Botias leaves Spain camp due to knee

Paris Saint-Germain of France and Milan of Italy are setting their sights on the goal of getting out of the “Group of Death” alive when they confront Newcastle of England and Dortmund of Germany in two separate matches towards reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Barcelona of Spain hopes to secure its qualification by confronting… Portuguese Porto after complicating its mission with its first continental loss of the season in the previous round.

6 clubs reserved their tickets until the final 16; They are: Bayern Munich of Germany (Group One), Real Madrid of Spain (Third), Inter of Italy and Real Sociedad of Spain (Fourth), defending champion Manchester City of England, and Leipzig of Germany (Seventh).

Attention will be on the matches in Group F, as there is only a two-point difference between third-place Milan and leaders Dortmund (7 to 5), while Saint-Germain occupies second place, two points behind Newcastle, last (6 to 4).

The match between Newcastle and Saint-Germain at the “Parc des Princes” stadium in the fifth and penultimate round of the group will be revenge for the French champion, who suffered a heavy loss at his English counterpart’s stadium in the first leg (1 – 4) in the second round, but there is a difference between the first leg and the decisive match on Tuesday.

In the second round, Newcastle was ecstatic about its precious goalless draw against its host, the ancient Italian Milan, in its first match in the prestigious continental competition in 20 years, while it enters the fifth round in last place in the group with 4 points, after two losses to the German Dortmund (0 – 1). And 0 – 2), and therefore he must avoid loss to maintain his hopes of reaching the final price.

The victory over the French champions in Newcastle’s first home match in the Champions League in two decades was a declaration of intent from an upcoming force in European football, as the team supported by the Saudi Investment Company aims to follow in the footsteps of the UAE-backed Manchester City, which… He has dominated English football and won his first European crown last season.

Qualification seemed within Newcastle’s reach under the leadership of coach Eddie Howe after a strong start and collecting 4 points from the first two matches, but things have turned around since then for the English team, as it was greatly affected by the injuries that struck its ranks, and then came the shock of the suspension of its Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali (the club’s most prominent signings during the period). Summer) for 10 months due to being accused of illegal sports betting during his time with his former team Milan.

There is doubt about the participation of Dutch defensemen Sven Botman and Dan Byrne, striker Callum Wilson, and midfielders Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff for the match against Saint-Germain. Howe told reporters after the victory over Chelsea locally on Saturday: “Look at the absent players, and you will find that this victory is wonderful thanks to the players.” We are ready.”

However, Howe’s source of concern is the fatigue that his team is suffering from before facing the French champions, who are seeking, led by top scorer Kylian Mbappe, to seek revenge and book their ticket to the last 16. “We have to win our last two games,” Howe said. “We accept (the situation) and we have to look to the future now.”

On the other hand, Saint-Germain is seeking revenge against Newcastle, as a new loss will leave the men of Spanish coach Luis Enrique in a fierce struggle for the qualification ticket in the final sixth round.

Enrique (53 years old) said after his team lost to Milan 1-2 in the last round: “The four teams have their fate in their hands. “There are still two games left and we can still advance.”

Paris suffered two defeats in its last 3 group stage matches this season, which is the same number of defeats it suffered in its previous 18 matches in this round.

In the second match, Milan realizes that victory at its home stadium, San Siro, will put it in a good position to qualify for the final 16 for the second season in a row, but its competitor Dortmund also has the chance to win if it wins.

Milan, the seven-time European champion, is counting on its veteran French striker Olivier Giroud (37 years old), who has emerged as a man of “big occasions” since joining the ancient Italian team two years ago.

Giroud scored 8 goals this season and revived his team’s hopes of reaching the final 16, thanks to his only goal so far in the main continental competition, from a header that scored against Saint-Germain in the 2-1 victory in the last stage.

Giroud hopes to continue in the club’s shirt after the successes he achieved in Milan by winning the league title in 2022 and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

The former English Arsenal striker said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche: “I would like to stay. “My contract expires next summer, but I have not spoken to the club about this.”

He continued: “I want to continue, and I believe I have what it takes to do so.” “I can still be useful to the team… Coming here was a blessing for me.”

Milan is missing its Portuguese star, Rafael Leao, due to a hamstring injury, which puts Giroud in front of the burden of leading the attack in a match that could determine the team’s season.

On the other hand, Dortmund presents a positive image on the continent, while its results fluctuate locally. It occupies fourth place with 24 points, 10 points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Dortmund ended a series of 3 matches during which it did not taste victory, overturning a two-goal deficit against Borussia Mönchengladbach to a 4-2 victory last Saturday.

While the team only conceded two goals in 4 matches in the Champions League, this success is not reflected in the league. The average goals conceded was 1.5 per match. Dortmund coach Edin Terzic (41 years old) is being subjected to harsh criticism calling for his departure, so he can silence the hateful tongues if he succeeds in ensuring qualification to the second round from Milan.

The club’s CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, said: “We are in first place in the Champions League group, which cannot be overestimated. “The group is fragile, and anything can happen.”

He added: “We have a chance to qualify early if we win in Milan. I wouldn’t have dared to dream of it at the time the draw was made. this is the truth”.

The first leg between Dortmund ended; Which was crowned European champion 26 years ago, and Milan to a goalless draw last October, and if the result is repeated or suffered a loss, the German team will have to win against Saint-Germain in its home in December in order to qualify.

Dortmund will miss the efforts of its defender Niklas Süle against Milan due to an illness, joining Marcel Sabitzer, Felix Nmecha and Julien Duranville, who are absent due to various injuries, but striker Sebastien Haller and winger Karim Adeyemi, who missed the match against Mönchengladbach, have joined the team squad heading to Italy.

In Group Five, Spain’s Atletico Madrid, the leader with 8 points, can join the qualifying clubs if it wins over its host Feyenoord, second in the Netherlands (6 points), and Lazio, second with 7 points, will have a chance to qualify if it wins over its Scottish guest, Celtic. Bottom of the standings with one point, but provided Feyenoord loses.

Atletico took advantage of Feyenoord’s loss to Lazio 1-3 in the last stage and its crushing victory over Celtic 6-0 to rise to first place, and its brilliant French striker Antoine Griezmann announced his team’s determination not to give up the lead, saying: “The most important thing is to qualify, but we want to do so.” That’s by holding on to first place. “We have a tough game in Holland, so we have to keep showing what we can do.”

In Group Seven, which is led by Manchester City with a full score (12 points), the English team, which is continuing to successfully defend its title, seeks to resolve the struggle for first place when it hosts its runner-up, German Leipzig (9), who in turn advanced to the next round.

Within the same group, Young Boys of Switzerland will meet with Red Star Belgrade of Serbia to compete for third place, which guarantees its holder a transfer to the Europa League competition.

The conflict intensifies in the eighth group after it seemed that the Spanish Barcelona was easily going to reach the final 16 by winning its first three matches, but its loss to the Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 in the last stage complicated its mission to level with its runner-up Porto, the Portuguese, who won over the Belgian Antwerp 2-0, before Their fiery confrontation in Catalonia.

Shakhtar’s task, third with 6 points, seems easy on paper when the bottom team hosts Antwerp, which has suffered four consecutive defeats and has no points.