Day 4 of the tournament began with Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus losing shockingly 2-0 to Maccabi Haifa as a result of a brace from Omer Atzili. It’s a historic win for Israel, and it’s a humiliating defeat for Juventus, who only managed one shot on goal in the first half and didn’t put up much of a fight after Allegri made his halfway substitutions. With two games remaining, the Italian team has three points and needs victories over PSG and Benfica as well as support from other teams to go to the knockout stages. Juventus will require a lot of assistance going ahead.
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.
“It’s hard for me to say no to that as I’ve been in football long enough to try to predict results. The quicker you can begin to trust players and understand them better, then that is for the better. Our job is to try to help the players enjoy their football because there is pressure and they want to win.”-GRAHAM POTTER..CHELSEA’S HEAD COACH.
“We haven’t done anything special with him, it’s all down to him. He’s been building his fitness up. He had a difficult summer but the stronger he gets and the more we understand him and he understands us, the better he will be.”POTTER’S REMARKS ON MASON MOUNT’S PERFOMANCE.
Manchester City drew 0-0 away to Copenhagen, but they still advanced to the final round of the Champions League. In a game where they still ought to have had enough firepower to win, Pep Guardiola left Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland on the bench despite having points to work with in the group. Due to a handball by Riyad Mahrez, a Rodri rocket was disallowed by a VAR review. Riyad Mahrez then had an opportunity to make amends from the penalty spot. He made a hesitant run up and drove his penalty low to the right, directly into Kamil Grabara’s palms for Copenhagen. As soon as Sergio Gomez received a red card, City’s problems grew worse. Because of a 1-1 tie, City was able to qualify nevertheless.
Timo Werner’s goal and an assist allowed RB Leipzig to defeat Celtic and continue their Champions League struggles. Celtic, who are now without a point in the competition and are stuck at the bottom of Group F, have lost two straight games to RB Leipzig. But the German team’s victories have allowed them to surpass Shakhtar Donetsk and move up to second in the group before the two teams’ Champions League group-stage matchup.
Making the lockout stages of the Champions League might provide a springboard for success in what has been a frustrating season. The Bundesliga has been a roller coaster this season since Marco Rose took over as their coach, with the club currently in 11th place.
Timo Werner’s goal and an assist allowed RB Leipzig to defeat Celtic and continue their Champions League struggles. Celtic, who are now without a point in the competition and are stuck at the bottom of Group F, have lost two straight games to RB Leipzig. But the German team’s victories have allowed them to surpass Shakhtar Donetsk and move up to second in the group before the two teams’ Champions League group-stage matchup.
By Brian Simiyu
