Tops
For 80 minutes, Galatasaray caused a lot of problems for Bayern Munich until one man woke up. Author of a hat-trick against Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday, Harry Kane saw double this evening, in six minutes, offering victory to his team (2-1) with the right foot (80th) then with the head (86th). With already 19 goals and 7 assists in 16 matches this season, the English striker walks on water. To the delight of Thomas Tuchel who will approach his team’s last two group matches with peace of mind. In group A, the Bavarians are qualified for the round of 16 and guaranteed to finish first. Thank you Prince Harry.
Another English star lit up his class’ evening. Against Seville, Bukayo Saka brought Arsenal to success (2-0) with an assist for Leandro Trossard in the first half, and a magnificent goal scored with his left foot after returning from the locker room. The 22-year-old winger made the Andalusian defense dizzy, completely overwhelmed by the events at the Emirates Stadium. Strong man of the Gunners in C1, Saka responded to bring his training club closer to the 8th finals. His next opponent, RC Lens, has been warned.
It’s official, there will be at least two Spanish clubs in the round of 16. For the first, Real Madrid, the force of habit spoke this evening against Braga (3-0). Despite a difficult start to the match – goalkeeper Lunin saved a penalty – the Merengue ended up dominating the Portuguese thanks to goals from Brahim Diaz, Vinicius and Rodrygo. Earlier this Wednesday, Real Sociedad showed the way to La Liga by outclassing Benfica (3-1). And thanks to the short success of Inter Milan on the pitch in Salzburg (0-1), the Basques find themselves qualified even before the last two days. A notable performance for the San Sebastian club, author of a recital in front of its audience against a sad Lisbon team.
Flops
With their backs against the wall, Manchester United started their decisive match in Copenhagen perfectly. Thanks to Rasmus Hojlund’s double, which did its job, the Red Devils led 2-0 in the 42nd minute. Until Marcus Rashford received a red card for a very nasty sole on Jelert’s ankle. His logical expulsion made the task very difficult for Erik Ten Hag’s players, who reached the score before the break. In the second period, Bruno Fernandes scored 3-2 on a penalty but the ten Mancuniens ended up breaking down. They conceded two goals which meant defeat (3-4) at the end of the craziest match of the week. After four days, Manchester United find themselves last in their group, one point behind Galatasaray and their tormentor Copenhagen, who had an exceptional evening in front of their home crowd at the Parken Stadium.
1 shot (on target). This is the very low total for Sevilla FC on the Arsenal pitch this evening with 40% possession and very little ambition in the game. Beaten without forcing by the Gunners, the winner of the last Europa League did not nothing shown and leaves London fanny. The Andalusians remain 4th in their group and will have to seriously raise their level during the last two meetings, against PSV then against Lens, to hope to qualify. Unless their goal is to finish 3rd to move to the lower level, in their favorite European competition…
Last year’s quarter-finalist is only a shadow of himself. Corrected by Real Sociedad (1-3) at the start of the evening, Benfica Lisbon has four defeats in as many matches with no goals scored! 2nd in the Portuguese championship, the Eagles are not making it in Europe and are heading towards a historic group stage in the worst of the term. The only reason for hope is that qualification for the Europa League remains possible on the condition of opening the counter in three weeks when they host Inter Milan.