Kraljevi Kvota - Champions League 7th round review
The seventh round of this year's Champions League has ended. Again, we had a lot of goals and many interesting results, and the situation in the standings is quite uncertain before the last round. You can follow all events within the Champions League on our website and Instagram account, which are described below.
Monaco beat Aston Villa at home with a minimum score of 1:0 with a goal from Singh, and caught up in the standings, so now both teams have 13 points each. A victory for both of them in the last round would surely bring them a place directly in the round of 16, but for Monaco it will not be easy at all because they are going to visit Inter in Milan, and the Englishmen, who are waiting for their neighbors, Celtic from Glasgow, will have a much easier task.
Atalanta beat Sturm from Graz 5:0 at home, even though it was 1:0 at halftime. In the second part of the game, the home team stepped up and scored four more goals, with one more disallowed. The Italian team now has 14 points, and probably one point against Barcelona away from home will be enough for them to go directly to the round of 16, but due to the difficulty of the opponent, we will see how achievable this is. On the other hand, Sturm will play Leipzig in the last round, which also has 3 points and has been eliminated from the competition.
Stuttgart triumphed as expected in Bratislava against Slovan with 3:1, with two goals from Levling. This triumph is of crucial importance for the German team because it brought them the 10th point and currently the 24th place, the last one that leads through the play-offs. In the last round on their home ground in a direct match for the play-off, they will have PSG as their opponent, who have the same number of points. Slovan recorded their seventh defeat with a goal difference of 6:24, and it will be difficult to improve this performance because they will have Bayern as their opponent in Munich.
PSV won a big three points in Belgrade against Crvena Zvezda. The visitors led 3:0 after the first half, and scored all three goals from corners, which has not been seen for a long time in the Champions League. At the start of the second part of the game, the guests were left with one less player, so Zvezda stepped up, put pressure on them, which brought them two goals, but they couldn't do more than that. PSV has 11 points, which may be enough for them to pass, because the question is how many points they will be able to count on in the last round, given that Liverpool is coming as their guest. Zvezda has finished its participation and will play the last match in Bern against Young Boys.
The only match without goals, and the only match without a winner, we saw in the duel between Club Briza and Juventus, as expected. Juventus was much more pleased with this point, considering that they currently have 12 points and are waiting for Benfica in the last round at their stadium, so even if they don't lose there, they will qualify for the play-offs. Club Breeze has 11 points, but in the last round they are visiting Manchester City, who are burning under their feet, and they need a win.
Atlético Madrid managed to beat Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 at home even if the guests were leading at halftime. First, the home team were left with a player less in the 23rd minute, and then they conceded that goal in stoppage time in the first half, but then Julian Alvarez first equalized the score, and the striker for Bayer received a second yellow card in the 76th minute, which Atlético took advantage of. again through Alvarez to get all three points in the 90th minute. The Spaniards are now in a high fifth place with 15 points, and in the last round they go to Salzburg and they should not have much problem to stay in the place that leads directly to the round of 16. Bayer is in eighth place and has its fate in its hands, because in the last round Sparta from Prague will be their guests, and if they win, Bayer will go directly to the round of 16.
Liverpool achieved their seventh victory. This time at Anfield, Lille lost 2:1. In the middle of the second half, the visitors were left with one player less, which made the home team's job easier. Considering that Liverpool is the only maximum team, they will continue to pass as first place no matter what they do against PSV, while Lille has 13 points, and they will have a chance for direct passage at home against Feyenoord if they win.
A spectacular match between Benfica and Barcelona was seen in Lisbon, in which as many as nine goals were scored, and Barcelona came out victorious with a 5:4 triumph. The home team took the lead through Pavlidis in the second minute, and Lewandovski equalized in the 13th minute. But by the end of the half, Pavlidis scored two more goals and Benfica was 3:1 at the break. At the beginning of the second, Rafinha reduced the score to 3:2, but Araujo's auto goal increased it to 4:2, and that score stood until the 78th minute, when Lewandovski again reduced the score to 4:3, then García equalized in the 86th. And the turnaround was made by Rafinha with a goal in the 96th minute and brought all three points to Barca. In the end, Cabral was excluded. The Catalans thus registered 18 points and will go directly to the round of 16, and in the last round they will face Atalanta. Benfica remained on 10 points and the points are necessary in the last round against Juventus in Turin.
