Real Sociedad beat Benfica and reached the 1/8 finals of the Champions League

At the group stage of the Champions League football, the remaining matches of the fourth round took place. In Quartet D, both teams have already been determined and will continue to play in the playoffs. This became clear after Real Sociedad beat Benfica – 3:1, and Inter defeated Red Bull Salzburg – 1:0. Also, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid advanced to the spring part of the tournament ahead of schedule.

IN group D after three rounds we were in the lead Real Sociedad and Inter, who had seven points each, despite the fact that they are a permanent participant in the Champions League Benfica was at zero. The famous Portuguese club had one last opportunity to join the fight. After losing to Real Sociedad in Lisbon, he went to San Sebastian, where he faced a highly motivated opponent who wanted to qualify for the 1/8 finals of the Champions League.

Benfica conceded at the very beginning of the meeting, when the hosts played a florid corner and the ball flew to Ayen Munoz, who, instead of shooting, ended up with a scoring pass to Mikel Merino’s head. By the 11th minute, the visitors were losing 0:2 after their defensive midfielder Florentin Luis made an unsuccessful back pass and Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal intercepted it, running away one on one with goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin.

Benfica swam, and soon Merino scored again from a set piece. It didn’t even help that VAR canceled the goal, recording a barely noticeable hand touch on the scorer’s part. In the 21st minute, Ander Barrenechea fired a perfect lob into the far corner from outside the penalty area to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Basques. And then Brais Mendez hit the post from the penalty spot awarded for demolishing Oyarzabal. Real Sociedad simply tore apart the Lisboners, who did not play, but rather waited for the nightmare first half to end.

During the break, Benfica finally rallied and quickly scored one goal through the efforts of Rafa Silva. However, the hosts did not allow it to turn the match into an unpredictable direction and retained a double advantage – 3:1. Let us note that in the 78th minute the Russian legionary of the Spanish team, Arsen Zakharyan, came on as a substitute. Considering that “Inter” in Salzburg beat the local “Red Bull” – 1:0, Real Sociedad, together with the Milanese, advanced to the next stage of the tournament ahead of schedule. After all, they are already seven points ahead of Salzburg two rounds before the finish.

IN group A further strengthened leadership “Bavaria”, which also guaranteed itself participation in the playoffs. Having won “Galatasaray” in Istanbul, she repeated this at home. True, the hosts could not break the stubborn resistance of the Turkish club for a very long time. Only in the 80th minute did Harry Kane manage to score in his signature English style after a free-kick from Joshua Kimmich. And then the Englishman made a double on the counterattack when Mathis Tel brought him out into an empty net. In stoppage time, Cedric Bakambu only opened the net for Manuel Neuer, who had recently returned to the squad after a long break due to a serious injury, and was playing his first match in the current Champions League.

Meanwhile, something incredible was happening in the confrontation “Copenhagen” And “Manchester United”. It seemed that the English giant would have no problems at the Parken Arena. The visiting Danish striker Rasmus Højlund did not spare his native club, where he began his career not long ago and for which his younger brother Oscar now plays. First, he blocked Scott McTominay’s cross, and then finished the ball into the net after Alejandro Garnacho’s shot. But everything turned upside down when another Manchester striker, Marcus Rashford, received a straight red card for roughing at the end of the first half. And even before the break, Mohamed Elyounoussi, with a pass from Diogo Goncalves, and then the Portuguese himself from the penalty spot, equalized the score. Moreover, the referee added as many as 13 minutes to the main time of the first half. United took the lead in the second half when Bruno Fernandes also scored from the penalty spot. However, Lukas Lerager and Rooney Bardaggi, after crossing into the penalty area, secured a fantastic 4:3 victory for the hosts. As a result, Bayern have 12 points, Copenhagen and Galatasaray have four each, and Manchester have three.

Won his fourth victory in a row in group C and won a ticket to the playoffs “Real”. At the Santiago Bernabeu the Madrid team calmly rolled out “Braga” – 3:0. At the same time, in the debut, Andrei Lunin, who defended their goal, saved a penalty kick taken by Alvaro Djalo. Brahim Diaz, Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo scored for the hosts, and the presence of their top scorer Jude Bellingham was not even needed on the field, especially since he had a micro-injury.

And here “Napoli” unexpectedly could not win in Naples “Union”, which not only suffered three defeats in the Champions League, but also performs very poorly in the German championship, falling into the relegation zone. The home team took the lead thanks to a goal from Matteo Politano, but Datro Fofana denied them victory. So the Berliners took the first point, although the Neapolitans with seven can still feel safe, since Braga still have three points.

IN group B in first place with nine points “Arsenal”who in London dealt with “Seville” – 2:0. In another match PSV won 1:0 against “Lansa” and with five points beat the French club in additional indicators. The Seville team are fourth with two points.

Alexander Ilyin