Chelsea became the leader – Sport – Kommersant

In one of the main matches of the next game day of the Champions League group stage, Chelsea beat Milan 2-0 away, coming out on top in Group E. In the meantime, the first play-off participants became known – Real Madrid and Manchester City”. They secured at least second places in groups F and G.

Before the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, the position in group E. Chelsea and Milan, whose chances of reaching the play-offs before the start were quoted the highest, had 4 points each, losing one point to Salzburg and one point ahead of Dinamo Zagreb. Thus, the meeting in Milan, where the defending champion of Italy went, was of increased importance: a team that failed made life much more difficult for itself in the fight for one of the first two places.

The fate of this match was decided in the first half. Chelsea opened the scoring from the penalty spot thanks to Jorginho’s accurate shot, moreover, Italian champion defender Fikayo Tomori had been sent off for a last resort foul on Mason Mount. And about ten minutes before the break, the English club carried out a sharp attack, which, after the transfer from the left flank of Mateo Kovacic, thanks to a failure in the defense of the opponents, was completed by Pierre-Emenik Aubameyang. In the second half there were many double-edged attacks, but the score did not change. As a result – 2:0. And since Salzburg could only achieve a draw in Zagreb, Chelsea took the lead with 7 points, ahead of the Austrian club by 1 point. However, for Milan, as well as for Dynamo, which have 4 points each, all is not lost.

An unexpected result was recorded in Paris, where PSG could not beat Benfica. On a goal scored five minutes before half-time from a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappe, who with 31 goals became PSG’s top scorer in the Champions League, one goal ahead of Uruguayan Edinson Cavani, the Portuguese giants responded with an accurate penalty kick by João Mario. Remaining invincible (and the match of the previous round in Lisbon ended with the same score 1:1), PSG and Benfica in group H have 8 points each and actually have one foot already in the playoffs. After all, Juventus on the road sensationally lost to Maccabi Haifa – 0: 2 and, like the Israeli club, has only 3 points.

In the meantime, the first participants of the play-off were determined. AT group G Manchester City did it. Having failed to beat Copenhagen away, he already felt comfortable with 11 points. And besides, Borussia Dortmund played a draw at home with Sevilla – 1:1. Thus, two rounds before the finish line, the German club had 7 points, while the Spanish and Danish clubs had 2 points each. That is, the intrigue here can only be in the fight for third place, which gives the right to go to the Europa League.

But in group F There is a fierce competition for second place. There, Leipzig beat Celtic on the road – 2: 0, and the Ukrainian Shakhtar in their field in Warsaw drew the match with Real Madrid – 1: 1. Moreover, the current winner of the Champions League managed to level the score only in the sixth minute of stoppage time, when Antonio Rüdiger hit the opponent’s goal with a header after Toni Kroos’ cross. And before that, almost the entire second half was won by Shakhtar, who scored immediately after the break: Bogdan Mykhailychenko’s cross was used by Oleksandr Zubkov, who drove the ball into the near corner. After four rounds, Real Madrid have 10 points, Leipzig – 6, Shakhtar – 5, Celtic – 1. Thus, the Madrid club got into the play-offs of the Champions League for the 31st time, which is a record. In 32 two draws of this tournament, Real Madrid did not leave the group only once, in the 1996/1997 season, when they did not play in the main European Cup.

Evgeny Fedyakov