Juventus removed, AC Milan de Giroud is replaced
Group E: Giroud scorer, AC Milan replaces
The defeat of RB Salzburg, at the start of the evening, had done the business of AC Milan, a direct competitor for second place in Group E. The Milanese still had to bring back a result from their trip to Dinamo’s lawn Zagreb.
What Olivier Giroud and his partners had understood perfectly, and they seized the ball on the leap, with a clear and flawless victory (4-0). The French striker went there with his goal, from the penalty spot (69th), to offer three precious points to AC Milan, who returned to Salzburg.
The Italian club, which receives its Austrian counterpart on the last day next Wednesday, has its destiny in its hands: a draw at San Siro is enough for it to reach the round of 16. Dinamo Zagreb, for its part, still has a slim hope of being reversed in the Europa League: it will have to win at Chelsea, and hope for a defeat of Salzburg.
Group F: first defeat for Real Madrid
Defending champion, Real Madrid was able to secure its first place on Tuesday on the lawn of Leipzig. A draw would have been enough for the merengue club, but in the absence of Benzema, Valverde and Modric, Carlo Ancelotti’s men conceded their first defeat (2-3) in this European campaign.
The German club made the difference in 20 minutes (12th and 18th) to take a definitive advantage, barely challenged by the reduction of Vinicius’ score before half-time (44th).
Direct consequence of this result: Real Madrid, who will host Celtic Glasgow, will have to do at least as well as Leipzig on the last day to retain their leadership position and inherit a second group in the round of 16.
Knowing that the Germans, opposed to Shakhtar Donetsk, will not have to lose to stay second in this group F.
Group G: Dortmund qualified
For Erling Haaland’s return to Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund and Manchester City could not decide. Neither the Norwegian cyborg nor any other player in this match found the net, during this match sold by a draw (0-0).
Dortmund, who qualified thanks to this point of the draw, can thank their goalkeeper, Kobel, who defeated the Mancunian attackers. City being guaranteed to be first and Borussia second, the only issue lies in the identity of the club reversed in the Europa League: it will be Sevilla or FC Copenhagen.
Group H: Benfica don’t give up
While Paris ridiculed Maccabi Haifa, Benfica Lisbon abused Juventus Turin in Portugal. If Massimiliano Allegri’s team mitigated the heaviness of the score by scoring twice at the end of the match (final score 4-3 for Benfica), they could not prevent their elimination.
With only three points in five matches, the Old Lady can no longer hope for anything other than a Europa League ticket. It will still be necessary to do a better result than Maccabi Haifa on the last day. Or it is the PSG which stands on the road of the Italians in Turin …