire group and must move forward. No There is a culprit and the problem is not related to the coach if we fail to intercept the ball... Allegri remains as Juventus coach."
In Paris, in the absence of Argentine star Lionel Messi due to a slight injury, and in light of the somewhat charged atmosphere as a result of Kylian Mbappe’s grumbling about his involvement as a spearhead, Saint-Germain settled for a 1-1 point with Benfica, to go out tied for the third match in a row, after the first-leg meeting between the two teams (1-1). And the domestic league match against Reims (0-0).
Consequently, Saint-Germain or Benfica were unable to settle their qualification, raising their scores to 8 points in the first and second places, respectively, with a difference of 5 from Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
The two teams did nothing until the 39th minute, when Saint-Germain opened the scoring from a penalty kick, which Spaniard Juan Bernat snatched from Antonio Silva, and Mbappe successfully ran for it, scoring his thirty-first goal in the Champions League with Saint-Germain, which allowed him to single out the record he shared with the Uruguayan. Edinson Cavani.
However, the guests managed to equalize from a penalty kick, also caused by Italian midfielder Marco Verratti, by dropping Rafa Silva in the forbidden area, so Joao Mario successfully set it up (62).
Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier commented on the rumors about Mbappe’s desire to leave next January, saying, “I cannot comment on it, we turn rumors into information that almost becomes a statement. I see Kylian every day, he reacted very well tonight, he scored, He created, was dangerous, and could have scored a second goal."
In Group E, Chelsea renewed its victory over AC Milan, who played most of the match with ten players after expelling former London club defender Fikayo Tomori in the 18th minute, and outperformed it 2-0 after sweeping it 3-0 last week.
The two goals of the match were scored by Italian Jorginho from a penalty kick (21) and Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34).
The London club raised its tally to 7 points, compared to 6 for Austrian Red Salzburg and four for Dinamo Zagreb, who tied 1-1 in Croatia, and four for Milan.
And after a bad start continentally, following his loss in the first round in Zagreb, which led to the overthrow of German coach Thomas Tuchel and the introduction of Graham Potter, who settled for a draw with Salzburg in his first match with the team, the European champion 2021 recovered, achieving two consecutive victories over the current Italian champion.
