PSG and Porto Advance to UEFA Champions League Last 16; -On Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain and Porto advanced to the Champions League round of 16, while Newcastle was eliminated from Europe following a 2-1 loss to AC Milan at home. PSG advanced as runners-up as Milan overcame a late deficit to defeat Newcastle at St. James’ Park, eliminating Eddie Howe’s team. Milan and PSG drew 1-1 on the road against Group F champions Borussia Dortmund.
Joelinton’s goal in the first half gave Newcastle the lead. To maintain their first Champions League campaign in 20 years, Newcastle needed to win and PSG to lose. Though it wasn’t enough for Milan to overcome PSG, Christian Pulisic’s equaliser on the hour and substitute Samuel Chukwueze’s 84th-minute winner broke Newcastle’s hearts.
“We threw ourselves into the match. There is nothing more that I could ask for in terms of dedication, hard work, and physical effort. Sadly, it was not meant to be for us,” Howe remarked. Karim Adeyemi’s goal early in the second half of Germany’s match put the French champions, who were in danger of suffering their first group stage loss since Qatari took over in 2011, down.
Five minutes after Kylian Mbappe danced into the box, his ball deflected out to the teenager who went towards goal before hammering home a thunderous shot, but Warren Zaire-Emery rushed to PSG’s rescue.
Mbappe, whose PSG status will once again be under intense scrutiny in January, had an attempt disqualified for offside, but the point was sufficient for the visitors, who finished level on points with Milan but advanced because of a superior goal differential between the two teams.
“We’re not even close to being the final product,” PSG captain Marquinhos stated. “We’re going to have to prepare well and prepare better because bigger opponents are on the way.”
- The entire Porto roster for the knockout stages
Porto defeated the Ukrainians 5-3 to go to the round of 16, where they faced Shakhtar Donetsk.An early goal by Galeno gave Porto the lead, and all the hosts needed to do to advance from Group H alongside Barcelona was to avoid loss at the Estadio do Dragao.
Danylo Sikan pulled Shakhtar even, but Galeno scored once more before Mehdi Taremi gave the Portuguese team a 3-1 lead. Shakhtar had a lifeline thanks to an own goal, but 40-year-old Pepe calmed Porto down with his team’s fourth goal, and Francisco Conceicao finished the game with an own goal and a late Eguinaldo score. “We never aim for a draw in Porto, even though that outcome also worked out well for us. This would be like the championship game, the manager declared, and we had to win. “The goal was achieved,” Galeno said to CNN Portugal.
George Ilenikhena scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time as Royal Antwerp defeated Barcelona 3-2 in an iconic victory. The Belgians took the lead twice thanks to goals from Vincent Janssen and Arthur Vermeeren, but Marc Guiu and Ferran Torres from Barcelona looked to have rescued a draw prior to Ilenikhena’s heroics.
With a 3-2 victory over Red Star Belgrade, Manchester City became just the second English club to win every single group stage match in the Champions League. Micah Hamilton, age twenty, and Oscar Bobb, age twenty, scored the team’s first goals before Hwang In-beom gave the Serbian champions a goal back.
Aleksandar Katai gave Red Star a late consolation goal, but in added time, Kalvin Phillips scored his first goal for City. The reigning champions, City, had already secured the top spot in Group G, surpassing RB Leipzig, who triumphed 2-1 over Young Boys from Switzerland at home.
After a wild five-minute stretch in the second half that saw Ebrima Colley equalise the score, Leipzig’s goals came from Emil Forsberg and Benjamin Sesko. With goals from Antoine Griezmann and Samuel Lino in a 2-0 victory over Lazio, the runners-up, Atletico Madrid secured top position in Group E.
Gustaf Lagerbielke’s late header gave Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic team a 2-1 victory over Feyenoord, snapping a 15-game losing streak. The Scots took the lead thanks to a penalty kick from Luis Palma in the first half, but Yankuba Minteh’s equaliser with eight minutes remaining seemed to end their unbeaten streak.