Champions League
PSG equalise with a special penalty in stoppage time, Dortmund and Barcelona are certain to progress
The group of death has gotten us all tangled up again. Borussia Dortmund secured promotion, PSG got back into the game with a very strange penalty in stoppage time. Feyenoord with Ondrej Lingre also lost their chance to advance.
The group of death has gotten us all tangled up again. Borussia Dortmund secured promotion, PSG got back into the game with a very strange penalty in stoppage time.
PSG only drew with Newcastle at home
Dortmund, PSG, AC Milan, Newcastle. Definitely the toughest group in the Champions League. There’s no outsider in Group F who’s doomed to fourth place. All teams could and wanted to think about qualifying for the spring.
If Dortmund had won at the San Siro, they would have been assured of qualification from the group and would have had nothing to look back on. But the game got off to a very wild start. Already in the sixth minute the referee awarded a penalty to the home team AC Milan. Olivier Giroud took the penalty, but failed to convert.
Four minutes later, the referee gave a penalty to the other side and the ball was taken by the reliable Marco Reus. The German midfielder cleared the penalty uncompromisingly to the bar and sent Dortmund into the lead.
Chukwueze equalised in the 37th minute, but two goals from youngsters Bynoe-Gittens and Adeyemi secured a 3-1 win for Borussia. Dortmund thus secured promotion from the group of death. In the last match against PSG, it will be a matter of finishing first or second.
In Paris, PSG were clearly more active at home, but failed to convert several opportunities. And Newcastle punished. In the 24th minute, Donnarumma failed to hold Almirón’s shot and Isak had no problem tapping the ball into an uncovered net.
PSG then pressed all game, but the ball just wouldn’t fall into the net. It wasn’t until the 96th minute that a controversial moment came. The ball bounced off the body of a Newcastle player and into his hand, which according to the rules should not have been a penalty. But referee Marciniak blew the whistle and Mbappé equalised at 1-1.
Barcelona secure advance
Barcelona complicated the situation with their last defeat to Shakhtar. At home to Porto, they were down in the 30th minute after Pepe’s goal and things were looking bleak. However, Cancelo equalised two minutes later, and after the change of sides Félix scored his second goal and the Blaugranas secured promotion to the spring phase for the first time in three years.
A very attractive match was played at the De Kuip stadium. Feyenoord welcomed Atlético Madrid, who could secure promotion with a win. They went for it in the 14th minute when Geetruida scored an own goal. In the 57th minute, Hermoso made it 2-0. Feyenoord reduced the deficit after a substitution, when Lingr came on, but Feyenoord scored another own goal and lost 1: 3. Atlético are out of the relegation playoffs, Atlético will face Lazio for first place in the last round.
Source: UEFA, Youtube