It was a very good day if you were Dutch or Dutch-adjacent. Cody Gakpo, Johan Bakayoko (Belgian – it counts), Tijjani Reijnders & Donyell Malen all found the net, while Slot & PSV notched wins.
PSV Eindhoven 4 – 0 Girona
PSV notched their first win with this convincing thumping of an overmatched Girona. Two first half goals from Ryan Flamingo and Malik Tillman would have been enough, but Arnau Martínez drew a second yellow at ‘55 to leave the visitors short a player. Girona’s keeper Paulo Gazzaniga made nine saves to keep the scoreline sane.
Dinamo Zagreb 4 – 1 Slovan Bratislava
Slovak hearts were briefly buoyant when Slovan snatched a quick goal in the 5th minute. But only five minutes later Dario Spikic equalized and it only went downhill for the hosts after that.
Bologna 0 -1 AS Monaco
The last corner of the match proved the difference, as Monaco snatched a late goal courtesy of Thile Kehrer, unmarked on the back post.
Borussia Dortmund 1 – 0 SK Sturm Graz
Given their statistical dominance, Dortmund’s victory should have been a given. But it took substitute Donyell Malen’s 85th minute golazo to give them three points.
Celtic 3 – 1 RB Leipzig
There was something special in the Glasgow air, and it wasn’t the vapors off the Clyde. Celtic have endured highs, lows and draws this UCL season. This victory puts the needle squarely in the ‘high’ category.
Lille 1 – 1 Juventus
Lille continues to delight and surprise fans and pundits alike, and while this was no walk in the park the hosts have to be pleased to walk away with a draw, 7 points and a fine swagger.
Liverpool 4 – 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Xavi Alonso knows how rough Anfield can be, but that mauling his team sustained via Luis Díaz was a proper cornholing.
Real Madrid 1 – 3 AC Milan
I’m gonna say it now… Real Madrid are cursed. Their petulance around the Ballon d’Or is making a slow circle that (if there’s any justice) will continue to inflict the exact type of misery that this game did. AC Milan didn’t just win, they were orders of magnitude the better team. Real might be playing to top the Elimination Zone at this rate….
Sporting CP 4 – 1 Manchester City
Some might be tempted to see this as a preview of the EPL’s Manchester Derby, seeing how Carlos Amorim had defected to the Red Side. But the REAL storyline has to be City’s collapse. They were 1-0 up early, had 72% possession, outshot and out-cornered Sporting… all to no avail. Viktor Gyökeres is making a run for Haaland’s “Scandinavian Beast” crown. He had a hat-trick; the Norwegian a missed PK.
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