Due to two draws with Benfica, Paris Saint Germain was not among the teams who qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League, but tonight they finished the job with ease, after demolishing week Maccabi Haifa in Paris – 7:2. Christophe Galtier again fielded the deadly trio Neymar – Messi – Mbappe and they provided almost all goals and assists among themselves. Quietly but surely, the Argentinian is back in form, just in time for the World Cup and tonight, Messi scored two goals and assisted to Neymar. Mbappe also scored two and assisted in Messi’s both goals, while the Brazilian also had one. So far, former Barca star is the only player to score 10+ goals and deliver 10+ assists in all competitions among players in the Top 5 European leagues this season. And after Goldberg’s own goal and Soler’s first goal for PSG, the Parisians are not through to the knockout stage and sit at the top of the table, due to the goal difference, but with a same number of points as Benfica, who is playing Maccabi in the last round and can use this game in order to get over PSG.Real is in the similar situation after tonight’s loss to Leipzig. The current Champions League winners have qualified for the next round, but have only one point more than Leipzig. The Germans can leapfrog the Spanish giants if they defeat Shakhtar in Poland (where the Ukrainians are playing their games) and Real only draws with Celtic in Madrid, which is unlikely. But, tonight, Ancelotti registered a rare defeat in Europe’s biggest competition. Since he could not count on three of the four most important players, Karim Benzema, Luka Modrić and Fede Valverde, the Italian tactician watched the game calmly since the first place is still within reach.Marco Rose’s team rose to the occasion and came within reach of the round of 16 after defeating the European champions. Next Wednesday, at least a point will be needed, because Shakhtar would make a sensation with a possible victory and go further over Leipzig with the same number of points. Leipzig started aggressively and led 2:0 after 18 minutes. Josko Guardiol, who Luka Modric wants to see in Madrid one day, checked Thibaut Courtois in the 13th minute after a good assist from Andre Silva, only for Christopher Nkunku to take advantage of another extraordinary stupidity of Real’s defense to double the lead. Vinicius scored for 2-1, but Timo Werner came from the bench to score the winning goal. Rodygo’s penalty kick came late, deep in injury time and couldn’t change anything.CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGroup stage – Round 5TuesdaySalzburg – Chelsea 1-2 (1-1)/Adamu 48 – Kovacic 23, Havertz 64/Sevilla – Copenhagen 3-0 (0-0)/En-Nesyri 61, Isco 88, Montiel 90/Dinamo Zagreb – Milan 0-4 (0-1)/Gabbia 39, Leao 49, Giroud 59, Ljubicic (og) 69/Celtic – Shakhtar 1-0 (1-0)/Giakoumakis 34 – Mudryk 58/RB Leipzig – Real Madrid 3-1 (2-1)/Gvardiol 13, Nkunku 18, Werner 81 – Vinicius 44, Rodrygo 90+4 (p)/Dortmund – Man.City 0-0Benfica – Juventus 4-3 (3-1)/Silva 17, Mario 28(p), Rafa Silva 35, 50 – Kean 22, Milik 77, McKenna 79/PSG – Maccabi Haifa 7-2 (4-1)/Mesi 19, 44, Mbappe 32, 64, Neymar 35, Goldberg 67, Soler 84 – Seck 38, 50/Wednesday19:45: (3.45) Club Brugge (3.40) Porto (2.25)19:45: (1.13) Inter (8.50) Plzen (19.0)22:00: (4.00) Ajax (3.80) Liverpool (1.95)22:00: (1.23) Napoli (6.50) Rangers (12.0)22:00: (1.80) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Leverkusen (4.60)22:00: (2.40) Barcelona (3.60) Bayern (3.00)22:00: (2.50) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.30) Olympique Marseille (3.10)22:00: (1.50) Tottenham (4.50) Sporting (7.25)***odds are subject to change***
