Matchday 4 kicked off with Massimiliano Allegri's Juventus suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at Maccabi Haifa in a 2-0 thanks to a brace from Omer Atzili. It's a landmark victory for the Israeli side and an embarrassing result for a Juve side that only fired one shot on target in the first half and didn't show much to push for a victory after Allegri's halftime changes. The Italian side has three points with two games to go, needing results against PSG and Benfica and help elsewhere to make the knockout stages Juventus will need plenty of help moving forward.
A heroic performance from Shakhtar Donetsk saw them draw 1-1 against Real Madrid in Poland a day after widespread Russian missile strikes on Ukraine returned the ongoing war between the two nations to the headlines. Oleksander Zubkov opened the scoring in the 46th minute before Antonio Rudiger equalized deep into stoppage time, but it was a costly equalizer. Rudiger clashed with Shakhtar Donetsk's keeper Anatoliy Trubin, though both players would continue after receiving treatment. The draw puts Shakhtar in a good position to, at minimum, continue in Europa League. They're one point behind RB Leipzig (who won 2-0 over Celtic), Shakhtar can advance to the knockouts if they can keep their form up. The draw was enough for Real Madrid to advance to the knockout stages due to Shakhtar and RB Leipzig needing to face each other later in the group stage.
A red card to former Chelsea player Fikayo Tomori saw AC Milan go down to ten men as Chelsea won 2-0 away to go to the top of Group E behind goals from Jorginho and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. It was another disappointing performance from American international Sergino Dest after entering the match in the 37th minute as he missed a good scoring chance but Chelsea will also worry as Reece James picked up a knee injury after colliding with Theo Hernandez and was replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta. His health will be worrisome to Chelsea, and England boss Gareth Southgate will also be monitoring the situation as James could now join Kyle Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the physio room as England's deepest position is now down to Keiran Trippier.
Manchester City have qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League despite a scoreless draw away from home to Copenhagen. Pep Guardiola, who had points to play with in the group, left Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland on the bench in a match where they still should've had enough firepower to win. A Rodri rocket was ruled out by a VAR review due to a handball from Riyad Mahrez who later had a chance for redemption from the penalty spot. He took a tepid run up and drove his penalty low, right and into the hands of Copenhagen keeper Kamil Grabara. City's woes worsened as Sergio Gomez was dismissed with a red card. City were able to qualify due to a 1-1 draw between Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla.
PSG and Benfica drew 1-1 again as penalties from Kylian Mbappe and Joao Mario canceled each other out but Marco Veratti will miss PSG's next Champions League game due to yellow card accumulation. Despite reports of Mbappe wanting out of the club he almost played hero but his goal late in the match was judged to be offside.
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Tuesday, Oct. 11
Here are a few takeaways from the matches
A goal and an assist from Timo Werner were enough for RB Leipzig to continue Celtic's woes in Champions League play. Stuck at the bottom of Group F, Celtic have only one point in the competition after consecutive losses to RB Leipzig. But for the German club, these wins have seen them rise to second in the group rising above Shakhtar Donetsk before the two sides meet to close out the group stage of Champions League.
A season that has seen Marco Rose take over as their coach has been a roller coaster in the Bundesliga where the club is 11th but making the lockout stages of Champions League could offer a platform for success in what has been a disappointing season. At a minimum, RB Leipzig will still have a chance to chase a trophy as their worst case scenario could see the team fall to Europa League.
After a disappointing loss to Maccabi Haifa, Max Allegri will be given at least until the end of the season while managing Juventus but it's the comments made by the club president Andrea Agnelli that should make members of the team worry. He said, "It's not the coach's fault that we can't even make a tackle. Allegri will stay at least until the end of the season."
Juventus were better in the second half of the match after tweaking their formation, so it's possible that yet another disappointing start could see spells on the bench coming for Leandro Paredes and American Weston McKennie. Both are critical to their national teams so any drops in playing time ahead of the world cup could be a cause for concern. McKennie lost possession eight times in the first half which helped Maccabi Haifa attack Juventus. He will need to be more careful with the ball as Juvetus' attack and defense are both struggling at the same time. Attacking will only get tougher for the team with Angel Di Maria also picking up a hamstring injury.
Pep Guardiola habitually finds himself in the spotlight for at least one game that he overmanages in Champions League play but with this draw against Copenhagen he may have had the right idea. With a critical Premier League clash with Liverpool coming over the weekend, Guardiola opted against bringing in Erling Haaland despite needing a goal. But on the balance of the game, City could have won, having a goal ruled out and with Mahrez missing a penalty.
It was a risky tactic to leave qualification to the knockout stages in the hands of Borussia Dortmund but it worked due to City's strong performance so far in Champions League. But now they need to defeat Liverpool to make resting players during the draw worthwiile.
