Champions League summary: Benfica lost a three-goal lead. Arsenal blasted Lens, Real Madrid celebrates win

Wednesday’s Champions League schedule is over. There were some interesting results, the biggest one was Arsenal, who played with Lens and scored six goals. Benfica also surprised, leading by three goals in an important match and taking only a point in the end. How did the other matches turn out?

The last day of the Champions League began in Turkey, where Galatasaray hosted Manchester United. The English side led by two goals twice, but were ultimately saddened by a 3-3 draw. On the second goal scored, goalkeeper Andre Onana, who is not a big fan favourite, made a mistake.

There was also an interesting result in the Sevilla vs. PSV match. The home side needed a win to keep their hopes of progressing to the next stage alive. They led by two goals in the match, but everything was turned around by a needless red card of Lucas Ocampos after two yellows in three minutes. PSV turned the game around and are assured of Champions League qualification in the spring.

Arsenal hosted French side Lens in the same group and were quite big favourites. They confirmed it from the first minutes and scored five times in the opening 45 minutes. In the second half, he added a goal from a penalty kick and is certain to finish first in his group.

Bayern didn’t play for anything in their match against Copenhagen, yet they sent a quality eleven onto the field. In contrast, the Danish team needed every point as their group is very tight. Copenhagen are currently second by a point ahead of Galatasaray and a point ahead of United. Definitely the last game when they face the Turks at home.

The most interesting game was played in Portugal. Benfica Lisbon had just one point and needed to win to have a chance to play at least in the Europa League in the spring. Inter, on the other hand, were attacking for the top spot, even if it didn’t look like it in the first half. Benfica won it 3:0 after a hat-trick by Joao Mario and went on to win. But in the second half the roles were reversed and it was a surprising 3-3 draw.

The next draw came in a match where it was more of a Europa League battle. The home side, Braga, played with ten men from the 30th minute and conceded shortly afterwards. However, in the second half they equalised with Union Berlin and took an important point. If the German side does not win against Real Madrid, Braga will have the Europa League in its pocket, and a win by a higher margin against Napoli could see it shoot all the way to the Champions League.

Real Madrid challenged Napoli at home, but were already almost certain of first place, only a draw was enough. It almost happened, but they managed to turn the game around and win 4-2. Madrid has not lost a point in the group, while Napoli needs to score against Braga.

The last match of the day was played in Spain. Real Sociedad hosted Salzburg and while the home side were playing for first place in the group, the visitors were looking to consolidate third place. In the end it was a goalless draw and the fate of all teams will be decided in the last matches.

Source: UEFA Champions League