On a night of confusing combinations, Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt made a comeback in their respective games and secured their passage to the Champions League round of 16.
In the break of Tuesday’s matches, corresponding to the last date of the group stage, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon moved from Group D.
Everything changed.
Tottenham qualified after recovering from a poor performance in the first half by beating Marseille 2-1 on Tuesday and winning their group.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg scored in the last game of the match at the Stade Velodrome to take Tottenham to the top of Group D over Eintracht, which had won 2-1 at Sporting Lisbon.
The German team were in first place until Højbjerg’s goal.
That goal also meant that Marseille finished at the bottom of the table, so they will not participate in European competitions during the first half of 2023.
“We could feel that in the first half there was a team that played without fear of losing, and it was Marseille,” said Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. And in the second half there was a team that was afraid of losing, and it was us. “
The French club had to win to advance to the knockout stage for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Belgium’s Brugge lost the chance to win their group after drawing 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen.
The Belgian club had already secured their place in the round of 16 and are the first team from that country to reach the knockout stage since Ghent in 2015-16.
chance to become the first Belgian club to win their Champions League group since Andrelecht 22 years ago.
Leverkusen finished third and headed for the Europa League finishing above Atlético.
With this draw, Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso reaches six winless games after winning in his first match against Schalke on 8 October. The team is third from bottom in the Bundesliga.
Meanwhile, Mehdi Taremi and Stephen Eustáquio scored goals for Porto who remained in first place in Group B. Porto finished with 12 points, one more than Bruges.
“We didn’t start well, but we knew it all depended on ourselves,” said Porto forward Pepê. “In the end, we have achieved our goal.”
Atlético had already been eliminated and needed a win to confirm third place and a ticket to the Europa League. But Leverkusen took that honor because they won the tie-break against Atletico, who for the first time finished last in their Champions League group.
It was also the first time since 2009 that Atlético have lost five games without a win in the Champions League. At that time he has slipped nine duels without winning since 2008.
In another match, Liverpool proved that, even in a fateful campaign, the “Champions” can be their refuge.
They beat Napoli 2-0, whose unbeaten start to the season was interrupted. And this was a reminder of what Jürgen Klopp’s team can achieve.
After consecutive Premier League defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds, two sides fighting for relegation, Liverpool have done what no other team has been able to do by beating the Italian club.
“I don’t think anyone doubts our quality, but that’s part of the problem,” said Klopp. “We don’t show it consistently.”
Late goals from Mo Salah and Uruguayan Darwin Núñez decided an otherwise boring game.
Also in Group A, Ajax secured a ticket to the Europa League playoffs, after beating Rangers, who were the worst team of the first stage of the Champions League, 3-1.
Barcelona ended their disappointing run in the tournament with a 4-2 win over Viktoria Pilsen.
The Spanish team arrived already eliminated at the appointment, while the Czech team knew they would be the last in Group C.
Barça’s other group stage win was 5-1, against Pilsen himself on the opening date. They then moved on to Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, who moved on to the next stage.
The Germans beat Inter 2-0 on Tuesday for their sixth group win.
