Tonight's Champions League reports.
Full-time first leg scores from Wednesday
Feyenoord 0-2 Inter
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
PSG 0-1 Liverpool
Bayern Munich 3-0 Leverkusen
Final score: Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Nothing like the madness of January’s meeting, but 10 men of Barcelona saw it through. A brilliant goal from Raphina, some fine keeping from Szczesny, and Barcelona will fancy being in the quarter-finals.
Final score: Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen
It might have been four, Joao Palhinha smashing the bar in the last minute. That’s a first win in seven for Bayern over Bayer. Bayern were the better organised and more muscular but attacked with more quality, Harry Kane starting it all with a fine fine header.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
They’ve had 32 attempts and have four more minutes to score. That seems under the time they have taken over VAR and the like.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Ooof, ball flashes across and Joao Rego, the Benfica sub is beaten to the ball. All Benfica now. Rego attempts an overhead. Then Cabral causes all sort of panic. There’s a penalty check, briefly, but waved away.
By the way, the deadlock has been broken in Paris.
Bayern 3-0 Bayer
Here’s Eric Dier, on for Kim, who survived that early knock and has helped keep Leverkusen so quiet. Goretzka is also off. It’s been a highly successful evening. Into the 90, and there’s six minutes to be added on.
Updated
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Penalty to Benfica? No, the ref rules offside. Belotti went over Sczcesny. It looked a possible penalty but he was offside.
Updated
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Lewandowski and De Jong depart, as Casado and Gerard come on to defend that lead.
Bayern 3-0 Bayer
Off goes Wirtz, and Frimpong, two stars who had a nightmare. Wirtz never got a kick. Schick comes on, a little late to introduce a striker. Garcia comes on with him.
Updated
Somehow, this is still 0-0.
Tim Smith gets in touch: “Sorry John, but I cannot see Rudi and that perm without a healthy dose of Frank Rijkaard’s phlegm attached. Two great footballers but to be remembered by that coming together. It’s a funny old game, for sure.”
Kieran McIntosh: “Stadium of Light? If I recall correctly, Sunderland aren’t in this Champions League...are they? (I don’t follow European football. Would love to see a Tyne/Wear side in there though.) .”
Estádio da Luz – where do you think the Mackems got the idea from?
Alan Cunningham: “Thank your for your CL-MBM, but you still have a little to learn about German football. Saying ‚,Offenbach, the Frankfurt team‘‘, would be the direct equivalent of saying ‚‘‘Sunderland, the Newcastle team‘‘,. I hope for your sake there are no Kickers fans watching!”
Yes, I meant the rankfurt Rhein-Mainz area. Some good Offenbach graffiti in Frankfurt, a place I know well.
Goal! Bayern 3-0 Bayer (Kane, 75)
Kane smashes it into the top of the net with just one step and a lash with very little backlift. The tie is surely over.
Updated
Penalty for Bayern!
Tapsoba holds Harry Kane, and is caught doing so. Xabi Alonso a sickened man.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
It’s Barca finding all the spaces now in Lisbon, and happy to hold the ball. Though Aursnes does force a save from Szcesny, who remains rock solid. Not bad for someone who was retired a few months ago.
Bayern 2-0 Bayer
Munich going for the throat. Olise, who has been lively, forces a save from the unfortunate Kpvar.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Two games with ten men, but it’s the Catalans who are showing how to do it, rather than Bayer.
Goal! Benfica 0-1 Barcelona (Raphina, 62)
The man who sank Benfica last time, Raphina, scores a beauty, taking it down, and shooting, barely a half-chance, perhaps taking a deflection but his 25th of the season.
Updated
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
So far, Barcelona have gone against type and defended well, though there’s plenty of space behind their…..oh.
Red card for Bayer Leverkusen!
A second yellow for Nordi Mukiele, and deservedly so for a raking foul on Coman. Ouch. Xabi Alonso is fuming with his player. Bayern in full control. They’ll want more goals.
Updated
Bayern 2-0 Bayer
Talking of goalies, Manuel Neuer has pulled up with what looks a calf problem. On comes Ulreich, the usual reserve goalie? No, the other one, Jonas Urbig, signed from Koln, 21, and looking far younger.
How many goalkeepers do they own?
Nübel, in an unusual situation even for a player taking the field against his parent club. This summer will mark five years since the 28-year-old signed for Bayern. In that time he has played one Bundesliga game for the club (the penultimate game of 2020/21 with the title long since in the bag), spent two years on loan at Monaco and is now in his second campaign of a long-term temporary assignment to Stuttgart. Nübel initially signed for one season with them, but after last season’s wildly successful campaign in which they finished runners-up – ahead of Bayern – all parties agreed to extend the loan to 2026, with the goalkeeper renewing his contract with Bayern to 2029.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Szczesny asked to make a couple of saves as Benfica chase hard for their goal. Nothing doing. The Pole had a mare in the group game but he’s played well on his return to the Stadium of Light.
