Champions League round-up: King Leo begins his Messi-less Reign

Published on: September 29, 2021 (Updated on: April 22, 2024)

2021 Champions League Round-up

King Leo Begins His Messi-less Reign In Paris As Manchester City Becomes His First Casualty

Lionel Messi might have taken his time in registering his first goal for PSG but when it finally came, it was a beautiful goal that reminisced of his Barcelona self with a darting run towards Manchester City defence before exchanging a quick one-two with Mbappe and striking the ball beyond a static Ederson.

Manchester City started the game well as they had the majority of possession and tested PSG defence time and again as they tried to find an opening but it was the Parisiens that struck first against the run of play with the lively Mbappe being released to the byline through a pass by Hakimi.

His cutback went across the face of goal towards Neymar and Gana, while Neymar fluff his shot from 12 yards, the defensive midfielder made no mistake as he rifled home into the top corner.

The goal woke Man city up and they played with greater urgency and were nearly rewarded with a goal as Sterling headed a cross from De Bruyne against the woodwork, the rebound fell nicely to Bernado Silva in front of an open goal.

Though it seemed easier to score and harder to miss, Bernado Silva chose the harder option and tapped the ball against the woodwork before it bounced away to safety leaving Pep Guardiola in disbelief.

Manchester City started the second half aggressively as they tried to find a way back into the game but they found Donnarumma who started in post ahead of Navas for his champions league debut in inspired form as he repelled everything City threw against him.

Just when it seemed Man city would be repaid for their effort, Lionel Messi stepped up as the ex barcelona superstar went on a solo run through the midfield towards PSG defence, played a nice interchange with Mbappe which got the ball to Messi's favoured left foot and the former world footballer of the year rifled an unstoppable shot into City's Net which leaves PSG fans at Parc des Princes rejoicing at full time.

Liverpool Rout Porto As Mane, Salah and Firmino Dazzle

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Liverpool made it two wins out of two matches as they recorded an emphatic 5-1 win over Porto. Liverpool has always had fond memories of Estadio do Dragao since they won 5-0 in the 2017/18 season and 4-1 in the 2018/19 season.

They continued in the same run tonight as they benefited from two errors from Porto's Goalkeeper which enabled them to run riot. Salah gave them a taste of what to come with a simple tap in with Mane also scoring with a tap in on the stroke of halftime after Porto's Keeper Diogo Costa allowed a ball run across the face of goal.

Despite being down at 2-0 at halftime, Porto fails to heed the warning as Liverpool was afforded enough time and space on the ball, Curtis Jones won a tackle in Midfield before driving into Porto defence where he found Salah with a beautiful pass at the back post and the winger got an easy finish for his second goal for the night.

Porto had a glimmer of hope when Teremi headed home from a Viera's Cross but it was short-lived as Firmino who did not start the game and was brought on in the 73 mins got in on to the party after some great work by Jones who spotted the forward's run with a chipped over the top ball.

With Porto Goalkeeper racing out to meet the forward, he placed the ball beyond the keeper who could not race back in time to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. Four minutes later, Firmino got his second of the game albeit with a little wait for confirmation from VAR checking for a potential handball to leave Liverpool rejoicing their deserved Victory.

Madrid Suffers Greatest Upset In Champions League History As Sheriff Stuns Them At Bernabeu

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You would be forgiven if you claim to not have heard of Sheriff Tiraspol before but not after tonight as the minnows from Moldova whose football club was formed in 1997 shocked the whole footballing world as they pulled off a shock 2-1 win over the 13-time European champions Madrid right at the Bernabeu. It was their first-ever Champions League away victory and they got it at the expense of Carlo Ancelotti's Los Blancos

Recalled back into the starting lineups is Eden Hazard and Fede Valverde as they are expected to help lead Madrid into a comfortable Victory. But if that is the Script, then it obvious Sheriff never get the memo as Jasurbek Yakhshiboev scored the first-half Header to give Sheriff the lead.

Despite having 13 shots in the opening 45 minutes, it was Sheriff who went into halftime with the lead as Madrid could find no way past Georgios Athanasia. It took a penalty converted by Karim Benzema after Vinicius Jr was tripped inside the box to help Madrid level at 1-1 just past the hour mark.

When Madrid thought they would go on to win the match, Sebastien Thill had other ideas as he let off a half volley in the 89th mins from the edge of the box past Thibaut Courtois into the top corner to give a fairy tale ending that sent the fans on the away end into a rapturous cheer.

In the earlier kickoff, Steven Berghuis and Sebastien Haller got the goals as Ajax defeated Besiktas 2-0 at the Johan Cruyff Arena, While Shaktar played a 0-0 draw with Inter Milan.

Luis Suarez scored an extra-time penalty with the last kick of the game to give Atletico a comeback win against Ac Milan who has taken the lead in the 20 mins through Rafael Leao before Frank Kessie was given the marching orders in the 29 mins for a second bookable offence by referee Cuneyt Cakir for a foul on Marcos Llorente.

Kessie had already been cautioned in the 15th minute for a foul on the same player. Antoine Griezmann restored parity in the 84th mins and at the final moment, Pierre Kalulu was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the penalty area and Suarez stepped up to convert the ensuing penalty.

Malen finally scored his first goal for Dortmund after ten games as Borussia Dortmund beat Sporting 1-0 to maintain their 100% record in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Christopher Nkunku scored the only goal for Leipzig but then, that was not enough as Club Brugge came from behind to win 2-1 to move on to four points following their draw against PSG in their first game.

Champions League Results

Ajax 2-0 Besiktas

Shaktar 0-0 Inter

Paris SG 2-0 Man City

R Madrid 1- 2 Sheriff Trasp

Ac Milan 1- 2 Atletico

Leipzig 1- 2 Brugge

Porto 1- 5 Liverpool

Dortmund 1-0 Sporting

Author:

dee-y