Bologna managed to beat Borussia Dortmund at home after a turnaround. The visitors led at halftime with a goal by Zirasi, and the hosts reached the tie scores in the 71st minute, and only a minute later I until the reversal. However, this victory does not mean much to them because they have only five points, and they finished the competition while Borussia is on 12 points, and they will need a point against Sahtjor in the last round at their stadium to qualify for the play-offs.
Sahtjor hosted Brest and solved the question of the winner at halftime, when it was 2:0. That's how the Ukrainians got to 7 points, but even if they beat Dortmund away in the last round, they will hardly be able to reach the play-offs because they depend on many results. Brest, on the other hand, is a safe participant in the play-off with 13 points, and they will try to increase that balance in the last round at home against Real Madrid.
Leipzig finally registered their first victory in the Champions League and thus said an honorable farewell in front of their fans. Sporting fell in a 2:1 triumph. The German team has 3 points and they can possibly score another point in the match of the last round, which has no competitive significance. They are visiting Sturm from Graz. Sporting remained at 10. Points, and they need a victory against Bologna at home in the last round to qualify for the play-offs.
Sletik, with a lot of trouble, even more difficult than expected, won the minimum with 1:0 at home against Young Boys. The home team first had a goal disallowed in the 31st minute, and then they missed a penalty in the 41st. But Benito's own goal in the 86th minute gave them all three points, and Maeda was sent off until the end, so they ended the match with one less player. Now Celtic has 12 points and they will need at least a point away from Aston Villa to qualify for the play-offs. Young Boys is last in the table without points with a goal difference of 3:23, and they can possibly change that score in the last round at home against Red Star.
Milan also registered three new points with a minimum score of 1:0 with a victory over Djiron. The scorer was Rafael Leao, and the visitors scored in the 57th. The goal was disallowed due to offside. And that was all that was seen in the match. Milan thus reached 15 points, and probably a point against Dinamo in Zagreb will be enough for them to directly qualify for the round of 16, while Djirona remained on three points and finished their participation.
As expected, Arsenal easily defeated Dinamo Zagreb with 3:0 on their field, and thus registered 16 points and climbed to third place, which will bring them a direct placement in the round of 16. The Croatian team is in a very difficult situation because they have 8 points, and in the last round Milan will be their guests, so Dinamo only needs a win with many favorable results from other fields.
Real Madrid beat Salzburg 5:1 in a match where Mbappe, Rodrigo (twice) and Vinicius (twice) scored. Very important three points for Real, who now have a total of 12 points, and a point against Brest away from home will be enough for them to qualify for the play-offs. Salzburg remained on three points, ended the participation, but in the last round they will be able to possibly improve that performance against Atlético Madrid at home.
Feyenoord gave their fans a great evening and beat Bayern 3:0, with two goals from Jimenez. In the end, the guests were left with a player less. The Dutch team thus registered 13 points, which brings them a place in the play-offs, and a possible triumph against Lille in France may take them directly to the round of 16. Bayern remained on 12 points, but in the last round they will have a great opportunity in front of their fans to be in the play-offs if they beat Slovan Bratislava.
Through Martinez, Inter triumphed 1:0 against Sparta Prague, with Dumfries' goal canceled in the second half. The club from Milan registered 16 points and in seven previous matches they conceded only one goal. In the last round, they will meet Monaco in a match that will not have too much importance for them, as they secured a direct place in the round of 16. Sparta remained on four points, finished the participation and in the last round Bayer will go to Leverkusen.
After a very boring first 45 minutes, in which only Hakimi's goal was disallowed, PSG defeated Manchester City 4:2 in the second half. The guests took a 2:0 lead through Grillis and Haaland, but it only lasted a few minutes. First, Dembele reduced, then Barcol equalized, to reverse Neves with a goal in the 78th minute, and the final result was set by Ramos in the 93rd minute. PSG thus reached the big 10. Points and will lead a big battle with Stuttgart in Germany in the last round to pass, while Manchester City is waiting for Club Breeze and only a victory with favorable results from other fields will take them to the play-offs.
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