CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS 10/27/2022
AJAX 0-3 LIVERPOOL (M.SALAH 42′,DARWIN NUNEZ 49′,ELLIOTT 52′)
TOTTENHAM 1-1 SPORTING LISBON (RODRIGO BENTANCUR 80′)(MARCUS EDWARDS 22′)
BARCELONA 0-3 BAYERN MUNICH (S.MANE 10′,CHOUPO MOTING 31′,PAVARD 90+5)
ATLETICO MADRID 2-2 LEVERKUSEN(CARRASCO 22′,DE PAUL 50′)(MOSSA DIABY 9′,ODOI
29′)
CLUB BRUGGE 0-4 PORTO (TAREMI 33′,70′,EVANILSON 57′,ESTOQUIO 60′).
NAPOLI 3-0 RANGERS (GIOVANNI SIMEONE 11′,16′,OSTOGARD 80′)
WITH ONE MATCHDAY STILL TO GO IN THE GROUP STAGE, 12 TEAMS HAVE NOW SEALED
THEIR SPOT IN THE 2022/23 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT STAGE. INTER MILAN,
LIVERPOOL AND PORTO ALL QUALIFIED FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PHASE OF 16’S
YESTERDAY.
EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES 10/27/2022
MAN UNITED VS SHERRIFF 2200HRS
PSV VS ARSENAL 1945HRS
ARSENAL LEADS GROUP A WITH 12 POINTS RESULTING FROM THEIR 5 MATCHES PLAYED.
IN GROUP E SOCIEDAD LEADS WITH 12 POINTS. MANCHESTER UNITED HOLDS THE SECOND
POSITION WITH 9 POINTS AFTER PLAYING THEIR 4 EUROPA MATCHES.
BARCELONA’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE EXIT AFTER LOSS TO
BAYERN MUNICH PUTS FOCUS ON LALIGA, EUROPA CHASE
Bayern Munich defeated Barcelona 3-0 on Wednesday night at the Camp Nou to win the group and
move on to the round of 16 of the Champions League. Internazionale’s 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen in
the early window on Monday ensured that Xavi Hernandez’s team had no chance of advancing to the
knockout phase for the second year in a row.
Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo Moting scored goals in the first half. With one game remaining and
a late header from Benjamin Pavard helped Bayern secure first place in Group C with 15 points, while
Inter Milan took second. No matter what happens on the last matchday, Barcelona will finish third and
advance to the Europa League.
“The team was affected by the elimination. But it’s not an excuse, we just didn’t compete. It is a tough
blow, but we have to keep believing in this team. There are still titles to play for. “We weren’t at [Bayern’s]
level tonight, they were better. Simple as that. The elimation affected us psychologically. Now we have to
keep going and think about the league. (XAVI HERNANDEZ-BARCELONA’S HEAD COACH).
Barcelona knew their chances of winning the Champions League were finished after Inter Milan defeated
Viktoria Plzen earlier on Wednesday, and they occasionally behaved like a side in mourning against
Bayern. Even though Xavi Hernandez insisted prior to the game that this was an opportunity for
Barcelona to demonstrate their ability to compete on the largest platform, they once again fell short
against one of Europe’s finest teams, as was the case in their most recent Clasico loss to Real Madrid.
The Catalan club’s performance on Wednesday is yet another setback and could wind up costing more
than it did last year because the team embarked on a spending binge in the summer to strengthen their
squad in the hopes of recouping some of that money with a strong performance in European play.
“Everything has happened to us in this competition. It has been very cruel to us, and tonight we didn’t
play well.I want to thank the fans for their unconditional support. They have shown that since I’ve been
here, supporting until the end. It’s a shame we couldn’t do it on the pitch. Bayern were much better. It’s
our reality. We have to move on from the Champions League and face the reality.”
“We have to be united, face the situation. There are more competitions. I don’t see it as a failure, I prefer
to call it a tough blow. People will call it a failure and I understand but we’ve been through everything in
this group. A lot of it has been our own mistakes, our lack of effectiveness. It was too late tonight. It’s a
cruel way to say farewell, we leave with bad feelings.”(XAVI HERNANDEZ-BARCELONA’S HEAD
COACH).
Barca will and has already lamented missed opportunities in Munich, officials’ choices in Milan, and
individual gaffes in the 3-3 draw against Inter, but the truth is that they haven’t been strong enough in any
of their five Champions League games this year. That is reflected in the fact that they only have four
points.
As they did against Bayern, you cannot defend. Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting finding the
net so quickly will have infuriated Xavi. It appeared that Bayern could have increased its speed a bit
further as well. A third goal was only prevented before halftime by a last-second block by Hector Bellerin
and a superb save by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The architect of all three goals, Serge Gnabry, first had
one disallowed for offside before setting up a stoppage-time score for an unmarked Benjamin Pavard.
Sven Ulreich, the Bayern substitute goalkeeper, was never really put to the test by Barca despite all of
their passing and huffing and puffing. The closest they got to scoring was an overturned penalty awarded
for a Matthijs de Ligt foul on Robert Lewandowski, who had to endure another trying night playing
against the team he left for €45 million in the summer.
In order to advance to the Champions League’s later rounds, Barca sold club assets in the summer and
used the proceeds to make roughly €150 million in team investments. How do they regroup now that that
is no longer feasible?
LaLiga will suddenly take center stage. Despite the loss to Madrid, they have had a strong start to the
season and are only three points behind the leaders after 11 games and just one loss. Lewandowski, the
league’s leading scorer, and an up-and-coming group of youthful talent, led by Pedri and Gavi, should
allow them to keep Carlo Ancelotti’s team in check.
The supporters do appear to have some patience. It helps that club legend Xavi is leading the initiative,
and this season’s average Camp Nou attendance of over 80,000 people demonstrates that there is a
link. There were 84,016 people there to watch Bayern lose, and those who stuck around kept joining up.
Bayern Munich has one game left and might go unbeaten in a Champions League group that also
includes Inter Milan and Barcelona. One of the markers for the direction Xavi wants to take his Barcelona
team is Bayern. Additionally, they are the team Barca must be sickest of playing. They have now
defeated the Catalans six times in a row, a streak that dates back to 2015 and includes victories of 8-2
and three 3-0, and their 11th triumph in 15 matches.
“We had a lot of expectations. We knew the group was complicated, but a lot of things happened to us
and tonight we didn’t compete. We weren’t at their level. We were better in Munich and this time they
were better than us. We have to react.”(XAVI HERNANDEZ-BARCELONA’S HEAD COACH).
They gave a really polished effort at Camp Nou. As they wrapped up first place ahead of their final match
at home against Inter, where they will try to make it six wins from six from what some referred to as the
competition’s roughest group, they still played as if there were something riding on the game.
The fact that they were missing Leroy Sane, Lucas Hernandez, and Manuel Neuer due to injury, and that
Thomas Muller was only considered fit for a cameo in the second half, made their victory all the more
impressive. Even though Union Berlin is currently preventing them off the top of the Bundesliga, they still
remain one of the teams to be feared in Europe because to players like Mane, Gnabry, and Jamal
Musiala.
By Brian Simiyu
