Juve on the edge of the abyss
Outclassed by the quality of PSG’s stars (1-2) at the opening, the “Old Lady” was this time overwhelmed by the envy of Benfica. The Portuguese returned to a draw just before Joao Mario’s penalty interval (44th), after the opening of Arkadiusz Milik’s quick score (4th), then quite logically took over in the second half thanks to David Neres ( 55 °).
Juve, however, had immediately opened the scoring on Arkadiusz Milik’s header from a free kick by Leandro Paredes (4th), resulting in a dynamic start.
But the bianconeri have once again plunged into the vice of the “roller coaster”, regretted before the game by captain Leonardo Bonucci.
They failed to keep up the same pressure and left the Portuguese – twelve wins in twelve games since the start of the season – to become increasingly dangerous.
Mattia Perin, still in goal in the absence of Wojciech Szczesny, does not tremble on a header from Gonçalo Ramos (27th), then saves himself from a post by Rafa Silva (39th).
But Juve ended up cracking a penalty, suffered by Fabio Miretti, and transformed under the crossbar by Joao Mario (44th), a former Inter player who did not hesitate to salt the Turin fans by receiving a warning along the way.
Juve fell definitively at the start of the second half, on a goal signed by David Neres (55 °), after a confused action in an Italian defense beaten in the engagement.
Alexander Bah (60th), Rafa Silva (63rd) and then Neres (68th) were even on the verge of turning the evening into a free kick.
Juve, with the returning Di Maria (58 °) launched by Allegri, then finally reacted: Moise Kean finds the post (71 °), Dusan Vlahović’s goal canceled for offside (83 °) and Bremer misses the unmissable ( 86 °). But all this was too late, like a season that Juve hasn’t really started yet.
Manchester City overthrows Dortmund, Real ensures
Long in awe and after finding the post, Erling Haaland ended up defeating his former club Dortmund to deliver a heart-wrenching (2-1) win at Manchester City on Wednesday during the second day of the Champions League in the group G.
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It was long believed that the yellow and black anti-Haaland trap would work, but with six minutes to go the Norwegian flew six meters to acrobatically catapult the ball to the bottom of the net on a Joao Cancelo cross and score his 13th goal in 8 games. this season (2-1, 84th).
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He pulled his team out, once again, from a bad pass, after scoring a hat-trick against Crystal Palace (4-2), for example, while his team was down 2-0.
And Dortmund can start with regrets after taking a 1-0 lead and holding the former center forward for a long time.
Pep Guardiola, fifth coach to reach the bar of 150 games in C1, had been questioned before the game about the advantage he could represent for the Germans knowing well Erling Haaland, a Borussia player for two and a half years.
Back from the locker room, it was the Germans who got off to a good start under the pressure of Marco Reus who first narrowly missed the target (52nd) before sending a tight cross at the near post to Jude Bellingham, who surprised Ederson, who went away in its farthest place (0-1, 56 °).
Guardiola then released Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and Ilkay Gündogan, replaced by Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva – a planned change before the goal – and with Dortmund trying to keep their meager lead, the rest was a long exercise. attack-defense.
But City have not been unbeaten at home in the Champions League for almost four years and a visit from Lyon (1-2) for nothing.
It took up to the 80th minute and a 22-yard shot from John Stones left to see City return to 1-1 before the magic of Haaland took place.
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Two games, two goals: thanks to Fede Valverde, decisive at the end of the match, Real Madrid snatched a welcome 2-0 at home against Leipzig on Wednesday for the second day of the Champions League, a perfect shot before the derby against Atlético on Sunday in La Liga.
Karim Benzema is still injured, but Real has found a new hero to cuddle: Uruguayan Fede Valverde, already the author of a personal feat that set fire to the internet on Sunday against Mallorca in La Liga, once again delivered Real with a shot of the left at 80 °, before Marco Asensio seals the success of an uncrossed recovery on a free kick at 90 ° + 1.
Defeat is enough to infuriate the Germans: a week after the slap they received at home against Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1) at the start of the Champions League and four days after the convincing 3-0 win against Dortmund in the league, the Christopher Nkunku’s team-mates have long worried the European champions at home, at the Santiago-Bernabéu, before yielding to the final.
The best chances of the match also bear the seal of Nkunku: the French striker alerts Thibaut Courtois from the 5th minute, then deflects a judicious ball towards Timo Werner on the way back from the locker room (50th), which ends out of goal.
Nkunku also nearly opened the scoring in the 34th minute, but was a little too short to push Werner’s discount as he was rolling in front of the line.
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Cold and methodical, the Spanish and European champion faced his decisive week perfectly with a first success in the Champions League, before a derby that promises to be hot on Sunday (21:00) in La Liga on the pitch of Atlético, beaten the day before for 2-0 in Leverkusen.
Potter starts with a draw with Chelsea, Napoli at the party
Chelsea were held 1-1 by Salzburg Wednesday at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League in the debut of new manager Graham Potter, who was named to replace Thomas Tuchel last week.
It’s a new misstep for the Blues in Group E following their inaugural defeat to Dinamo Zagreb (1-0) last Wednesday. This setback led to the dismissal of the German Thomas Tuchel and the arrival of Potter from Brighton.
Chelsea fans also paid tribute to their former manager by applauding him on the 21st minute of the match, in memory of the year 2021 when the Blues won the Champions League under his leadership.
After a sterile first period, Raheem Sterling opened the scoring at half time (48th), but Noah Okafor equalized the two teams (75th). The young Swiss forward had already scored last week in the match against the other favorite of the group, Milan (1-1).
The Italians, winners of Dinamo Zagreb at San Siro (3-1) are in the lead ahead of Croatians (2nd) and Salzburg (3rd) while Chelsea remain in last place with only one point.
The 24-hour postponement of the match, due to logistical constraints linked to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, did not upset Napoli. The Italians easily won against Glasgow Rangers (3-0), who closed the match in ten after the exclusion of James Sands (55th). The Neapolitans, Serie A leaders, thus continue their good momentum after correcting Liverpool (4-1).
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