Champions League .. Saint-Germain to decide qualification and a last chance for the "old lady"

Paris Saint-Germain will have an ideal opportunity to qualify for the final price of the Champions League, when it hosts Maccabi Haifa in the fifth penultimate round of Group H competitions, while Juventus will have a last chance to avoid exit, but the task will be very arduous in Benfica portugal hospitality.


At the Parc des Princes, after two straight draws with Benfica with a score of 1-1, Saint-Germain will be a candidate to settle its qualification by defeating its guest Maccabi Haifa, who lost to the Paris club 1-3 in the first leg at home.


Saint-Germain leads the group standings with eight points and a difference in goals scored against Benfica as a result of their draw in the two direct matches between them, and therefore will guarantee his ticket to the final price before he is a guest in Turin during the final round in the event of a victory over Maccabi Haifa, or even in the event of a draw provided that Juventus does not win in Portugal.

The best player in football history

Since its draw at home with Benfica in the absence of Argentine star Lionel Messi, Saint-Germain achieved two good results locally by defeating rivals Marseille 1-0 through the Brazilian Neymar, and then against Ajaccio 3-0 thanks to a double by Kylian Mbappe and a goal by Messi, who received special praise from his coach Christophe Galtier. Considering that "people come to the stadium to see Leo play. He is the best player in the history of football."


"He loves to play with others, he has this desire to play for others (his teammates). He is unselfish and he was great in scoring the second goal."


And at the "Da Lush" stadium in Lisbon, Juventus will have a very difficult task against Benfica, who dropped the Italian team in their stronghold in the first leg with a 2-1 victory.


There is no alternative for Juventus to win in the Benfica stronghold if it wants to maintain its hopes of qualifying for the final price, as it occupies third place with three points and 5 behind the leading duo after falling in the previous round at Maccabi zero-2, which gave the latter its first victory in the group stage. Since October 29, 2002, when he beat Manchester United 3-0, the task of the Turin giant has been greatly complicated.


Despite the defeat against Maccabi, club president Andrea Agnelli renewed his confidence in coach Massimiliano Allegri, saying, "I am ashamed of what is happening right now. In this kind of situation, there is no single person to take responsibility, and I'm talking about Allegri here. It is a situation related to the whole group and we must move forward. There is no culprit and the problem is not related to the coach if we fail to intercept a ball... Allegri remains as coach of Juventus."


Juventus breathed a sigh of relief after the defeat in Israel, by beating its neighbor Torino 1-0 in the league and then against Empoli 4-0, which gives it the necessary moral boost for its visit to the Benfica stronghold, which is enough for a draw to qualify, provided that Maccabi does not win in Paris.


After Friday's victory, Allegri stressed, "We need to be good on Tuesday, on the one hand because we have not been eliminated (so far) from the Champions League, and on the other hand because we are not decisive for our qualification to the Europa League (ie third place)."

Chelsea faces a difficult task, and Haaland is the guest of Dortmund

And in the fifth group, Chelsea, the Englishman, will win his card, but the task will not be easy at all in the hospitality of Austrian Red Bull Salzburg, who are behind the team of coach Graham Potter by only a point, and behind them are AC Milan and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia, who are facing each other at the latter’s stadium and each has four points.


Chelsea needs to beat the Austrian team, which forced the London club to a tie in the first leg at “Stamford Bridge”, in order to resolve its qualification regardless of the outcome of the second match, and it will also qualify in the event of a tie provided Milan win in Croatia, while it will guarantee the lead if it wins and ends. The second match is a draw.


The London team enters the meeting with somewhat shaky spirits after failing to win during the last two stages of the league, the last of which was on Saturday when it advanced against rivals Manchester United in the 87th minute before receiving a 1-1 equalizer in stoppage time, but has not yet lost any of the His eight matches since Potter replaced German Thomas Tuchel.


After Real Madrid, the defending champion, won the first card in Group F, coach Carlo Ancelotti's team will visit the German Leipzig, which is competing with Shakhtar Donetsk for the second card, while the Scottish Celtic is out of the competition with its only point so far.


Real will guarantee the top of the group in the event of a tie, while Leipzig will receive the second card in the event of its victory over the Royal Club and the loss of Shakhtar in Scotland.


Like Real, Manchester City qualified for Group G by drawing in the previous round with Copenhagen, which makes it play Tuesday's match against Borussia Dortmund without pressure in a meeting that will mark the first appearance of its new star, Norwegian Erling Halland, at the stadium of his former team.


A draw will be enough for Pep Guardiola's team to guarantee the top of the group before a round of the final, while Dortmund needs to win to ensure its qualification regardless of the result of the second match between Seville and Copenhagen, who have two points, compared to 10 for City and 7 for Dortmund.

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