Goal! Bayern 2-0 Bayer (Musiala, 54)
A gift from the goalie. What a mistake. Kovar drops the ball into the path of Musiala. He pokes in, and that’s a catastrophe.
Updated
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Bayern have a plan for Wirtz – and that’s muscle. He looks frustrated as two huge defenders follow him around and stop him playing his game. Harry Kane takes a knock. It looks like a dead leg – very painful but nothing serious. Goretzka is booked for complaining.
Updated
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
It’s a delayed start after nine minutes added on in the first half. Hansi Flick has a big grin on his face. He needs a 0-0 draw, but then again such results aren’t really in his nature.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Back underway in Munich, where the great and the good, including Rudi Völler are looking on from the execs. Rudi very much a Leverkusen man, though he started his career at Offenbach, the Frankfurt club.
Updated
Still 0-0 in Paris, somehow.
Half-time: Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
It slowed down after a frenetic start, after an amazing triple save from Trubin. The red card was a last-man thing for Cubarsi. There’s almost nine minutes added on, so many stoppages. But it’s epic stuff.
Half-time: Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Harry Kane’s goal separates the teams; Bayern have been the better team and Bayer oddly quiet. Michael Olise showed off his quality in supplying the assist.
Updated
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Martinez has a knock, Leandro Barreiro, the Luxembourger with the tackle. Martinez is booked for dissent after he complains about the ferocity of that tackle.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Bayern bludgeoning away, Musiala’s shot deflected behind. Bayer defending deep, though narrow. Olise is lively, he’s really fit in well in Munich.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Pavlidis has a shot blocked. It’s him, Kokcu and Akturkoglu taking it to Barcelona now. But Benfica have still yet to score the goal they want.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Kane and Xhaka indulge in some Norf London “hold me back, hold me back” after Kane’s tackle by the Swiss player, and a kick after that. There’s a check for a red card…Laimer is booked for getting involved as is Mukiele for doing the same.
Updated
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Michael Olise pressing across the front. Those are the demands at the top clubs. Frimpong escapes down the flank for Leverkusen but there’s nobody in the centre. Kane’s scored but barely been since. That’s his way, these days.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Lamine Yamal has not seen too much of the ball in Lisbon. Kounde despite being a defender goes on the overlap. If any team can hold off the other with 10 men it’s a team that passes the ball like Barca. Raphina has been more to the fore.
Updated
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
What can Bayer find? Bayern look as comfortable as they ever have against Leverkusen. Kimmich has a shot from long range.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Olmo is withdrawn as Araujo is brought on to bolster than Barcelona defence. Olmo doesn’t look at all happy.
Updated
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Fine save by Szczesny, as Kokcu whips the free-kick, and Pavlidis wants the rebound. Benfica are going at this. This is their moment.
And Liverpool escaped that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia goal – he was offside.
Red card for Barcelona!
Pavlidis bursts through, and Cubarsi fouls him outside the box, and he’s taken the man. The claim is he won the ball but he didn’t take much of it. No penalty but a denial of a goalscoring opportunity. VAR back the ref. 70 minutes with 10 men.
Updated
It’s 1-0 to PSG, by the way. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored against Liverpool
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Pavlidis, such a star for Benfica – and Greece – this season, makes a pest of himself. He scored a hat-trick in the previous meeting, and still ended up on the losing side.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Neuer to the rescue when it seems Frimpong might score. Bayern break but Michael Olise takes a bit too much time over the ball. He does, though, win a free-kick. Kane lashes it, and there’s a handball claim. It looked soft, though Michael Oliver is the ref so who knows? It’s waved away eventually.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Trubin makes three amazing saves after the ball is zipped across to Lewandowski. Barca just can’t force the ball home. The Ukrainian, and Carreras, get it clear.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Slow and steady in Lisbon, buildup play sending Jules Kounde on the overlap but his cross is saved by Trubin.
Goal! Bayern 1-0 Bayer (Kane, 9)
Michael Olise’s cross and Kane snaffles it up, running into the flight of the ball and heading down. That’s a great header, the type the English made their own.
Updated
Bayern 0-0 Bayer
Kim seems to be OK, no sign of Eric Dier just yet. Leon Goretzka had a header hacked away.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Barca try to calm things down with the usual passing interchanges. Nobody wants the madness of last time.
Updated
Bayern 0-Bayer
Granit Xhaka has started well for Bayer, for whom he is such a key man in midfield. Kim, the Korean defender, seems to have a knock, and a bad one. His knee looks to have twisted and there’s obvious pain.
Updated
And away we go across Europe for the last of the first legs.
Inside 20 seconds Sczczesny has to make a save from Akturkoglu, Benfica start at a hell of a rate. It’s either foggy or smoky in Munich, the latter more likely.
In Lisbon, and in Munich, we are just about ready to go.
