Dutch masters Feyenoord made Champions League history on Tuesday night when they became the first team to come back from a three-goal deficit to avoid defeat.
That their opponents were Manchester City makes the achievement of Brian Priske’s team all the more extraordinary while the Sky Blues made some history of their own. Pep Guardiola’s men have conceded two or more goals in each of their last six games, the first time a City team has been so consistently generous since way back in the 1960s!
What’s going on at the Etihad? Yes, City are missing the highly influential Rodri and his replacement in defensive midfield Mateo Kovacic, but this team included the likes of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, Ederson, Manuel Akanji, and Kevin De Bruyne from the bench. And two goals from Haaland, one either side of half time and a third from Gundogan seemed to have the Sky Blues back on track until they capitulated…again.
Defensive frailties have been a feature of City’s malaise and individual errors from Ederson and Josko Gvardiol helped Feyenoord roar back through Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko. When the third was nodded in there was bedlam in the away end and there will be some sore heads in Rotterdam this morning!
They currently sit 15th in the table but the latest Champions League 2024 betting odds still rate the Sky Blues as joint favourites to win the tournament, alongside Liverpool and Real Madrid. Feyenoord are in 20th place and, like Manchester City, in a potential play-off spot.
Arsenal show City how to do it
One of Ruben Amorin’s last acts as boss of Sporting Lisbon, before he began his new career at Manchester United, was to lead his Portuguese team to a thumping 4-1 win over Manchester City. But on Tuesday Amorin’s old side had a huge reality check when they were pummelled on their home turf by Arsenal, the team currently fourth in the Premier League table and two places behind Guardiola’s Sky Blues. The Gunners were three up by the break as Bukayo Saka ran riot on the right wing and Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel all scored. Goncalo Inacio pulled one back for the hosts just after the break but any thoughts of another remarkable comeback on the night were quashed when Saka stroked home a penalty. Leandro Trossard added a fifth late in the game and Arsenal had completed their statement 5-1 victory.
After Manchester City had failed to tame Sporting’s red hot striker Viktor Gyokeres three weeks ago, this was a statement performance from the Gunners, in attack and defence, and the win moved them up to seventh, one place above Sporting.
Lewi is a Champions League Centurion
In my recent SBOTOP round up of the race for the La Liga Golden Boot I said Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski will take some catching. And this week the Poland legend has been grabbing the Champions League 2024 news headlines, as he became the third player in the competition’s history to score 100 goals. Barcelona beat the hitherto undefeated Brest, the surprise package of the tournament, thanks to two goals from Lewi, his 100th and 101st and a third from Euro 2024 hero Dani Olmo.
Lewandowski joins, guess who? No prizes of course but he’s now in a stellar threesome alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Blaugrana climbed up to second place behind lnter Milan, who edged past Red Bull Leipzig thanks to a Castello Lukeba own goal, meanwhile Brest are in ninth place with more games to come on Wednesday and Thursday.
So it was a night of celebration for Lewandowski and Barcelona but there was more strife for Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique who watched his side fall to a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich, as Kim Min-jae headed the only goal of the game on 38 minutes. The Bavarians dominated for much of the second half, particularly after PSG’s Ousmane Dembele had been sent off early in the second period.
Bayern are up to 11th with three wins and two defeats form five games but the Ligue 1 leaders are in peril, they are in 26th place, which means automatic elimination, and six points from automatic qualification for the knockouts…with just three games left. And those three games could hardly be trickier with two more matches away in Germany, to a very strong Red Bull Leipzig and a dangerous VfB Stuttgart and, sandwiched between those two, a home game against Manchester City.
Enrique’s only hope is that the Sky Blues are still struggling by the end of January…but I just can’t see it!
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