The big decision …
First, Paramount presents a parade of missed Parisian chances. Thierry Henry is on their set in Miami, and he is clearly grimacing at the poor finishing.
At last … Unkel comes out and immediately says it is a penalty. The left arm is extended. “Even though there is a deflection, that is no longer part of the analysis.” Not sure if she means that Ifab no longer want us refs to consider that or if there’s something technical there.
Jamie Carragher doesn’t buy it and whips up the crowd gathered by the set. Unkel says she doesn’t like the current interpretation and thinks Ifab may change it.
He’s a bit overbearing about it, but Carragher may have a point. I say that having sent off two coaches in a recreational youth All-Star game when the interpretation at that time said a ball played up into a player’s arm was not a handball call. Ifab “clarified,” of course, by taking out all the specific instances that took out some of the guesswork. No good deed goes … undone, I guess.
Maybe Newcastle shouldn’t give up 30 shots. If it’s any consolation, they looked better than Milan. But not as good as Manchester City once the Premier League powerhouse got their defensive hiccups out of the way.
Anyway, that’s all for today. Enjoy the rest of your autumn.
So what was the key turning point of this evening’s action?
Clearly, it was a comment posted in this space a short time ago …
Jamie O’Sullivan: “I obviously can’t say for certain, but I am 99.9% sure that someone on the City bench read my last email around the 50 minute mark and realized they actually had something to play for.”
I believe it.
Going to hold off on closing down for one more moment here because Paramount is bringing in referee Christina Unkel, surely to ask about that penalty against Newcastle.
Full time scores and standings
Including the early games …
Group E
Lazio 2-0 Celtic
Feyenoord 1-3 Atletico Madrid
Standings: Atletico 11, Lazio 10, Feyenoord 6, Celtic 1
The Atletico-Lazio game is for first place, with both teams safely through. Feyenoord to the Europa after a brief excursion to Scotland.
Group F
AC Milan 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
Paris St. Germain 1-1 Newcastle
Standings: Dortmund 10, PSG 7, Newcastle 5, Milan 5
Oh, what could’ve been! The biggest game in Newcastle in years. It still could be the biggest, but even if Newcastle beat an erratic Milan side, they’ll still be dependent on Dortmund beating PSG.
Group G
Manchester City 3-2 RB Leipzig
Young Boys 2-0 Red Star
Standings: Manchester City 15, Leipzig 9, Young Boys 4, Red Star 1
All places confirmed.
Group H
Barcelona 2-1 Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Antwerp
Standings: Barcelona 12, Porto 9, Shakhtar 9, Antwerp 0
Barcelona are through. Antwerp are not. The big story of Matchday 6 may well be Shakhtar’s visit to Portugal.
Here’s how Barry described it: “The penalty is given for handball, which seems odd considering the cross hit Livramento’s chest and was deflected on to his left elbow.”
As a ref myself, I set a pretty high bar for handball decisions, so I sympathize a bit here.
It’s over. The commentators (not sure who) say PSG were second-best in terms of “endeavor.” They outshot Newcastle 30-5.
And it is indeed a penalty, and Mbappe converts. 1-1. Shattering decision for Newcastle.
Full time: Milan 1-3 Dortmund
Full time: Manchester City 3-2 Leipzig
Full time: Barcelona 2-1 Porto
All eyes turn to Paris for the last game still going.
There’s a check for a penalty in Paris. Check Barry Glendenning’s coverage again. This could be massive.
Full time: Feyenoord 1-3 Atletico Madrid
Will wrap up final scores when they’re all in. PSG-Newcastle is in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
In Milan, it’s the fifth minute of six pointless minutes.
Full time: Young Boys 2-0 Red Star
I don’t think we got a single highlight from this match on the wraparound show in this half. The Swiss side have clinched a spot in the Europa League knockout round.
Barcelona bicycle-ish … it’s an acrobatic attempt, well-saved at the near post to keep Porto’s hopes alive.
Goal! Manchester City 3-2 Leipzig (Alvarez 87)
The turnaround is complete in Manchester, where Foden’s cross slams into a defender’s legs but goes straight to Alvarez, who takes the briefest of moments to recognize his good fortune before depositing the ball in the net.
Updated
Chance for Dortmund – a brilliant run down the left by Adeyemi, centered to Fullkrug, who emphatically wins the crossbar challenge. Pity no one else was playing that game.
Chance for Milan – I’d be remiss if I didn’t note a shot off the post, with Jovic nearly halving the deficit with a well-taken header from 15 yards out.
