While Tuesday's matches produced some surprising results, like Manchester City's defeat to Bodø/Glimt, Wednesday's action was eventful but less unexpected. Liverpool showed signs of improvement, securing a 3–0 win against Olympique Marseille in one of Europe's toughest away fixtures. Bayern Munich also recorded a 2–0 victory over Union SG, delivering a solid performance that included a goal from Harry Kane, who later missed a penalty. The most surprising result of the day was Atalanta's 3–2 home defeat to Athletic Club, a result that reshapes the race for both the top eight and playoff spots ahead of next week's final league phase matchday.
Khepren Thuram and Weston McKennie delivered and scored during the 2-0 win of Juventus against Jose Mourinho's Benfica in Turin. The Portuguese team will be forced to win in the last match against Real Madrid to have a chance to qualify for the knockout stages while Newcastle won 3-0 at home against PSV and Chelsea secured a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge against Pafos with a late goal scored by Moises Caicedo. Last but not least, Hansi Flick's Barcelona scored four goals and won 4-2 away against Slavia Prague but will have to win the last home game against Copenaghen to end up in the top eight of the league phase table.
81' Strangely enough, Harry Kane missed a penalty...
78' We were waiting for a goal in London and here we go! Chelsea opened the scoring with a header from Moises Caicedo, who capitalized on a loose ball bouncing around the box after a corner.
74' It's an owngoal but this was all about Jeremie Frimpong and his run on the right side of the attack. OM tried to make some changes and score but Liverpool took advantage of the spaces and scored the possible winning goal of the match.
75' Wow! Athletic score again and it's 3-1 now for the away team against Atalanta with Robert Navarro while Lewandowski scored the 4-2 for Barcelona.
70' This is a surprising result: Athletic Club scored the second goal of the match against Atalanta with Nico Serrano and if this holds the Spanish side will be back in contention for a spot in the playoffs. Something I wasn't expecting before today's match.
65' It's 3-2 for Barcelona and this is an incredible goal from Dani Olmo who scores from outside the box a goal that might decide the away game in Prague. The Spanish striker replaced Pedri who got injured and was subbed off few minutes before the 3-2.
66' Juventus scored the second goal of the game and it's from Weston McKennie! The American midfielder took advantage of a nice assist of Jonathan David and delivers a key goal for the qualification of the side coached by Luciano Spalletti.
60' It's 1-1 now in Bergamo as Gorka Guruzeta scored the equalizing goal against Atalanta, taking advantage of a defensive mistake made by the team coached by Raffaele Palladino.
56' We couldn't even write the previous post that Bayern Munich were awarded a penalty and Harry Kane scored his 34th goal of the season so far. Impressing numbers.
53' There have been two opening goals in Turin and Munich: Harry Kane scored his first goal against Union SG today, while Khephren Thuram put Juventus ahead against Benfica. For the Bianconeri, a win against José Mourinho's side would bring them one step closer to securing a top-24 spot.
46' The Champions League matches have now all resumed. Let's see what we will see in the next 45 minutes.
45' All the games are now at halftime and the first 45 minutes are now officially over. Still plenty of things to expect in the upconing second half.
45' Just before halftime, Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring in Marseille with a stunning free kick, surprisingly struck low under the wall.
44' Two goals in two minutes. Fermin Lopez scored again, and this time it was entirely his own merit, firing in from just outside the box. However, Hansi Flick's side conceded once more from a corner, this time through an unfortunate own goal by Robert Lewandowski.
34' It's finally 1–1 for Barcelona, and it's a brilliant goal. Fermin Lopez finished off a superb pass from Frenkie de Jong after an excellent team move. This is the Barcelona we've all been waiting to see.
32' We were probably expecting more from these two sides, but despite a goal disallowed for Ekitike, neither Liverpool nor OM are playing their best match of the season. They likely need a goal to spark the game and raise the intensity, at least that's what we're hoping for.
31' Anthony Gordon's goal make things quiet difficult for PSV right now as Newcastle are leading with a two-goal margin on the Dutch side. A very good performance by the team coached by Eddie Howe so far.
25' Liverpool scored the opening goal with Hugo Ekitike but it was ruled out by the VAR for offside. Still 0-0 at the Velodrome in Marseille.
16' There was also an early goal in Bergamo, where Gianluca Scamacca found the net with a fine header, assisted by Nicola Zalewski, against Athletic Club. It's a crucial goal for their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the league phase.
11' This was a surprise: Slavia Prague took the lead against FC Barcelona as Vasil Kusej converted from close range after a corner, pouncing on a loose ball inside the box. This is a disappointing start for Barcelona that need to score as soon as possible now to get back on track.
9' We've got the first goal of the late games and it comes from St. James Park where Yoan Wissa opened the score and took advantage of a nice play of Joelinton. Newcastle are ahead against PSV!
All the late games have started: let's see what the action will bring to us!
Two draws in the opening two games of the day as Galatasaray drew 1-1 against Atletico Madrid with the goals of Giuliano Simeone and the own goal of Marcos Llorente while Qarabag drew 3-2 in their home stadium against Eintracht Frankfurt. The German side is now officially the third team eliminated from the tournament after Kairat and Villarreal waiting for the late matches.
Marseille 2, Liverpool 1 – Arne Slot's strong start with Liverpool feels like a very long time ago now, the team devolving into a dull side that seem to drag themselves through games and are rarely rewarded with the result in the process. They head to France on the back of four Premier League draws, going goalless in two of those encounters. It does not inspire optimism in their output against Marseille, who may just have it in them to pull off the upset. Wins over Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 play and Newcastle United in the Champions League make them an intriguing watch and a potential spoiler for a Liverpool team in need of a win. -- Pardeep Cattry
Slavia Prague 1, Barcelona 4 – Barcelona's Champions League campaign has not always gone according to plan but in Prague on Wednesday, they are likely to thrust themselves back into the conversation for a top eight finish. Hansi Flick's side leads with attack-minded principles so expect them to put several goals past Slavia Prague, who are amongst the worst teams in the league phase with 11 goals conceded in six games, but considering Barcelona's defensive track record, the hosts might have a consolation goal in them. -- Pardeep Cattry
Looking at the lineups around, there is a major news regarding Liverpool: Mo Salah is starting! This is kind of unexpected considering the Egyptian winger was back the AFCON only few days ago and the tension that raised in December between the player and Arne Slot, who decided to exclude him from the Inter away match won 1-0 by the Reds. Let's take a look at the lineups of the Liverpool game:
OM XI: Rulli; Murillo, Pavard, Balerdi, Medina; Weah, Hojbjerg, Kondogbia, Traorè; Greenwood, Gouiri.
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Frimpong, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Ekitike, Wirtz.
Marcus Rashford, Barcelona: What a loan spell this has been for the England international. The weekend's goal against Real Sociedad might have been in vain but it was his eighth of the season to go with the same number of assists. Whether as a starter or off the bench, a trip to Prague could offer him a prime opportunity to add more of either, perhaps even both. -- James Benge
