UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFFS UPDATE

By: Gyang Dakwo

Galatasaray, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund all recorded first leg victories on Tuesday night to move closer to the next round of the knockout phase play offs.

Galatasaray 5-2 Juventus

Galatasaray produced a strong second half display to defeat Juventus in Istanbul. Gabriel Sara gave the home side the lead after 15 minutes, but Teun Koopmeiners struck twice to turn the game around and hand Juventus a 2-1 lead at half time.

The momentum shifted after the break. Noa Lang equalised from close range, and Davinson Sanchez headed Galatasaray in front on the hour mark. Juventus were reduced to ten men when Juan Cabal received a second yellow card. Lang added his second goal before Sacha Boey scored a fifth to complete an impressive comeback.

Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid secured a narrow win away from home thanks to a fine effort from Vinicius Junior shortly after half time. The Brazilian cut in from the left and curled a right footed shot into the far corner beyond Anatoliy Trubin.

Benfica began brightly and came close through Fredrik Aursnes, but Thibaut Courtois made an important save. Madrid increased the pressure as the first half progressed, and Trubin denied Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler before the breakthrough finally came in the second half.

Monaco 2-3 Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain recovered from a poor start to claim victory in Monaco. Folarin Balogun scored twice inside the opening 18 minutes to put the hosts in control.

Vitinha missed the chance to reduce the deficit when his penalty was saved by Philipp Kohn. Substitute Desire Doue pulled one back in the 29th minute, and Achraf Hakimi levelled just before half time. Monaco suffered another setback when Aleksandr Golovin was sent off early in the second half, and Doue completed the comeback with the winning goal in the 67th minute.

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Atalanta

Borussia Dortmund celebrated their 100th European Cup win with a confident performance against Atalanta. Serhou Guirassy opened the scoring with a header from Julian Ryerson’s cross.

Atalanta pushed for a response, with Nicola Zalewski creating openings, but they could not find a way through. Maximilian Beier added a second goal before the break to give Dortmund a comfortable advantage ahead of the return leg in Bergamo.