Liverpool on Wednesday snatched a late winner to beat Paris Saint-Germain away 1-0 in the first leg of their heavyweight UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie, while Bayern Munich took charge with a 3-0 win over German rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
French league leaders PSG dominated at the Parc des Princes, but could not make their superiority count and Harvey Elliott struck three minutes from time after replacing Mohamed Salah with Liverpool’s only shot on target.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, but Arne Slot’s side defended resolutely to keep PSG at bay and are in a strong position to advance to the quarter-finals going into next week’s second leg at Anfield.
Photo: AFP
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker made several crucial saves as PSG had 28 attempts on goal, but could not replicate the finishing that had allowed them to score 21 goals in their past five Champions League outings.
“It was probably the performance of my life,” Alisson told TNT Sports.
“To go away with a win over here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” Slot said.
If Liverpool finish the job at home on Tuesday next week, they could face Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, but PSG coach Luis Enrique said his side would have “nothing to lose.”
“We deserved to win clearly, we created a lot of chances,” the Spaniard said. “Football is unfair many times and you have to accept that.”
Harry Kane scored twice as Bayern closed in on the last eight with a first win over Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen in seven matches.
The England captain headed in Michael Olise’s superb cross to give Bayern the lead at the Allianz Arena.
Jamal Musiala added a second early in the second half when Leverkusen goalkeeper Matej Kovar let an innocuous delivery into the penalty area from Joshua Kimmich slip from his grasp.
Bayern lost Manuel Neuer to injury before the night went from bad to worse for Leverkusen, who had Nordi Mukiele sent off.
Kane rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot following a video assistant referee review after he was impeded by Edmond Tapsoba.
“It was a really big step in the right direction. We’ve struggled against this side over the last couple of years,” Kane told DAZN.
A downbeat Alonso admitted it would take a remarkable turn of events for Leverkusen to overturn the deficit.
“In football we’ve seen big miracles quite often and we almost need one,” he said.
Barcelona edged past SL Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon thanks to Raphinha’s second-half strike, despite playing most of the game with 10 men.
Teenage defender Pau Cubarsi was sent off midway through the first half for a foul as the last defender, but Barcelona clung on and Raphinha drilled home after 61 minutes to give the five-time European champions a slim advantage.
“I said to the [team] chapeau, I’m very proud,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said.
“After the 22nd minute with 10 players it was not easy, and this is a big win,” he said.
Inter seized control of their tie against Feyenoord as Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez scored in a 2-0 win in Rotterdam.
France striker Thuram hooked in a cross from Nicolo Barella slightly against the run of play late in the first half, with Lautaro Martinez lashing in a second on 50 minutes.
“We had to suffer a bit tonight, but we didn’t have to for long,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “We were together when we needed to be. We know the challenges that the second leg will bring, but I am very happy.”
Feyenoord knocked out Inter’s city rivals AC Milan in the playoff round, but have since changed coaches, with former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie returning to take charge of his hometown club.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
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