Reminder that Barry Glendenning is covering the PSG-Newcastle match, where the French side have outshot the visitors 23-5 and are still down 0-1.
Goal! Feyenoord 1-3 Atletico Madrid (own goal 81)
Count out Feyenoord.
Beautiful headed goal off a free kick. Just the wrong direction. If you want good news, Feyenoord players have scored three goals to Atletico’s one!
Updated
Goal! Feyenoord 1-2 Atletico Madrid (Wieffer 77)
Don’t count out Feyenoord!
Another Dortmund sub: Brandt replaces Reus. Looks like we will not see Gio Reyna in this one.
Leipzig has it in the net! But the AR’s flag goes up, and VAR confirms that a player was offside in the buildup.
Well, “confirms” might be a bit strong. Offside is still a tough call.
Dortmund still seem to be the more likely team to score, which is bad news for the team that needs two goals to avoid plummeting in the group.
Belated news of Manchester City subs …
Ake replaced Ruben Dias at the half. In the 54th, Alvarez and Doku replaced Walker and Grealish.
Justin Kavanaugh writes: “I think Ray Hudson had nipped out to his local bookshop for a new Thesaurus of Superlatives at half time. He’s back now and will be telling us all about the quite majestic, magisterial, and downright magical bagging technique of the assistant any minute now.”
He does say “magisterial” a lot.
Remember when the only way to follow European soccer was to read scores several days after the games? Good times.
Goal! Manchester City 2-2 Leipzig (Foden 70)
This goal thus far exists only in rumor, as the Paramount wrapup show is on its umpteenth replay of the Dortmund goal.
Ah, here we go … foul on the left flank, free kick taken quickly, Leipzig’s defenders all converge in the middle of the field but still leave space for Gvardiol to thread a pass to Foden, and he nonchalantly pokes the ball through the center backs and past the keeper to equalize.
Updated
Goal! Milan 1-3 Dortmund (Adeyemi 69)
This one will make them weep in Italy. Adeyemi beats a defender at the top of the area and shoots. Maignan gets a good firm hand to it, but the ball is struck so powerfully that it takes another bounce toward the goal. Maignan jumps back up and scrambles to swat the ball away, but every manner of technology confirms that the ball had already passed over the line.
Back in Milan … Bynoe-Gittens has departed, with Marius Wolf on his place. Wolf is not Reyna.
Milan’s Tomori has picked up a yellow card.
Giroud puts a strong header on target, but it’s saved, and the referee believes Giroud unfairly put his arm on the defender’s shoulder, anyway.
Manchester City-Leipzig stats (at the moment)
Manchester City lead the possession battle (if it exists), 66%-34%.
They also lead in shots taken, 9-4.
They’ve completed 500 passes to Leipzig’s 208.
They’re losing 1-2.
Goal! Feyenoord 0-2 Atletico Madrid (Hermoso 57)
The defender scores on a blooper from an acute angle. Fluke? Brilliance? Doesn’t matter. Advantage doubled.
Goal! Barcelona 2-1 Porto (Joao Felix 57)
How big do those Barcelona saves look now? The home side are in front after the most Barcelona of Barcelona goals, a sequence of precise passes ending in a simple finish.
And speaking of Spain …
Updated
Goal! Milan 1-2 Dortmund (Bynoe-Gittens 59)
What poise! Sabitzer glides across the top of the penalty area and dinks the ball over to Bynoe-Gittens, and the young Englishman calmly passes the ball into the net from 16 yards out. Not the most powerful of shots, but it was so perfectly placed that it would’ve taken quite a save to keep it out.
Speaking of saves …
Updated
Not Red Star’s night? Brilliant near-post shot, but it hits that near post – the very inside of it, to be precise, an inch or so away from going into the net instead of pinging out to the other side of the field.
Goal! Manchester City 1-2 Leipzig (Haaland 54)
The Leipzig line falters, as Haaland is kept in an onside position by a wayward player nowhere near him, and the dangerous striker makes easy work of it from there.
Now all the kids at the high school where I do some substitute teaching will have more data points for their arguments over the best player in the game at the moment.
Updated
Another player down in Milan, and it’s Dortmund defender Schlotterbeck, who is simply sitting on the midfield circle. Replay shows he signaled to the bench and took a seat. He will take a more comfortable seat on the bench, as Salih Ozcan enters in his place. Dortmund will also bring on Adeyemi to replace Malen, bad news for USA! USA! USA! fans who would surely love to see Reyna right about now.
