CL: Barcelona duped in Belgium
Saudi club Newcastle actually gambles away everything
December 13, 2023, 11:26 p.m
On the last group match day of the Champions League preliminary round, a few decisions are made: Newcastle United are completely eliminated, while Porto sends Donetsk to the Europa League. FC Barcelona surprisingly loses in Antwerp and Celtic Glasgow leaves the European stage victorious.
Thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 (0-1) win against Newcastle United, AC Milan secured themselves third place in the Dortmund Champions League group and avoided complete elimination from the European Football Cup. After Joelinton took the lead (33′), Milan hit back with Christian Pulisic (59′) and Samu Chukwueze (84′). Only the lost direct comparison with Paris Saint-Germain, which didn’t get more than a 1-1 draw against BVB, cost Milan second place and the round of 16. Newcastle, on the other hand, slipped to fourth place on the last matchday and is no longer represented internationally.
While the English club, which is owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, gambled away everything, Shakhtar Donetsk also had to bow out of the round of 16. The Ukrainian champions lost 3:5 (1:2) to FC Porto on the final group match day and will therefore compete in the Europa League after the winter break. For Shakhtar, which plays its European Cup home games in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, the goals from Danylo Sikan (29th), an own goal from Eustaquio (72nd) and Eguinaldo (88th) were not enough. The Portuguese, for whom the Brazilian Galeno (9th, 43rd), Mehdi Taremi (62nd), veteran Pepe (76th) and Francisco Conceicao (82nd) were successful, grabbed one of the two tickets still available for the Round of 16
FC Barcelona lost national team captain İlkay Gündoğan and other regular players in the starting line-up to FC Antwerp surprisingly 2:3 (1:1). Gündoğan set up Marc Guiu’s equalizer with a free kick in stoppage time (90+1), but Antwerp then scored a third time. The Catalans, who had already qualified, still managed to finish first in the group because Shakhtar Donetsk lost to FC Porto.
Atlético Madrid won the duel for victory in Group E and defeated Lazio Rome 2-0 (1-0). Antoine Griezman (6th) and Samuel Lino (51st) scored. Feyenoord Rotterdam lost 1:2 (0:1) against Celtic Glasgow, but had already secured third place before kick-off. For the Scots it was their only win in the group stage. Luis Palma gave Celtic the lead from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, Yankuba Minteh (82nd) equalized shortly before the end, before Gustaf Lagerbielke scored the final point in stoppage time (90th + 1).