Arne Slot spoke to Amazon: “If we need a goal then I am not afraid to bring players in. We are organised enough to not concede a goal. If I bring attackers in they also work really hard.
“I think we can improve. Probably when Pep’s [Guardiola] team won he would say they can improve. Perfection isn’t possible. We are trying every day. We probably will never meet 10 out of 10. West Ham away was a great performance. The competition you face or the team you face tells you, that when we faced them, they weren’t at their best. City was the best game we have played so far.”
The details of that amazing game in Lisbon are quite something.Poor Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat-trick and that will likely be forgotten.
Harvey Elliott spoke to Amazon at length, and here’s the key quotes: ““It is pretty clear to be honest - I am not leaving. This is my team and my club. I’m a massive fan and we’re in a great position so far this season. I haven’t really seen the chat, but my friends have messaged me and called me about a few things. It is always going to happen in January, especially after being out for a long time and not playing as much as I want to, but that is football.
“I‘ve had conversations with the gaffer but at the same time I need to understand the situation. The team is flying - we are first in the Premier League and Champions League. For me to go in and say I should be starting it would be silly of myself really. You know what the answer is going to be. I need to stay patient.”
Unai Emery wasn’t happy with his Villans.
Jonathan David spoke to Amazon: “We came against the first of the Champions League group so we knew it was going to be a complicated game even more so when we went to 10 men. It’s frustrating, we wanted to hold on as long as we could but it’s very difficult.
“Today wasn’t our day. The togetherness. Everyone is very solid and compact. We want to play and play our game this is how we’re going to get further. I think they might be the best team in the world at the moment.”
Salah became the first player in Liverpool’s illustrious history to score 50 European goals. Think of the players that includes.
He spoke to Amazon: “I’m very proud of it. I wasn’t focused on it before the game.
“They have a really good game plan and they were unbeaten for 21 games so they’re a quite tough team. I’m glad we managed to win that game.”
Andy Hunter was at Anfield.
Liverpool needed only one point from their final two group games to guarantee a place in the knockout rounds, a place that has never once looked in doubt, and took all three courtesy of Salah’s instinctive finish and Harvey Elliott’s deflected strike. Victory equalled Liverpool’s best sequence in the Champions League era of seven straight wins, first set in 2021/22.
PC in Belize City points out: “Looks like a good night for Arsenal, with Benfica, Dortmund, Juventus, Villa and Lille missing the chance to go above them, even if Atletico and Atalanta did.”
Colum gets in touch: “I love the way Arne Slot is marshalling his troops. He brought on Harvey Elliot and Darwin Nunes on in the last few minutes against Brentford and they turned the match. Today they’re both performing well, bucked by the support from the manager. He’s using his squad so well, as he needs too as Liverpool are playing on all fronts. Witness also the clever alternation of Robertson and Tsmikas on the left flank. Can you say hi to my brother Kit, a fellow Liverpool fan?”
The table as it stands after Tuesday
Liverpool can be overtaken after that late Barca comeback. Villa are clinging on. And there’s Wednesday to come.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 7 | 13 | 21 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 7 | 15 | 18 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | Atalanta | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 7 | Inter Milan | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 9 | Brest | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 10 | Monaco | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| 11 | Lille | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| 12 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 13 | Borussia Dortmund | 7 | 8 | 12 |
| 14 | Juventus | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| 15 | AC Milan | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 16 | PSV | 7 | 3 | 11 |
| 17 | Club Brugge | 7 | -2 | 11 |
| 18 | Benfica | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 19 | Sporting | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 20 | Feyenoord | 6 | -1 | 10 |
| 21 | Stuttgart | 7 | -1 | 10 |
| 22 | Real Madrid | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 23 | Celtic | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| 24 | Man City | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 25 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | -5 | 8 |
| 26 | PSG | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 27 | Bologna | 7 | -5 | 5 |
| 28 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | -8 | 4 |
| 29 | Sparta Prague | 6 | -11 | 4 |
| 30 | Girona | 6 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Star Belgrade | 7 | -10 | 3 |
| 32 | Sturm Graz | 7 | -10 | 3 |
| 33 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | -15 | 3 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 6 | -7 | 0 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 7 | -18 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 6 | -19 | 0 |
Full-time scores
Atletico 2-1 Leverkusen
Benfica 4-5 Barcelona
Red Star 2-3 PSV
Liverpool 2-1 Lille
Club Brugge 0-0 Juventus
Slovan Bratislava 1-3 Stuttgart
Bologna 2-1 Dortmund
Earlier matches:Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa
Atalanta 5-0 Sturm Graz
Brune Lage, Wolves legend, has decided he will conduct his post-mortem on the pitch, in the rain. Shades of Phil Brown as he lays into his Benfica players.