Krunic was the player who replaced Thiaw.
Jamie O’Sullivan asks: “Am I right in saying one more goal would see Leipzig having only to win at home to Young Boys to top the group, and would leave City second with 15 points? That would be pretty remarkable, although obviously I’d rather a straight shootout for goal difference on the final day, 2003 Celtic-Rangers style.”
I believe you are correct.
Ouch. Milan defender Thiaw abruptly pulls up and clutches at his hamstring. He’s down and will be replaced.
More stats … Milan have completed a staggering 93% of their passes. Dortmund isn’t far behind at 88%.
Maybe they should try riskier passes on occasion?
Pulisic scissors kick! A Milan cross caroms off a couple of players in the middle, and Pulisic swings his body around to make solid contact with it. Credit to Dortmund defender Ryerson for literally taking one for the team there.
Stat of the day … our commentators are back, and they inform us that Christian Pulisic completed all 25 of his passes in the first half.
Make that 26, though a five-yard pass backwards under no pressure won’t help much.
And we’re back …
Oddly, no word from our TV commentators on the Milan feed yet. It’s not like Ray Hudson to be quiet for this long. Must be an issue.
An anthem idea …
… combining the two things about Europe that Americans envy the most (excluding political things) …
Each year’s Eurovision winner becomes the Champions League anthem for the next year.
If nothing else, it’ll make people vote very carefully.
From the virtual mailbag …
Harriet Osborn: “I was all set to comment about how City have rather a rotten recent record in Leipzig, then realized this is their home match. So much for that home record- “the longer it goes, the more likely it is to end.”
In fairness, the right side of Manchester City’s defense might as well be in Leipzig. Couldn’t do any worse than they’re doing in Manchester.
Dave O’Leary of Dublin on the Champions League anthem: “Yeah, we’re all definitely tired of it. It’s no Match of the Day. I think we should have different music each season, but from movie soundtracks for that bombastic cinematic feel. So much variety depending on the matches. Terminator 2 title music? Yes please (especially if Haaland is playing.) Battle without Honour or Humanity from Kill Bill? (Bleep) yes please!”
Does the BBC still have a call-in show that uses a Dandy Warhols song as its bumper music? That rocked.
Halftime scores
A good chance goes begging in Milan, with Pulisic playing provider.
Group E
Feyenoord 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Group F
Milan 1-1 Dortmund
PSG 0-1 Newcastle
Group G
Manchester City 0-2 RB Leipzig
Young Boys 2-0 Red Star
Group H
Barcelona 1-1 Porto
So as things stand now, Feyenoord’s hopes are dwindling, Young Boys have one foot in the Europa League, Shakhtar Donetsk still have a shot at winning Group H, and Group F is confused.
Another top-class save in Barcelona, where Inaki Pena is keeping the home side in this match. That’s not a sentence I expected to type.
Phew! What an entertaining seven minutes! Some messy goals, some beautiful goals, and then there’s whatever Manchester City think they’re doing tonight.
We’re in the 42nd-ish minute of all these games.
Pulisic makes a slick move to give himself space for a cross, but the cross is as effective as Manchester City’s defense against a direct attack. Yes, that’s my new bar for analogies.
Goal! AC Milan 1-1 Dortmund (Chukwueze 37)
Chukwueze has been dangerous on the left side of the Milan attack, but the Nigerian forward gets this one from the right with a shot that probably shouldn’t have gotten through all the bodies in the box.
Updated
Goal! Manchester City 0-2 Leipzig (Openda 34)
Oh dear, oh dear. What has happened to the mighty Manchester City defense? Leipzig play it out of their own end, and Openda simply turns past a defender at midfield, cuts inside past the recovering Akanji and slips it past the flat-footed Ortega.
Updated
Goal! Barcelona 1-1 Porto (Joao Cancelo 32)
No sooner did I get a good look at Pepe’s conversion off the rebound from a second good save in as many minutes by Inaki Pena do I see an update that the lead was short-lived.
Updated
Goal! Barcelona 0-1 Porto (Pepe 30)
Not surprising given the rather one-sided highlights we’ve been seeing on Paramount’s wraparound program, as Porto have had a multitude of chances.
Updated
Goal! Young Boys 2-0 Red Star (Blum 29)
Long-range shot deflected for a corner. The first shot from that corner is deflected, but the defender Blum runs up to the corner of the penalty area for a shot that finds a narrow seam through the defense, and goalkeeper Omri Glazer makes a bit of a mess of it.
