the UEFA Champions League The team has adopted a new system ahead of the 2024-25 season, and the switch was front and center on Tuesday, as the first round of the world’s most prestigious club competition extended into the new year for the first time.
The first round of the seventh round in the history of the tournament was not a disappointment. Liverpool He picked up where he left off in 2024, with a win that kept the Reds perfect heading into the final round of the new ‘League’ stage.
last year’s summer, Borussia DortmundHe entered the day with a chance to jump to second place in the table for the No. 36 team, but wasted a 1-0 lead in the first half in Italy and lost to Bolognawhile Barcelona They came back from several goals down in the second half to get the three points amid heavy rain Lisbon.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s nine games.
Barcelona shocks Benfica by four in an exciting match with nine goals
It says a lot about Barcelona’s performance in the Champions League this season that, even if they had lost on Tuesday, the five-time European champions would have remained second in the 36-team standings regardless of Wednesday’s results, when Round 7 concluded.
Defeat seemed inevitable during most of the match that took place on Tuesday away to Benfica. The visitors fell behind less than two minutes after kick-off. The score was 3-1 before the end of the first half.
Barcelona made it 3-2 after the break, but the hosts restored their two-goal lead with just 22 minutes left in normal time. Then all hell broke loose.
In what will surely be one of the most memorable non-knockout finishes in the history of the competition, Hansi Flick’s side came back to level on goal difference. Eric Garcia and Robert Lewandowski. With Benfica pressing hard to achieve the late winning goal, Barcelona launched a quick, lightning-fast counterattack led by the team’s players. Rafinha. The Brazilian striker took the opportunity himself, sending Barcelona’s fifth goal of the evening past the team’s goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin To complete the wonderful comeback.
First place Liverpool finds a way to win again
New year, same old story for the Reds. While Arne Slott’s previously unstoppable side have a very average record of 2W-1L-2T in all competitions since the start of January – including drawing two of their last three Premier League matches – Liverpool have been lights out. In the Champions League all the time. season. This continued at Anfield on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over the French team night.
This doesn’t mean it was easy. while Mohamed Salah He put the hosts ahead with the opening goal about 10 minutes before the end of the first half, courtesy of Canadian striker Lille’s star player Jonathan David The goal was disallowed against the run of play and momentum just after the hour mark; The visitors had completed the match with ten players moments ago, when right-back Issa Mandi received his second yellow card in the match.
But as they have done all season in European play, Liverpool found a way to win. The decisive blow came from the young man Harvey Elliott In the 67th minute.
After that, the hosts settled the match brilliantly, improving the score to 7-0. Having already qualified for the round of 16, the Reds concluded the first round away to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on 29 January.
More misery for Dortmund
The Champions League has been a throwback to the Black and Yellows’ struggles in the Bundesliga this season. A morale-boosting win over Bologna in Italy certainly looked on the cards on Tuesday, as the visitors remained 1-0 ahead in the 70th minute thanks to Serho Geraci The first half was a penalty kick.
Then everything changed in the blink of an eye. First, Bologna managed to equalize This Dalinga. Less than 60 seconds later, the hosts took the lead for good Samuel Elling Jr He took advantage of his opportunity with a wonderful shot with his left foot:
The defeat is the latest setback for Borussia Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin, who may not be present when Dortmund take on Shakhtar Donetsk later this month in the first round of the final.
As for Bologna, while a victory will not be enough to boost the Italian team into the qualifiers regardless of what happens at Sporting Lisbon in the eighth round (they have only five points from seven matches), a victory over the losing qualifier for the 2023-24 season will He was Enough to make history: it was the club’s first ever Champions League win.
Doug McIntyre is a FOX Sports football writer who covers the events US Men’s and women’s national teams in the FIFA World Cup finals on five continents. Follow him on @By Doug McIntyre.
Want great stories delivered straight to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports accountand follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Get more from the Champions League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