Zach Neeley gets in touch: “I realize all football fans can be guilty of acting like the worst person with his beverage of choice and “keep drinking that garbage” but I’ve never watching a club World Cup game and don’t plan on changing that. I was so excited to see the women’s version has been delayed, just a scheduling clogging, injury increasing boondoggle.”
Updated
Remember when the Champions League was the Big Cup? Well, Don Gianni’s making sure the Saudi money is spread around.
Full-time: Feyenoord 0-2 Inter
Good, professional job done by Inter in Rotterdam. Not a good week for the Dutch clubs. They’ll have it all to do next week. Thuram and Martinez got the goals and Inter continue to look imperious in defence.
Feyenoord 0-2 Inter
The Dutch team seem to have lost all momentum, that penalty save merely keeping the score down rather than being a platform to get back into the tie. De Kuip is quiet in the 90th minute.
For Bayern, Coman over Sane is the call made by Vinny Kompany. No Schick or Boniface for Leverkusen as Frimpong and Adli leads the the attack with Wirtz pulling strings.
For Barcelona, Cubarsí partners with Iñigo Martínez at the back. The midfield trio will be De Jong, Olmo, and Pedri. Lewandowski has scored nine times against Benfica in his Champions League career.
Benfica’s main surprise is Dani not starting, with Bruno Lage playing things safe
Feyenoord 0-2 Inter
Feyenoord haven’t been able to find much and now Osman, the Brighton loanee, is suspended for the second leg.
By the way, PSG v Liverpool teams. That’s one hell of an attack Liverpool are facing in Paris.
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Neves, Vitinha, Fabian, Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Barcola. Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Kimpembe, Goncalo Ramos, Doue, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Zaire Emery, Lucas Beraldo, Mbaye.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jota. Subs: Jaros, Kelleher, Endo, Nunez, Chiesa, Jones,
Elliott, Tsimikas, McConnell, Quansah, Nyoni.
Zielinski's penalty saved!
Inter would have been in full control but Timon Wellenreuther went low and to the left of the taker. Joy at De Kuip!
Updated
Penalty to Inter!
Jeyland Mitchell caught Thuram’s heel – VAR calls over the German ref, and it’s awarded.
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen teams
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Olise, Musiala, Coman, Kane. Subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Gnabry, Sane, Dier, Joao Palhinha, Ito, Guerreiro, Boey, Vidovic, Muller, Stanisic.
Bayer Leverkusen: Kovar, Mukiele, Tah, Hermoso, Hincapie, Frimpong, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo, Adli, Wirtz. Subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Hofmann, Tapsoba, Arthur, Schick, Buendia, Tella, Boniface, Garcia.
Benfica v Barcelona teams
Benfica: Trubin, Araujo, Silva, Otamendi, Carreras, Aursnes, Barreiro, Kokcu, Akturkoglu, Pavlidis, Schjelderup. Subs: Soares, Arthur Cabral, Belotti, Prestianni, Dahl, Nuno Felix, Santos, Bajrami, Rego, Sanches, Prioste, Felix.
Barcelona: Szczesny, Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde, de Jong, Gonzalez, Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha, Lewandowski. Subs: Pena, Kochen, Araujo, Torres, Fati, Torre, Lopez, Casado, Victor, Garcia, Fort, Gerard.
Feyenoord 0-2 Inter
One hell of a miss from Feyenoord’s Moder. The ball was slipped into his path, but perhaps too quickly. He snatched at it.
Goal! Feyenoord 0-2 Inter (Martinez, 50)
Lautaro Martinez, the skipper, smashes home after some pinball, calmed down by Bastoni’s touch. Wallop, and Inter are set fair.
Updated
Feyenoord 0-1 Inter
Back underway in Rotterdam.
Last time Benfica and Barcelona met:
Action from Paris here.
Good evening, you join us with the score in the earlier game Feyenoord 0-1 Inter, with Marcus Thuram grabbing the goal. It was fairly even stuff in Robin van Persie’s first UCL game in charge of his beloved Rotterdam club. It’s half-time at De Kuip.
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Preamble
A night of familiar foes awaits. Bayer Leverkusen broke Bayern’s dominance in Germany and if the formerly eternal champions are ahead in this season’s Bundesliga, they still can’t get the better of Bayer, winless in the last six encounters. Xabi Alonso and Florian Wirtz may well be Bayern faces of the future, but for now, Vincent Kompany’s team must find a way, starting at the Allianz.
As for Benfica and Barcelona, it’s a rivalry that extends back to 1961, pre-Eusebio for Benfica, as they denied Barcelona the chance to become European Cup winners like Real Madrid has been the previous five years. Time and tide has regularly rejoined the Iberian giants, not least earlier this season, one of the maddest games in many seasons, a 5-4 win for Barça.
More of the same, let’s hope so? With the latest from Feyenoord v Inter and PSG v Liverpool in the mix, too. Join me.
