European Champions: Barcelona, Dortmund and Lazio for the final, and Paris Saint-Germain postpones its fate in the group of death
Barcelona, the Spanish club, Borussia Dortmund, the German club, Lazio, the Italian club, and Atletico Madrid, the Spanish club, qualified for the 16th round of the Champions League in football, with their victories on Tuesday in the fifth and penultimate round, where Barcelona beat its guest, Porto, Portugal, 2-1, and the German club, Borussia Dortmund, over its host, Milan, Italy. 3-1, the Italian Lazio defeated its Scottish guest Celtic 2-0, and the Spanish Atletico Madrid defeated its Dutch host Feyenoord 3-1. Meanwhile, French Paris Saint-Germain failed to secure its qualification, falling into the trap of a 1-1 draw with English club Newcastle.
Barcelona of Spain, Borussia Dortmund of Germany, Lazio of Italy and Atlético Madrid of Spain joined the ranks of the semi-finalists of the European Champions League football competition with their victories on Tuesday in the fifth and penultimate round.
Barcelona won over its Portuguese guest Porto 2-1, the German Borussia Dortmund over its Italian host Milan 3-1, the Italian Lazio over its Scottish guest Celtic 2-0, and the Spanish Atletico Madrid over its Dutch host Feyenoord 3-1.
The number of teams qualifying for the eighth final rose to 10, namely Bayern Munich of Germany (first group), Real Madrid of Spain (third), Inter Milan of Italy, Real Sociedad of Spain (fourth), Atletico Madrid and Lazio (fifth), Borussia Dortmund (sixth), Manchester City of England, the defending champion, and Leipzig. Germany (seventh) and Barcelona (eighth).
Paris Saint-Germain awaits the final round in the Group of Death
When the organizers drew the draw for the Champions League, it seemed clear that the sixth group would be difficult to determine the winner, and this has already been achieved, as Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United, and Milan still have chances of qualifying.
Borussia Dortmund reached the final price with a remarkable victory over Milan 3-1 away from home, while Paris Saint-Germain of France failed to secure the second ticket by falling into the trap of a 1-1 draw with Newcastle of England in Paris in the sixth group competitions.
Dortmund raised its score to 10 points at the top of the group, compared to 7 for Paris Saint-Germain, 6 for Newcastle, and 5 for Milan.
In the final round, Paris Saint-Germain will host Dortmund, while Newcastle will host Milan.
At the Parc des Princes stadium, Paris Saint-Germain failed to avenge its heavy loss to Newcastle in the first leg 1-4, and snatched a difficult 1-1 draw thanks to a penalty kick converted by its star Kylian Mbappe in the last minute of stoppage time, after the English team had advanced by Swedish striker Alexander Isak (24).
Kylian Mbappe successfully scored the penalty kick to get a point that left Paris Saint-Germain in second place with seven points, three points behind already qualified Borussia Dortmund, which they will face in their final group match.
Paris Saint-Germain, which has reached at least the round of 16 in the past 11 seasons, knows that only a victory in Dortmund will guarantee qualification to the round of 16, which confirms the difficulty of this group, as the French team may lose and still qualify.
Newcastle must beat seven-time European champions Milan in their last match, with Paris Saint-Germain without a victory, if they want to finish second, while Milan can also still reach the round of 16 if they win at St James' Park.
Luis Enrique, whose team lost 4-1 away to Newcastle, said: “The most important thing is to focus on ourselves. If we win, we will finish the group in first place, but even if we lose, we can qualify for the next stage.” “It is very complicated, but we must make things easy.” "We have to win against Dortmund."
Barcelona turns the tables on Porto
Barcelona turned the tables on its guest, Porto, when it came from a goal down to win 2-1 at the Luis Companis Olympic Stadium in Barcelona in the fifth and penultimate round of Group H matches.
Porto was the first to score through Brazilian striker Pepe (30), and Barcelona equalized through its Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo (32), before the latter's compatriot Joao Felix scored the winning goal (57).
Barcelona achieved the most important thing because it needed a win to secure its ticket, as it was alone at the top with 12 points, three points ahead of Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, which narrowly won over its guest, Antwerp, Belgium, 1-0, in Hamburg.
Porto will meet Shakhtar in the final sixth round in a fiery summit on the second card on December 13.
Atletico and Lazio get the job done
Both Lazio and Atletico Madrid accomplished the task successfully, with the first late victory over Celtic 2-0 and the second over host Feyenoord 3-1 in the fifth group competitions.
Atletico Madrid maintained its lead in the group with 11 points, one point behind Lazio, while Feyenoord has 6 points that ensure it completes its European League campaign, because Celtic’s balance remains at one point, and they no longer have any hope of occupying even third place, which qualifies them to continue. The journey in the European League (Europa League).
City secures lead
English champion Manchester City came back from afar, and snatched a valuable victory from its German guest Leipzig 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in the seventh group competitions.
Leipzig started scoring, specifically in the 13th minute, through its new Belgian striker, Luis Opinda, with a left-footed shot from inside the area, following a pass from Janis Blasvijk.
The same player added the second goal after 20 minutes, with a shot with his right following a pass from Dutchman Xavi Simons (33).
City turned the tables in the second half with two goals from its Norwegian international scorer Erling Haaland following a pass by Phil Foden (55), before the latter equalized 15 minutes later following a pass from Croatian international defender Bosco Gvardiol (70), then the Argentine international substitute Julián Alvarez scored the winning goal. Following a pass from Foden (87).