Only 14 goals to go around as there were four 1-1 draws in this round but Manchester City are the first team to book their place in the knockout round with their 0-0 draw versus Copenhagen along with Dortmund's 1-1 draw with Sevilla being just enough to move on to the next round.
A last minute header from Antonio Rudiger rescues a draw for Los Blancos! Amazing! He heads home a Kroos cross with perfect timing but pays the price with a hard challenge. He was left on the pitch bloodied but the goal stood.
Cesar Azpilicueta has now come on but after clashing with Hernandez, James tried to play on and has hurt his knee. This could be quite a blow to Chelsea if he misses time.
It was a chance for AC Milan to cause some trouble but he can't put his shot on target. Dest will need to improve going forward if he wants to earn more playing time.
Marco Verratti has conceded a penalty after tripping on the edge of the bok and Joao Mario scores sending the keeper the wrong way. Worry for PSG as Verratti will now miss the next match due to yellow card accumulation. Benfica could win this!
It's unknown if this is early rest for Mount or an issue but Conor Gallagher will get an important 45 mintues to finish out the match for the Blues.
Zubkov scores for Shakhtar! The Ukrainians, filled with pride, lead Los Blancos 1-0 just a minute into the second half!
Los Blancos remain level at Shakhtar Donetsk despite having nearly all of the changes. Nine shots for Los Blancos, four on target, but the Ukrainians are holding strong so far in Poland.
After having a goal ruled out earlier in the match, Ljubicic's shot from outside the box ended up in the back of the net following a deflection. It was confirmed after a VAR review.
In all the headlines today, Mbappe converted his chance from the penalty spot. He now has the most Champions League goals of any player for PSG passing Cavani.
Well, that's about it for AC Milan as they're down to ten and now behind by two goals. Chelsea are truly finding their form under Potter as this was a beautiful team goal.
Jude Bellingham levels it for Dortmund against Sevilla! That's his fourth goal in four UCL games this season, finishing with a good run into the heart of the box!
Chelsea are already ahead and now they just have to see the match out. Calm as you'd like from Jorginho slotting the Penalty home.
Fikayo Tomori has been sent off after conceding a penalty pulling back Mason Mount. This fixture is becoming an absolute horror show.
Tanguy Nianzou has fired Sevilla into the lead at Dortmund! Jorge Sampoali's return to the club is off to a fantastic start! Off a set piece from about 30 yards out, Ivan Rakitic sends in a fine ball that Nianzou heads home!
Nicolas Seiwald has opened the scoring with a rocket of a shot. A good start for the Austrian club as they can extend their lead in Group E with a win.
According to president Andrea Agnelli, Allegri will stay on until at least the end of the season. His statement is quite a blow to some of the starters today which included American Weston McKennie.
In such a tight group, Dario Spikic put a great cross into the box but no one was there to meet it.
Mason Mount has committed an offensive foul as Chelsea are looking to get a quick leg up in the match after already winning against AC Milan in their last meeting.
We had a great early slate now elt's keep the ball rolling!
He places a good shot but Gabara is there to save again. Five minutes left for City in this one.
Pep Guardiola is finally turning to the bench as Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva will enter the match for Jack Grealish and Kevin de Bruyne. The fresh legs will give City an extra gear to try and win this match with ten men despite there only being 13 mintues remaining.
They're controlling possession but still don't have a goal to show for it. Juventus do have two shots on goal but only 20 minutes remaining to overturn a two goal deficit.
Milan XI: Tataruşanu; Gabbia, Kalulu, Tomori, Theo Hernández; Tonali, Bennacer; Krunic, Brahim Díaz, Leão; Giroud
Chelsea XI: Kepa; Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Sterling, Mount, Aubameyang
Shakhtar XI: Trubin; Mykhaylichenko, Bondar, Matviyenko, Konoplia; Stepanenko; Traore, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Mudryk; Zubkov
Real Madrid XI: Lunin; Lucas Vázquez, Nacho, Rüdiger, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouaméni, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Hazard
PSG XI: Donnarumma; Ramos, Marquinhos, Danilo; Hakimi, Verratti, Vitinha, Bernat; Sarabia, Mbappé, Neymar
Benfica XI: Vlachodimos; Bah, Otamendi, António Silva, Grimaldo; Florentino, Enzo Fernández; Aursnes, Rafa Silva, João Mário; Gonçalo Ramos
Weston McKennie and Leandro Paredes have been withdrawn for Kostic and Locatelli. It's a formation shift as Kostic will help Juventus try to attack from wide as Maccabi Haifa are stopping everything through the middle.
