The joy of Atlético Madrid players, qualified for the eighth of the Champions League, after their victory against Feyenoord, November 29, 2023 in Rotterdam (AFP / JOHN THYS)
Atlético, Lazio, Barça and Dortmund have ensured their qualification for the round of 16 of the Champions League, which is not the case for Paris Saint-Germain, saved at the last minute against Newcastle (1-1 ), Tuesday.
If Borussia Dortmund punched their ticket by winning at AC Milan (3-1), where Olivier Giroud missed a penalty at the start of the match (6th) but not Marco Reus four minutes later to open the scoring, PSG was very far from the European spring before Kylian Mbappé converted a penalty at the end of added time (90th + 8) which made the “Magpies” moan.
Alexander Isak had deceived a passive defense and a faulty Gianluigi Donnarumma to open the score and Newcastle believed for a long time to hold on to their victory before falling back to third place, two points behind PSG, who will seek qualification in Dortmund in the last match .
To join Borussia in the round of 16, Atlético Madrid won at Feyenoord Rotterdam (3-1) with two goals against their side from Lutsharel Geertruida and Santiago Gimenez, and also a superb volley at van Basten from Mario Hermoso.
The “Colchoneros” retain the lead in Group E with 11 points and can no longer be joined by the champions of the Netherlands, third with 6 points.
– City from 0-2 to 3-2 –
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (l) and Marco Reus, authors of two of Dortmund’s three goals against AC Milan, December 29, 2023 at San Siro (AFP / Marco BERTORELLO)
Lazio (10 pts) also secured their ticket against Celtic thanks to a double at the end of the match from their reliable scorer, Ciro Immobile (82nd, 85th).
The Glasgow Greens are eliminated from all European competition and Feyenoord will go to the Europa League.
Barça also punched their ticket after their victory over FC Porto (2-1).
Shakthar Donetsk came back to level with FC Porto (9 points) after their victory against Royal Antwerp (1-0), and will play the qualifier in Portugal, where the Ukrainians will have to win to reach the round of 16.
Manchester City was shaken by RB Leipzig in a duel for the beauty of the game between two teams already qualified. Led by a double from Loïs Openda, the reigning European champions won 3-2 with goals from the inevitable Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and his Argentinian world champion Julian Alvarez (3-2) to ensure the first place.
In this group, Young Boys Berne secured third place and are transferred to the Europa League after their victory against Red Star Belgrade (2-0).