CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, REGULAR SEASON
ROUND 3
Manchester City (Angola)–Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 5–0 (Foden 3rd, Haaland 58th, 68th, Stones 64th, Matheus Nunes 88th – 11th ball)
How many goals does Manchester City stop at, how many times does Erling Haaland score? These were roughly the questions on the mind of an average fan before the match between Manchester City and Sparta Praha. The match started with a quick goal, breaking into the 16th Phil Foden he took Peter Vindahl’s goal in the 3rd minute – the Czechs started seven legionnaires, the most expensive one was bought for 2.3 million euros, i.e. it is possible to build a BL team with little money. The Praguers did not concede in their first two matches, beating RB Salzburg and playing against VfB Stuttgart.
Haaland’s close header was saved by Vindahl from Denmark, after that the match became even, and Veljko Birmancevics even had a chance, but it was saved by Stefan Ortega in front of the bottom right. We didn’t see another kick until the break, Pep Guardiola disappeared very angry in the players’ exit…
After the break Erling Haaland he missed another shot (the Norwegian winger was at the time saying that he had only sold one of his six shots in the current BL), then he scored a goal like a Zlatan Ibrahimovic grafted into Éric Cantona: he put the ball into the goal with a karate kick from the five, but standing behind it , pulling the ball back with the heel at the end of the movement.
There was no Puskás award winner in the Haaland family yet…
The miracle goal broke Sparta, John Stones scored a nice headed goal, Haaland scored a “human” hit, Guardiola used all his field players from the bench (James McAtee, Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol, Rúben Dias, Nico O’Reilly) and then happily sat next to the field on a portable cooler.
Matheus Nunes fought and sold a penalty in the hair, but Sparta got away with that.
City remained undefeated in their 33rd domestic BL match in a row, previously only Bayern Munich and Barcelona were able to do so; in total, they have not found a winner in regular time or extra time for 27 matches, which is a CL record (Manchester United reached 25 between September 2007 and May 2009).
Haaland has 44 goals and 5 assists in 42 BL matches, scored 21 goals in 23 appearances for City, only Van Nistelrooy reached 20 BL goals in one club faster than him (in 21 matches).
Benfica (Portugal)-Feyenoord (Dutch) 1-3 (Aktürkoglu 66th, ill. Ueda 12th, Milambo 33rd, 90+3.)
Both teams played in a 4-3-3 formation in the fifth match in the history of Benfica and Feyenoord, which the Dutch started better – and continued better. First the Japanese center forward, Ueda Ajah scored at the end of a big fireworks display, then the right midfielder, 19 years and 203 days old, self-educated Antoni Milambo scored a cheeky goal: first he skinned the world champion Nicolás Otamendi, then the goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin.
The home team was especially dangerous after corners (they win the most head-to-head duels in the current edition of the BL), but Alexander Bah headed Ángel Di María’s pass onto the right post from close range, and Otamendi also mis-aimed. The Greek center forward Vangelisz Pavlidis only managed a late goal until the break, even though Benfica is doing well against Dutch teams and has won its previous three matches in the BL, in its previous four BL matches it has always scored at least two goals – and in the current edition it beat the Crvena zvezda and Atlético Madrid as well.
After the turn, last season’s top scorer in the Netherlands, Pavlidisz, also shot well from a sharp angle, but was saved by Timon Wellenreuther, soon after that the match was almost decided, but Gernot Trauner’s goal was disallowed by VAR due to stoppage – in the 66th minute. Kerem Akturkoglu beautified, after Wellenreuther’s error.
The Turkish player scored in all three CL rounds, and only one Dutchman younger than Milambo scored in two consecutive CL matches: Patrick Kluivert, in 1995, at the age of 19 years and 88 days.
Approaching the goal, Wellenreuther blocked Fredrik Aursnes’ close header and Kerem Aktürkoglu’s shot, thus the home team fired all their gunpowder, much to their pain in extra time Antoni Milambo Trubin’s shot actually went into the lower left corner.
Feyenoord was able to win in Portugal, another surprise in the BL!
1. Aston Villa
3
3
–
–
6–0
+6
9
2. Liverpool
3
3
–
–
6–1
+5
9
3. Manchester City
3
2
1
–
9–0
+9
7
4. Monaco
3
2
1
–
9–4
+5
7
5. Brest
3
2
1
–
7–2
+5
7
6. Bayer Leverkusen
3
2
1
–
6–1
+5
7
3
2
1
–
5–0
+5
7
8. Sporting
3
2
1
–
5–1
+4
7
9. Arsenal
3
2
1
–
3–0
+3
7
10. Barcelona
3
2
–
1
10–3
+7
6
11. Borussia Dortmund
3
2
–
1
12–6
+6
6
12. Real Madrid
3
2
–
1
8–4
+4
6
13. Benfica
3
2
–
1
7–4
+3
6
14. Juventus
3
2
–
1
6–4
+2
6
15. Lille
3
2
–
1
4–3
+1
6
16. Feyenoord
3
2
–
1
6–7
–1
6
17. Atalanta
3
1
2
–
3–0
+3
5
18. VfB Stuttgart
3
1
1
1
3–4
–1
4
19. Paris SG
3
1
1
1
2–3
–1
4
20. Celtic
3
1
1
1
6–8
–2
4
21. Sparta Prague
3
1
1
1
4–6
–2
4
22. Dinamo Zagreb
3
1
1
1
6–11
–5
4
23. Bayern Munich
3
1
–
2
10–7
+3
3
24. Girona
3
1
–
2
4–4
0
3
25. Milan
3
1
–
2
4–5
–1
3
26. FC Bruges
3
1
–
2
2–6
–4
3
27. Atlético Madrid
3
1
–
2
3–8
–5
3
28. PSV Eindhoven
3
–
2
1
3–5
–2
2
29. Bologna
3
–
1
2
0–4
–4
1
30. Sahtar Donetsk
3
–
1
2
0–4
–4
1
31. RB Leipzig
3
–
–
3
3–6
–3
0
32. Sturm Graz
3
–
–
3
1–5
–4
0
33. Red Star
3
–
–
3
2–11
–9
0
34. Salzburg
3
–
–
3
0–9
–9
0
35. Young Boys
3
–
–
3
0–9
–9
0
36. Slav Bratislava
3
–
–
3
1–11
–10
0
