The Champions League Round-up: Matchday 6

13th December, Wednesday  

The Champions League group stage is finally over with the biggest news on this year's tournament being Manchester  United crashing out on a place to even qualify for Europe. Real Sociedad after a long time qualified for the knockout rounds as they finished top of last year's finalists Inter Milan. København defeated Galatasaray to move to the round of 16 as well with them being the biggest surprise that people might not have expected at all.

Group- D

Inter Milan vs Real Sociedad  

Final score line: 0-0

Scorers: None

Match facts: A draw means both teams lead the way to the Champions League round of 16 with the most points. Real Sociedad now after the group stage are at the top of the group which is an exceptional performance by the Spanish side considering their first champions league qualification after a very long time. Inter Milan on the other hand is second which they would have hoped not to end during the draws but still, a qualification is something that they would have hoped for the most.  

Redbull Salzburg vs SL Benfica  

Final score line: 1-3

Scorers: Angel Di Maria (32’)  

               Rafa Silva (45+1’) assisted by Angel Di Maria  

               L. Sucic (57’) assisted by O. Gluh  

               Arthur (90+2’) assisted by F. Aursnes  

Match facts: Redbull Salzburg should have hoped for a better finish considering they were leading the Portuguese giants by goal difference and also points. Even if they had lost to them a goal margin would have been sufficient but they lost 3-2 which means SL Benfica will be the team going to the Europa League round of 32 if not the Champions League round of 16. Angel di Maria proved to be the difference maker again as the veteran was on the goal and assists charts once again.

Group- A

FC København vs Galatasaray

Final score line: 1-0  

Scorers: L. Lerager (58’) assisted by M. Achouri  

Match facts: What a night we just witnessed as Manchester United are out of Europe with FC København in the round of 16. Nobody would have thought the Danish Champions would get a place in the knockout stages as L. Lerager became the main talking point of the match, scoring the goal then receiving a yellow card with a following second yellow in a couple of minutes to round the night by being the only difference maker in every aspect.

Manchester United vs Bayern Munich

Final score line: 0-1

Scorers: Kingsley Coman (71’) assisted by Harry Kane  

Match facts: A complete dominant display from the German champions with Kingsley Coman on the scoresheet with his sole name. They round off their group stage with no losses during the entire stage of the Champions League with Manchester United walking out of Europe in Shame as they weren’t even able to qualify for the Europa League places as fans now mounting pressure on a change of manager for the team to perform better.

Group- C

Napoli vs SC Braga  

Final score line: 2-0

Scorers: S. Saatchi (9’) Own Goal  

               Victor Osimhen (33’) assisted by Nayan  

Match facts: Napoli finished above Braga to qualify for the Champions League round of 16 as Victor Osimhen again inspired the Italian side to glory side. The African player of the year 2023-2024 is the man in red hot form with bigger clubs linking for his signature. Braga ended up in the third position with sights now on the Europa League trophy and an ambition to take it home.  

Union Berlin vs Real Madrid

Final score line: 2-3  

Scorers: Kevin Volland (45+1’)

               Joselu (61’) assisted by Rodrygo  

                Joselu (72’) assisted by Fran Garcia  

                Alex Karl (85’) assisted by A. Laidouni  

                Dani Ceballos (89’) assisted by Jude Bellingham  

Match facts: A thrilling night for the Spanish champions as Union Berlin had a good fight for the most-time Champions League winners. The game went late as Union Berlin opened the scoring till drawing 2-2 in the 85th minute, only for Dani Ceballos to score the winning goal in the 89th minute to crown a successful Champions League group stage as the Spanish giants remain unbeaten in their group with a 100 percent winning record.

Group- G

Crvena Zvedza vs Manchester City  

Final score line: 2-3  

Scorers: M. Hamilton (19’) assisted by Matheus Luiz  

               O. Bobb (62’) assisted by Rico Lewis  

                Hwang-In- Beom (76’) assisted by O. Bukhari  

               Kalvin Philips (85’) Penalty

                 A. Katai (90+1’) assisted by Hwang-In-Beom

Match facts: Man Hester City played a pretty young team in their lineup against Crvena Zvezda. Opening the account was on debut of Hamilton who was once a ballboy for the Etihad-owned club and now scored on his debut for Manchester City when given the opportunity by Pep Guardiola. It was he who took all the limelight as the opponents fought hard but could manage to lose with a single goal. Rico Lewis is again the architect in the midfield defying his age with a sublime performance yet again.

RB Leipzig vs Young Boys

Final score line: 2-1

Scorers: Benjamin Sesko (51’) assisted by Benjamin Heinrichs  

               E. Colley (53’) assisted by J. Nsame  

               Emil Forsberg (56’) assisted by K. Kampl  

Match facts: Benjamin Sesko is a player highly rated for his goal-scoring and skills. The forward has had time hard to come by with Lois Openda also proving to be an even greater threat for the opposition. Sesko is also being linked to a lot of clubs because of his form whenever given playing time and it looks hard to see him in a Redbull Leipzig shirt for a very long time. Departing captain Emil Forsberg was on the scoresheet again as he will be joining New York Redbull once his time with the German side is over.

Cover Credits: Eurosport