Disappointment for Lokomotiv and unnecessary help to Porto
The next game day of the Champions League began for Russian fans with disappointment. Lokomotiv lost to Schalke and flew out of the European cups. Moreover, in case of victory, the railroad workers would move to third place in Group D and enter the Europa League, because in a parallel match the unmotivated Porto helped the wards of Yuri Semin and outplayed Galatasaray 3: 2.
However, the capital team could not help itself. Two dangerous moments - everything that the current champions of Russia showed at the opponents' goal in 90 minutes. In this case, “Schalke” played actually reserve composition. Gelsenkirhentsy, as well as Porto, secured themselves in advance of the playoffs, and the head coach of the German team, Domenico Tedesco, in a meaningless match, allowed some leaders to rest and gave playing time to young players.
As a result, the host team, far from the main part of the meeting, had an advantage and, on the 91st minute, regularly pulled out three points after filing with the standard.
Fans of Lokomotiv can only remember with annoyance the moment missed by Igor Denisov at the very end of the first half. For the rest, the railway workers acted as if the draw was completely satisfactory. Perhaps, for the last match of the season, they simply did not have enough strength, given the heavy schedule of the capital's squad at the end of the year.
And the Porto footballers not only celebrated yet another success in the group stage, but also helped their experienced goalkeeper Iker Casillas to become just the second player in history who managed to win a hundred victories in the Champions League. The first to cross this line is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atletico missed leadership and Golovin's disease
In Group A, in the last round, only one question remained relevant - who would get first place, Dortmund Borussia or Atletico. In the case of misfire Real Madrid leadership at the last moment could intercept a team from Germany.
It seemed that Diego Simeone's wards on the road could easily overcome the modest Brugge, but this did not happen - the teams could not print each other’s gates. Borussia missed a direct competitor with pleasure and took advantage of it and sent two unanswered goals to the Monaco goal on the road. The double was designed by the Portuguese defender of the guests Rafael Gereiro.
And the Russian footballer Monegasque Alexander Golovin did not even get into the application for the match due to a mild cold. The athlete had to miss a few days, and Thierry Henry decided not to risk his health in a meaningless match.
The steps of Inter from PSV and the rescue of Tottenham in Barcelona
Much more interesting is the situation in group B, where Inter and Tottenham have in absentia challenged the second start in the playoffs. The teams came to the last round with an equal number of points, but the English team was ahead due to a slight advantage in personal meetings.
Thus, the Milanese in the final match was required to show a better result than the Londoners. At the same time, Inter took over the outsider PSV at home, and Tottenham had to compete at the Camp Nou against Barcelona, which had secured its first place.
It is not surprising that Ernesto Valverde decided to provide rest to a number of leaders and released some young players on the field, for example, Carlos Alain and Munir El-Haddadi. But this did not prevent the hosts to open an account already in the seventh minute, and Usman Dembele excelled, the lateness of which to the training session has been actively discussed for the last couple of days.
It seemed that Inter fans could rejoice, but the Nerazzurri themselves unexpectedly missed out in the 13th minute. PSV with one point in the asset came to Milan to play at your pleasure and quickly opened the scoring.
Luciano Spalletti’s wards were able to recoup only in the middle of the second half. The captain of the team, Mauro Icardi, with a header from several meters still forced the opponent to capitulate.
But in second place, “Inter” was only ten minutes. Shortly before the final whistle, “Tottenham Hotspur” went away from a defeat in Barcelona. Londoners could have done this before, but as a part of the opponent he caught real courage Jasper Silessen. However, he was unable to parry the shot of Lucas Moura at close range.
In the remainder of the time, Inter’s footballers in Italy tried to score in panic, but the match with PSV ended in a draw. Mark Van Bommela's young team finally slammed the door loudly and left the Milanese without the Champions League playoffs.
Terrible tackle Van Dyck and defeat in Serbia
But perhaps the most interesting match of the day took place in England, where he took “Napoli” as part of Group C. In the run-up to the quartet, a very simple situation developed - the hosts had to win, otherwise they remained in third place, and the Italian team went to the playoffs.
And the teams started the match without swinging. Liverpool had no choice but to go forward, and Napoli was happy to run into dangerous counterattacks. In the course of one of them, Virgil Van Dyck almost tore off Dries Mertens' leg in the roughest subcategory, but the judge showed the Dutchman only a yellow card.
And in the middle of the half, the hosts scored the only and decisive goal. Mohamed Salah played perfectly: put the body to one defender, walked away from the other and struck between the legs of the goalkeeper.
After the break, the score did not change, although there were plenty of moments for both teams. One Sadio Mane had three excellent opportunities to put an end to the match, but did not take advantage of any.
“Napoli” could have completed the standoff in his favor in the 92nd minute, when Arkadiusz Milik hit the point after a kick from the flank, but Alison Becker miraculously saved the hosts from the missed ball.
In another match of the PSG group on the road, he expectedly crushed “The Red Star” - 4: 1 and retained the first place in the quartet. As part of the Parisians, Kilian Mbappé, Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Marquinhos distinguished themselves once.