Red Bull Salzburg 1, Chelsea 2
Sevilla 3, FC Copenhagen 0
Paris Saint-Germain 7, Maccabi Haifa 2
Borussia Dortmund 0, Manchester City 0
Dinamo Zagreb 0, AC Milan 4
Benfica 4, Juventus 3
Celtic 1, Shakhtar Donetsk 1
RB Leipzig 3, Real Madrid 2
Chelsea maintains its form.
In nine games under Graham Potter, the Blues have six wins and three draws in all competitions as
everything he touches results in a goal. Even in this game, where he played both Raheem Sterling and
Pulisic as wing-backs, it worked to his advantage. Pulisic did a wonderful job of keeping the ball under
pressure before setting up Havertz for the game-winning goal, and Serling had plenty of chances while
dribbling inside. Mateo Kovacic’s goal, though, was the star of the show.
When the ball found him, he knew what to do with it since he switched from tying his boot to hanging
around near the box. It is questionable why the defense of RB Salzburg caught wind of his run so late,
but it took quite a finish to get the ball rolling.
Potters remarks:
“ It’s not easy to win here as you can see from the record they have and the quality of the team. We had
to play well and I thought we did. We created some good chances in the first half and were unlucky not to
go more than 1-0 up.”
“Then one action, with the quality at this level, and it’s 1-1. I thought out response was really good then
so I am delighted to go through, delighted with the performance of the players: I thought they were
fantastic tonight.”
“To go through with a game to spare is brilliant considering where we started the competition.”
Mahrez wastes a golden chance
Manchester City had a great chance to win the game from the penalty spot in the 57th minute when
Mahrez took a penalty. However, Erling Haaland was hooked at the half after having an uncommonly
human day. However, Gegor Kobel made the correct guess to keep the low penalty out of the goal, so it
wasn’t a fantastic take.
Mahrez has struggled to score from open play, with only two goals and one assist in all competitions, and
he has only converted one of his three Champions League penalties this season. It’s possible that we
are seeing the start of Mahrez’s slide because, on the field, the 31-year-old has been more of a problem
than a help this year. Since Julian Alvarez is pleading for additional time, it’s critical to monitor the right-
wing perspective.
Juventus’ bad day despite McKennie’s hardwork Juventus’ eight-year streak of reaching at least the knockout stages of the Champions League was
broken by Benfica. While this has been expected because it reflects their Serie A troubles as well, the
triumph of Napoli, AC Milan, and Inter Milan at the same time does signal a shift in Italy’s power
structure. McKennie’s goal will be a plus for the American men’s national team because it was obtained
by taking advantage of opportunities.
Unstoppable PSG
With a win over Maccabi Haifa at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain easily advanced into the
Champions League group stages.
The superstar attackers for the host team, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, cranked on the
flair and then some.
Fans setting off flares and other pyrotechnics in the stands early in the game caused a delay, and when
play resumed, PSG set off the fireworks on the field.
Has Mbappe’s happiness increased as PSG’s front three has become more fluid? The answer might be
yes if his performance against Maccabi Haifa is anything to go by. PSG had not scored seven goals in a
Champions League game since their 7-1 victory over Celtic in 2017. This was the third time they have
done so.
While Neymar scored and caused an own goal, Messi and Mbappe each had four goals and four assists.
After allowing Abdoulaye Seck to score twice, the defense will need to explain itself, although Maccabi
Haifa has a strong track record of staying in games.
