Here’s what happened on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Roundup: Liverpool, PSG and Spurs advance, Porto unbeaten & more
SCOREBOARD
Club Brugge 0, Atletico Madrid 0 || AS Monaco 0, Borussia Dortmund 2 || FC Barcelona 1, Tottenham 1 || Inter Milan 1, PSV Eindhoven 1 || Red Star Belgrade 1, Paris Saint-Germain 4 || Liverpool 1, Napoli 0 || Galatasaray 2, FC Porto 3 || Schalke 1, Lokomotiv Moscow 0
THE MAIN STORY
Liverpool advances, Napoli goes home
The term “Group of Death” gets over-used in soccer, to the point that most of us roll our eyes in derision whenever anybody utters the words. Safe to say, though, that Group C of this season’s UEFA Champions League was worthy of the moniker.
There was everything to play for ahead of Matchday 6 in this tightly balanced group. Three points separated first-place Napoli and third-place Liverpool, with Paris Saint-Germain sandwiched in between, and all three vying to claim the two knockout-round berths up for grabs. Even modest Red Star Belgrade had something to play for, as a home win over PSG, combined with a Napoli road victory over Liverpool, would see the Serbs qualify for the Europa League ahead of the Premier League side.
Anfield was a cauldron at kickoff, and the atmosphere didn’t die down one bit thanks to a breathless contest played at breakneck pace between Liverpool and Napoli. The Italians started confidently and put the hosts under constant pressure, but Liverpool delivered an early warning when Mohamed Salah snuck in behind the defence alone off a lovely cross played into the box from the flank. His first touch was poor, allowing Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina to easily collect the ball. But Salah made amends later in the opening half when the flying Egyptian shrugged off one Napoli player, gave another one the slip, and then beat Ospina at the near post with a fabulous low drive from a sharp angle.
A 1-0 win would have been enough for Liverpool to advance, but Jurgen Klopp’s men didn’t relent, furiously pressing Napoli with a high line and making things uncomfortable for the Serie A outfit. It was much of the same from Liverpool after the break, with Salah and Sadio Mane spurning scoring chances, and thus giving the Italians a lifeline. Napoli nearly took advantage deep into injury time, but was denied the equalizer that would have sent them through and eliminated Liverpool when goalkeeper Alisson produced a fabulous reflex save from in close to rob substitute Arkadiusz Milik of a sure goal.
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BEST GOAL
In the seventh minute, Tottenham lost possession following a free kick in Barcleona’s half. The Catalans quickly hit on the counter, with Ousmane Dembélé going on a fabulous solo run – flying past Spurs’ Kyle Walker-Peters and faking out his teammate Harry Winks along the way – before firing a shot past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
BEST MOMENT
The celebration from Tottenham players at Camp Nou after they drew Barcelona and then learned that the Inter-PSV match also ended in a stalemate, a result that sent Spurs through to the knockout round at the expense of the Italians.
BEST GAME
It only had one goal, but don’t let Liverpool’s slim win over Napoli fool you. Fans at Anfield were treated to a high-intensity match, played at a fervent pace between two teams committed to playing attacking soccer.
THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME
WORTH REPEATING
“We wanted to equal our best [group stage] performance and it’s a huge source of pride to be part of that history.” – midfielder Sergio Oliveira on FC Porto topping Group D with five wins and a draw.
BEST TWEET
A pair of former AS Roma players came back to haunt Napoli at Anfield:
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Tottenham’s Harry Kane has had a hand in 16 goals in 16 Champions League appearances (13 goals, three assists).
• Mauro Icardi is the first Inter Milan player to score in each of his first three Champions League home games for the club.
• Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in 48 goals in 38 games in all competitions for Liverpool at Anfield (35 goals, 13 assists).
• FC Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas is only the second player in the Champions League history to reach 100 wins, after Cristiano Ronaldo.
• AS Monaco is the first team to fail to win a single group stage game in two consecutive Champions League seasons since Dinamo Zagreb in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
• Ahmed Kutucu is the first player born in the year 2000 or later to make an appearance in a competitive game for Schalke.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS
1) Raphael Guerreiro, Borussia Dortmund: The Portuguese bagged a brace to help the Germans beat Monaco and finish first in Group A ahead of Atletico Madrid.
2) Mohamed Salah, Liverpool: Scored the game’s lone goal, but could have had more. Kept Napoli’s defence on its toes with his pace and probing runs.
3) Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain: Scored one goal and set up another as PSG clinched a spot in the knockout round and won Group C.