Maccabi beat Haifa 7-2 in Paris SG Champions League pre-quarters
RB Leipzig beat Real Madrid 3-2
Dortmund draw Manchester City, Chelsea win
Paris: The French club Paris SG secured the pre-quarters of the UEFA Champions League by defeating the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa by seven goals against two in the home match. Super stars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé scored double goals and Neymar scored one goal in the match of Paris.
Paris started scoring in the 19th minute through Messi. Mbappe netted in the 32nd minute and Neymar in the 35th minute. In the 38th minute, Abdoulaye Zech pulled back a goal but Messi netted again in the 44th minute to give Paris a 4-1 lead in the first half. Abdoulaye added another goal in the 50th minute. Haifa’s Sean Goldberg’s own goal in the 67th minute followed Mbappe’s second goal in the 64th minute. Carlos Soler completed Paris’ tally in the 84th minute.
Paris is first in Group H with 11 points with one game remaining. Second-placed Benfica also has 11 points. Last night, Benfica defeated the Italian club Juventus by three to four goals and secured the pre-quarters.
128
Messi scored his 128th UEFA Champions League goal against Maccabi Haifa.
Real suffered their first defeat in the Champions League this season in Leipzig. Real paid the price for not being able to play superstars Luka Modric and Karim Benzema due to injuries. Real got a goal back in the 44th minute through Vinicius Junior against Leipzig who were leading thanks to goals scored by Josco Guardiol in the 13th minute and Christopher Nkunu in the 18th minute. But Timo Werner scored the third goal for Leipzig in the 81st minute. Rodrigo scored Real’s second goal through a penalty in injury time.
Despite the defeat, Royal’s pre-quarter position has not been shaken. Real are top of Group F with 10 points with one game remaining. Leipsing is second with nine points. Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, who are third with six points after a 1-1 draw with Celtic in the last match, can reach the pre-quarters only if they beat Leipzig in the next match.
English club Chelsea has also confirmed the pre-quarters after beating Austrian club Salzburg 2-1. Chelsea won with the goals scored by Mateo Kovacic in the 23rd minute and Kai Havertz in the 64th minute. Junior Adamu netted for Salzburg in the 49th minute. With this win, Chelsea got 10 points. AC Milan, who defeated Dinamo Zagreb by four goals in the last match, are second in the group with seven points.
Manchester City have reached the pre-quarters with 11 points despite a goalless draw with Borussia Dortmund in Group G. Dortmund is in the second place with eight points. In another match of the group, the Spanish club Sevilla, who beat Copenhagen 3-0, has also maintained their pre-quarter hopes.
Competition results
PSG 7- Maccabi Haifa 2
Leipzig 3- Real Madrid 2
Chelsea 2- Salzburg 1
Dortmund 0- Manchester City 0
AC Milan 4- Dynamo 0
Benfica 4- Juventus 3
Shakhtar 1-Celtic 1
Sevilla 3- Copenhagen 0