So five of our six current games stand at 1-0. Your move, Barcelona or Porto …
… and it’s in the net for Porto, but that’ll come back on an offside call. Correct, replay confirms.
Goal! PSG 0-1 Newcastle (Isak 24)
And it’s a beauty. Take a moment to check Barry Glendenning’s description.
Is a job at stake here? Kurt Perleman emails to ask if Pioli will be fired if Milan lost to Dortmund. It’s Italy. Who knows?
Dortmund again rush forward, and Maignan is forced to sprawl to punch a dangerous cross away from its target.
Question: Are we all tired of the Champions League anthem now?
Milan on the attack now, and Pulisic sends a ball up and over toward a gaggle of people.
Milan regain possession a short time later, and Pulisic lines up a 20-yard shot that he doesn’t hit quite as well as he would have liked.
A chance for Dortmund now, with Bynoe-Gittens creating space for himself on the left but firing high over the bar.
Dortmund look less convincing on the other end of the field, though, and they needlessly concede a corner kick.
Goal! Feyenoord 0-1 Atletico Madrid (own goal 14)
If you’re a fan of sloppy own goals, you are surely enjoying tonight’s action. The ball is partially cleared and played back in. Geertruida stops a few yards from his own goal, and the ball gently falls from the sky and careens off his torso into the net.
Goal! Manchester City 0-1 RB Leipzig (Openda 13)
Route 1 or the Autobahn? Leipzig keeper Blaswich takes his time with the ball at his feet, then calmly blasts it 60 yards up the field, where Openda leans against a defender and then explodes away from him to go one-on-one with Ortega.
Direct play is underrated. Don’t tell Jonathan Wilson I said that.
Updated
Goal! Young Boys 1-0 Red Star (own goal 8)
A corner kick sails across, it’s shot in at close range, and it pings off a couple of Red Star defenders like the Price is Right Plinko game before bouncing across the line.
Goal! Milan 0-1 Dortmund (Reus 10)
Maybe against the run of play a bit, but neither of these calls has been controversial.
And Milan have dropped to the bottom of the group …
Updated
Penalty!
Can you believe it? One penalty each way in the first 10 minutes. Calabria, the Milan defender, is late in his challenge on Bynoe-Gittens, and Dortmund captain Reus will go to the spot …
… and it’s perfectly drilled into the back corner.
All hail Gregor Kobel. Not only did Dortmund’s Swiss keeper guess correctly, he emphatically pounded Giroud’s shot away. It’s a textbook penalty save.
Penalty!
Chukwuese launches a shot from the edge of the penalty area, and Dortmund defender Schlotterbeck has his back to the ball. He also has his arm splayed out, and the ball hits that arm. Up steps Giroud …
and it’s saved!
Updated
The first big chance of the night appears to have gone to Red Star, taking advantage of a Young Boys giveaway. Well saved, though.
Not much has happened in Milan as yet.
As I say that, Milan move forward and manage a cross that just misses two attackers.
Peep! We’re underway in Milan and presumably in other cities as well.
It’s a balmy 7 degrees in Milan.
Lineups
For the two games we’re following most closely here …
Milan vs. Dortmund
Milan: Maignan; Hernandez, Tomori, Thiaw, Calabria (c); Reijnders, Adli, Loftus-Cheek; Pulisic, Giroud, Chukwueze. Subs: Nava, Mirante, Jovic, Pobega, Krunic, Florenzi, Traore, Bartesaghi. Suspended: Musah
Dortmund: Kobel; Bensebaini, Schlotterbeck, Hummels, Ryerson; Sabitzer, Reus, Emre Can (c); Bynoe-Gittens, Fullkrug, Malen. Subs: Meyer, Lotka, Salih Ozcan, Reyna, Haller, Wolf, Moukoko, Brandt, Adeyemi, Blank
Manchester City vs. Leipzig
Manchester City: Ortega; Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Akanji, Walker (c); Rodri, Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Lewis, Foden; Haaland. Subs: Ederson, Carson, Phillips, Stones, Ake, Doku, Alvarez, Sergio Gomez, Bobb
Leipzig: Blaswich; Raum, Lukeba, Simakan, Klostermann; X. Schlager, Haidara, Seiwald; Forsberg (c), Openda, Simons. Subs: Gulacsi, Lenz, Poulsen, Baumgartner, Carvalho, Sesko, Henrichs, Kampl
Uefa says the weather in Manchester is “damp” and 3 degrees Celsius. Yikes.
