(Football news) We are almost at the end of the UCL group stage with 1 match to go. 11 teams have already qualified for the Round of 16 while 5 positions are still up for grabs.
Manchester City sealed their place at the top of the table after their comeback win against PSG. Pep Guardiola’s team were dominant throughout the game as they had the lion’s share of possession and created more chances. Despite that it was PSG who broke the deadlock in the 50th minute through Kylian Mbappe. It took only 13 minutes for Raheem Sterling to level things before Gabriel Jesus scored the winner in the 76th minute. The weakness of PSG was clearly in the workrate of the front three. Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar were reluctant to track back which left the defence and midfield with an awful lot of work to do. Both the teams have sealed their place in the knockouts with a game to spare. Manchester City will be keen to replicate their performance at the weekend against West Ham. PSG travel to Saint Etienne on Sunday where Pochettino will be hoping for a better performance.
A late goal for Junior Messias got AC Milan a victory against Atletico Madrid, keeping their hopes of qualification alive. The game was right in the balance before the midfielder scored a bullet header. The match leaves Atletico Madrid bottom of the table while Milan climb to third. If Porto defeats Atletico on the final matchday, Milan will remain 3rd no matter what. But if Atleti win against Porto, they need a win to jump to 2nd place while a loss or a draw will push them back to the bottom. Atletico need to focus on the La Liga before that as they sit 4th on the table before their trip to Cadiz. Milan on the other hand host Sassuolo as they sit joint top of Serie A.
Liverpool, who had already sealed the top spot last matchday defeated Porto 2-0 thanks to goals from Thiago and Mohamed Salah. The loss will have hurt Porto as a win would've got them to the Round of 16 and also because Liverpool didn't play many of their first choice players. Porto now need atleast a point against Atletico to qualify although if Milan win against Liverpool even that wouldn't be enough. Liverpool will now be focused on their weekend match against Southampton.
Real Madrid defeated Sheriff Town 3-0 with David Alaba, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema. Real Madrid have now undefeated for the last 8 games. Madrid also kept a clean sheet only for the 5th time this season. Madrid's highly intense passing game and ball rotation was too much for Moldovan club. Real Madrid's 'Holy Trinity' midfield once again showed why they are the best in the world. After going 3-0 up Carlo Ancelotti used the situation to give his defence some rest keeping their weekend game against Sevilla in mind.
