ABU DHABI, 14 September / WAM / The percentage of goals decreased, but the enthusiasm and records remained in the first day of the second round of the group stage matches of the European Football Championship.
Yesterday the activities of the first half of this round took place, with 16 goals in the groups from the first to the fourth, at the rate of 2.3 goals per game, against 3.25 goals per game in the first round matches of the same groups.
Despite the drop in goals, the enthusiasm remained, especially in light of the high percentage of goals at the last minute: yesterday’s games saw 6 goals arrived after the 80th minute, including 5 after the 85th minute. minute of these races.
11 of the 16 goals scored in yesterday’s games came in the second half.
Bayern Munich’s match against Barcelona in the third round attracted most of the attention, and the two teams played a very exciting match, during which they shared performances.The first half saw clear control of Barcelona, While the second half was for Bayern, who set match points in their favor, with two consecutive goals, taking advantage of Barcelona’s clear defensive errors.
The match highlighted the problems faced by the two teams, such as defense and the inability to bear the pressure was evident in Barcelona after the team did not react after the first goal conceded this summer by Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Barcelona suffered the misfortune of Polish striker Robert Lewandowski in his first match against his former team Bayern, where he missed two dangerous chances in the first half, his shot went over the crossbar and then the goalkeeper. Bayern’s Manuel Neuer parried a strong header from his former teammate.
In addition to the three points Bayern scored in the match, the team equaled an important record set by Real Madrid; Dove maintained his unbeaten record in 30 consecutive matches in the Champions League group stage. Real Madrid hit this number between 2012 and 2017.
Yesterday Leroy Sane also scored a goal for Bayern, to be the fourth consecutive game this player has scored in the group stage of the tournament.
In the other match of the group, Inter found their balance after defeating Bayern in the first round and beat Viktoria Plzen, the Czech Republic 2-0, becoming the first Italian team to beat Plzen at home.
Eden Dzeko’s goal in this match was the ninth against Plzen at the European Championships.
In addition to this group, the enthusiasm was also present at the “Anfield” stadium, where Liverpool also found their balance after the heavy 1-4 defeat against Napoli in the first leg and yesterday won a hard-fought victory, in what came at the expense of Dutch Ajax 2-1 thanks to a goal scored by Joel Matip in the penultimate minute of the match.
Liverpool scored their first win in the first group.
Liverpool’s first goal came in yesterday’s match, signed by Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, the player’s ninth goal in the last 9 games played in the Champions League group stage.
In Group B, Club Brugge cemented their good start and secured their second consecutive win with a 4-0 win over host Porto, becoming the first Belgian team to win their first two group stage matches in a season of Champions League.
The other group match was the height of excitement as Bayer Leverkusen scored two goals in a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the 84th and 87th minutes.
But the two most delayed goals in this round’s matches were in Group D, which saw Tottenham’s negative record in European league away games continue, losing 0-2 to host Sporting Lisbon and failing to win the sixth game. consecutive away from home at the European Championships. The two goals came in the 90th and third minute of injury time of the match.
In the same group, however, Eintracht Frankfurt beat host Marseille 1-0, becoming the seventh consecutive game in which Eintracht maintains the record of unbeaten away from home at the European Championships, knowing that they have obtained 6 wins in these seven games.
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