UEFA Champions League Update

By: Gyang Dakwo

Manchester City produced a superb second-half performance to recover from being from two goals down and beat RB Leipzig to secure top spot in Champions League Group G.

After a lacklustre start, the introduction of Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku early in the second half changed everything. Phil Foden set up a goal for Erling Haaland before a clever finish of his own pulled the game level.

After more good work by Foden it was Alvarez that settled the match with three minutes of the game left, as City maintained their perfect record in this year’s competition with a fifth win in a row.

Both sides had already qualified before tonight, so RB Leipzig are assured of second place in the group.

For Newcastle, it was heartbreaking as Kylian Mbappe fired home a controversial penalty deep into stoppage time for Paris Saint-Germain to rescue a 1-1 draw and deny Newcastle United a famous win at the Parc des Princes in UEFA Champions League Group F.

The Magpies looked to be on the brink of a victory that would have left their destiny in their own hands, but a VAR intervention led to a harshly awarded spot kick for a hand ball against Tino Lavramento that allowed the Ligue 1 champions to level in the 98th minute.

The result means Newcastle sit third in Group F on five points. PSG are second on seven points with leaders Borussia Dortmund, who are now through to the last 16, on 10 points.

Newcastle will now conclude their Group F campaign at home to AC Milan on December 13 in the knowledge that they need Dortmund to do them a favour when they host PSG if they are to reach the knockout stage.

Meanwhile, Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix were on target as Barcelona secured a huge victory over Porto in Group H.

The Catalan giants and Porto both had three wins and a defeat from the first four matches, both needed a win in order to help nail down their chances of progressing to the next round.

There looked to be a surprise on the cards when Pepe – Porto’s Brazilian winger – put the away side ahead after half an hour.
However, Joao Cancelo scored just two minutes later in response, cutting in from the left to drill a fine shot into the far corner.

Joao Felix notched a rare goal for this season as he put the Catalans ahead on 57 minutes.

Barcelona lead Group H on 12 points, three ahead of second-placed Porto.

In Group F, Borussia Dortmund went a goal up at AC Milan early on, with all four clubs in the group in with a chance of qualifying for the next round.

Dortmund topped the group before kick-off, and an early penalty from veteran forward Marco Reus put them one up after 10 minutes.

Milan were bottom and looking for their second win of the group stage, and they fought back to level on 37 minutes through Samuel Chukwueze, as the Nigerian international scored an excellent solo effort from the right wing.

In the second half, English youngster Jamie Bynoe-Gittens scored on 59 minutes, for the 19-year-old winger’s first goal of the season, and his first ever European goal. Then, Karim Adeyemi added a third 10 minutes later to take the game away from Stefano Pioli’s side.