Havertz flicks, PSG does magic: RB slaps defending champion Real properly

Havertz flicks, PSG conjures
RB slaps defending champion Real properly

RB Leipzig celebrates a brilliant success against defending champions Real Madrid and has one foot in the round of 16. Chelsea have already reached the knockout phase thanks to Kai Havertz, Benfica shoot Juventus out of the Champions League. PSG celebrate a spectacle with dream goals from Messi, Mbappé and Neymar.

Defeated the defending champions, the round of 16 within reach: RB Leipzig have defeated Real Madrid and taken a big step towards the knockout stages of the Champions League. Coach Marco Rose’s team beat the royals 3-2 (2-1) in front of their home crowd, so at least participation in the Europa League is already certain.

Josko Gvardiol (13′), Christopher Nkunku (18′) and Timo Werner (81′) scored the goals for Leipzig, who had unfortunately lost the first leg 2-0 in Madrid. Vinicius Junior (44′) and Rodrygo (90’+4′) scored the goals for Real. With nine points, RB is in second place in Group F and can make it into the round of 16 in the last group game against Shakhtar Donetsk (November 2nd), RB had lost the first leg 4-1.

RB starts brilliantly

Despite the prominent failures of Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, former world footballer Luka Modric and Federico Valverde, coach Marco Rose had warned of the star ensemble: You meet one of the “best squads in the world” to survive against Real , it needs “a lot of courage”. Rose made three changes from the 3-3 draw at FC Augsburg, returning Mohamed Simakan, Amadou Haidara and Christopher Nkunku to the starting XI. Benjamin Henrichs, Kevin Kampl and Yussuf Poulsen took a seat on the bench, as did international striker Timo Werner, who was back in the squad after an infection. Before the game, the late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz was remembered.

As requested by Rose, RB started the game bravely and got a shot from Emil Forsberg in the opponent’s penalty area right at the start, but failed to get through to Real keeper Thibaut Courtois. The guests, with former world champion Toni Kroos and national player Antonio Rüdiger in the starting XI, had their first dangerous chance a little later after a corner. However, Aurelien Tchouameni’s header landed on the side netting (5′). Gvardiol finally gave Leipzig the lead after a corner. First Andre Silva failed at Courtois, Gvardiol followed suit and hit his head. And RB wanted more. After winning the ball in midfield, Nkunku stormed towards the opposing goal, leaving Courtois behind him, but only hit the side netting (16′). A little later, the offensive player was successful from close range.

Leipzig hardly let the Spanish champions come into play and defended consistently. Goalkeeper Janis Blaswich initially saved the shots from Rodrygo (35′) and Vinicius Junior (37′), but the 22-year-old scored the goal shortly before the break. Madrid started better in the second half, and the game was now evenly matched for long stretches. However, both teams rarely managed to finish the attacks cleanly. Substitute Werner created a good opportunity to the left of the goal (71st) – and then completed a counterattack late on.

Chelsea in the round of 16

Meanwhile, former title-winners Chelsea became the sixth team to book a place in the round of 16 early. The Blues won Group E at Austrian champion Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 (1-0) with a goal from international Kai Havertz and have already secured at least second place. Havertz put Chelsea on the road to success 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. 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.

PSG celebrate goal spectacle

In Group H, too, all the dice have already been cast. PSG celebrated a 7-2 shootout against Haifa thanks to their brilliant stars Lionel Messi (19th and 45th), Kylian Mbappé (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.

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.

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