Full time scores
Lazio 2-0 Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Royal Antwerp
Lazio left it a little late, with Immobile goals in the 82nd and 85th minutes.
Shakhtar, playing on their temporary home ground of Hamburg due to the war in Ukraine, survived a late push from the Belgian side. People from Antwerp are accosting the referee, who has brandished a red card. Sorry to hear some people might miss their last chance to get a point.
Updated
Peter Littley is watching one of the early games, and he isn’t happy: “Watching the Lazio/Celtics game. Now I understand the utter crap that is Scottish football. How Yang gets to play in any team is an utter mystery. Brendan Rogers has certainly settled for the easy life north of the border.”
The manager’s name is normally spelled “Rodgers,” but Celtic has no “d.”
Standings and scenarios
Group E
8 Atletico Madrid
7 Lazio
6 Feyenoord
1 Celtic
And … Lazio just scored. That would leave Celtic languishing in fourth place, qualifying for nothing. Feyenoord would have a terrific opportunity to advance if they can win at home against Atletico, given that they will finish this group in Scotland … oh, Lazio just scored again.
Group F
7 Borussia Dortmund
6 Paris St. Germain
5 AC Milan
4 Newcastle
So this group will either be settled today or be a royal mess.
Group G
12 Manchester City
9 Leipzig
1 Red Star Belgrade
1 Young Boys
The Belgrade side can move into the Europa League with a win in Switzerland. Or not.
Group H
9 Barcelona
9 Porto
6 Shakhtar Donetsk
0 Antwerp
Shakhtar lead Antwerp 1-0 late in that one, adding to the chances of having Champions League knockout games to inspire war-torn Ukraine. This afternoon, the action shifts to the all-Iberian clash in Barcelona.
Thanks for doing the math, Uefa.
The other game in Milan and Dortmund’s group: Open another tab in your favorite browser and please join Barry Glendenning as he watches Newcastle play PSG.
Updated
Hello everyone, and welcome to the ever-exciting Matchday 5 in the Champions League. Teams will clinch berths in the round of 16. Teams will be eliminated. Teams will muddle through to inconclusive results.
And if you’re worried about the space/time continuum and quantum singularities that can rip the fabric of the universe, turn your eyes away from the Large Hadron Collider across the Alps to Milan, where two massive names in US soccer will collide. Christian Pulisic starts for AC Milan. Gio Reyna is on the bench for Borussia Dortmund. (Yunus Musah is unavailable for Milan.)
Those teams are also in a group that is still very much up for grabs. After four games, Dortmund lead with seven points despite scoring on only three goals. Then it’s PSG with six and Milan with five, having scored only twice thus far. Newcastle has four points and isn’t out of it.
Speaking of English teams, we will keep an eye on Manchester City. They’ve already qualified for the next round but can win the group if they avoid losing to RB Leipzig today. Unlike Dortmund and Milan, those teams score the occasional goal.
Preamble
Some pre-match reading for you …
Beau will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how Newcastle are gearing up for their match against PSG:
Eddie Howe has acknowledged that Newcastle have reached a “defining moment” in their Champions League campaign and they will need to “play on the edge” at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
Much has changed since Newcastle swatted a visibly stunned PSG aside 4-1 at St James’ Park in October, most notably the injury crisis which has left 12 senior players in treatment rooms on Tyneside rather than preparing for combat at the Parc des Princes. Two subsequent European defeats against Borussia Dortmund have left Newcastle bottom of Group F and aware that defeat in Paris will mean elimination from the competition’s group stages.
Yet, as Chelsea discovered when they endured a 4-1 loss of their own at Newcastle last Saturday, Howe’s players remain dangerous and never more so than when their adrenaline levels spike.
“We need to play on the edge,” said Howe, who knows a third-place finish next month would lead to his side being admitted to the knockout rounds of the Europa League. “Every team is at their best when they have that different emotion running through them. We need every ounce of motivation and energy to get a result here.
“But this is a defining moment in our campaign and we are going to give it everything. We are going to need to be as good as we know we can be. We are not in the position we want to be but this is a huge moment in our season. The motivation couldn’t be bigger. It’s imperative we don’t lose. Fear of failure is a major motivation in my career, losing doesn’t sit comfortably with me and that applies to this match.”
You can read the full story here:
