RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United in a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.The Germans were totally dominant in the early stages and raced into a two-goal lead with goals from Angelino and Amadou Haidara, before a third in the second half from Justin Kluivert appeared to be a final nail in the United coffin.
A Bruno Fernandez penalty, however, sparked the visitors into life in the 80th minute and a Paul Pogba header soon after set up a tense finale, but it all came too late for United who were left to rue a sloppy start and will now drop into the Europa League.
“There are 11 bodies out there who have got to go out there and be aggressive,” United defender Harry Maguire said.
“It is the basics of football, if you don’t block crosses you won’t win matches.”
Leipzig are top of Group H on 12 points, but will have to wait to see if they stay there, while United are out having finished third with nine points.
Paris St Germain, also on nine but with a better head to head record against United and Leipzig, face Istanbul Basaksehir with the game still to finish following an interruption due to an incident involving the fourth official.
Leipzig, beaten 5-0 by United in Manchester, got off to a sensational start, stunning the visitors in the second minute with Angelino’s powerful shot from a Marcel Sabitzer cross.
The Spaniard, on loan from Manchester City, ran United ragged down the left wing and was again left with far too much space in the 12th minute when he floated the ball across for Haidara to volley in.
United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka was completely overwhelmed on their right flank and Angelino then set up Emil Forsberg for what should have been another goal only for the Swede to fire wide.
The Germans deserved a third goal and thought they had got it when Willi Orban put the ball in the net only for it to be ruled offside.
United, despite the return of Luke Shaw and keeper David De Gea, were vulnerable at the back and had to change their system several times in a desperate effort to stop the onslaught. Their sole threat in the first half came from Mason Greenwood, who had their only shot on target.
Leipzig added a third through substitute Kluivert in the 69th minute and thought it was over.
Yet Fernandes, who had earlier hit the bar with a free kick, scored with an 80th-minute penalty to spark some urgency into United’s game
Substitute Pogba’s header bounced off Maguire and into the net to make it 3-2 in the 82nd but United, who needed at least a point to advance, could not get the equaliser.
Mohamed Salah became Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the Champions League as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Denmark’s Midtjylland on Wednesday having already secured top spot in Group D.
Salah put the Premier League champions ahead in the first minute, latching on to a poor backpass and bursting goalwards before slipping the ball past goalkeeper Jesper Hansen.
The goal was Salah’s 22nd in the Champions League making him the club’s record scorer in the competition.
The Danes drew level in the 62nd minute through an Alexander Scholz penalty after Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher brought down Anders Dreyer. The linesman had initially flagged for offside but that decision was overturned by VAR.
Neymar bagged a hat-trick as Paris St Germain topped Champions League Group H with a 5-1 home victory over Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, a day after the game was suspended amid an alleged racist incident.The PSG and Basaksehir players, as well as the three field referees, took a knee before kickoff one day after both teams walked off in protest after the Turkish side had accused the assistant referee of using a racist word against their assistant coach Pierre Webo.
Neymar struck three times and Kylian Mbappe scored his first goals in the competition in a year as PSG, who had already qualified for the last 16, advanced from the group stage with 12 points, ahead of RB Leipzig thanks to their better head-to-head record against the German side.
Webo, who had been sent off, had his red card suspended pending a UEFA investigation into the incident and the Cameroonian sat on the bench with the rest of the team’s staff.
Two headed goals from Karim Benzema helped Real Madrid reach the Champions League knockout stages with a convincing 2-0 home win on Wednesday over Borussia Moenchengladbach, who also progressed to the last 16.Benzema ghosted into the area unmarked to head home a floated cross from Lucas Vazquez in the ninth minute and rose again to score in the 32nd, this time powering a cross from Rodrygo through the hands of Swiss keeper Yann Sommer.
The German side were out-classed by the Spaniards but sneaked through from the group as Inter Milan drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the other game in Group B.
Zinedine Zidane’s side finished top with 10 points while Gladbach came second with eight, pipping third-placed Shakhtar due to their better head-to-head record, while Inter came fourth with six.
Real’s shock defeat to Shakhtar last week threatened their record of qualifying from their group for the last 23 years and piled renewed pressure on Zidane, who has won the trophy three times as coach but has had a difficult season in La Liga and in Europe.