Full-time: Benfica 4-5 Barcelona
A Champions League classic, full of goalkeeping gaffes, and some fine penalty taking, and Raphina scoring one of the oddest goals you will ever see, and also supplying one of the coolest finishes.
Red card - Arthur Cabral of Benfica
Utter chaos in Lisbon….
Goal! Benfica 4-5 Barcelona (Raphina, 90_5)
Benfica are in the Barca box, there’s a call for a penalty, and Szczesny launches the ball and Raphina, in the wind and rain, shows such calm to score….but there’s some VAR on the play…that will be no penalty. What a game! What a pair of goals from Raphina.
Updated
Full-time: Liverpool 2-1 Lille
Goals from Salah and Elliott mean Liverpool will finish top of the supergroup stage.
Goal! Atletico 2-1 Leverkusen (Alvarez, 90)
You’ve been Simeon-ed. Leverkusen have fallen into the trap and Alvarez is sent away to score by Correa. A win snatched in classic style.
Updated
Benfica 4-4 Barcelona: Szczesny makes a save…never in doubt.
Goal! Slovan Bratislava 1-3 Stuttgart (Rieder, 88)
Bratislava get excited after their gial and Stuttgart are calm and collected to score and put the game in their own hands.
Goal! Benfica 4-4 Barcelona (Garcia, 87)
What a comeback from Barca, with Pedri drifting the ball to the back post and Eric Garcia heading home.
Updated
Goal! Slovan Bratislava 1-2 Stuttgart (Metsoko, 85)
The hosts are back in it, and a lovely pass finds Metsoko to score. The pointless team can get back in this yet.
Club Brugge 0-0 Juventus: Tbe evening’s turkey sees Locatelli muster the first shot on target and a fine save from Liverpool legend Simon Mignolet.
Goal! Red Star 2-3 PSV (Dijga, 78)
The fourth corner-goal of this game, and that’s a crashing header home. Incredible. Red Star are fighting for their lives.
Updated
Red card - Hincapie, Leverkusen (75)
It’s a second yellow, baited by Simeone Jnr into pushing over the opponent. Giuliano is a chip off the old block.
Updated
Goal! Barcelona 4-3 Benfica (Lewandowski, 78 pen)
A run-up this time, and his 19th penalty in the Champions League, levelling up the record of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Updated
Penalty to Barcelona
Lamine Yamal is fouled….
Liverpool 2-1 Lille: So much happening that Liverpool’s drive to perfection is taking a back seat to events in Lisbon and Madrid. Liverpool are the only team with any security. The closing weeks of the old group stage used to be full of dead rubbers.
Goal! Red Star 1-3 PSV (Ndiaye, 71)
Red Star have a lifeline against the ten men. Nice header down. They are fighting to make that top 24.
Updated
Goal! Bologna 2-1 Dortmund (Iling-Junior, 72)
The Londoner, on loan from Villa, puts Bologna in front.
Updated
Goal! Bologna 1-1 Dortmund (Dalinga, 71)
Bologna hit back, through Dalinga…
Updated
Goal! Benfica 4-2 Barcelona (Araujo 68 OG)
Another mix-up, and Araujo seemed to want to put that in rather than Szczesny get to it.
Updated
Goal! Liverpool 2-1 Lille (Elliott, 67)
Harvey Elliott, underused and perhaps underappreciated, slides in celebration after putting Liverpool back ahead. Arne Slot, in raincoat, looks happier.
Updated
Goal! Benfica 3-2 Barcelona (Raphina, 64)
Barca are back in it, and a mix-up between keeper Trubin and his defenders, he smashes it off Raphina and in. Did he mean to do that? Amazing.
Updated
Goal! Liverpool 1-1 Lille (David, 62)
The Liverpool 100% record is under threat. Down the left, the ball comes in, and after a block by Quansah from Haraldsson, David rams the ball home. The Canadian is in superb form and that’s a shock goal.
Updated
Red card: Mandi of Lille (60)
Mandi, already on a yellow, trips up Luis Diaz, and it’s raining red in the Champions League.
Updated
Atletico 1-1 Leverkusen: Alvarez scores his seventh goal in the competition.
Goal! Atletico 1-1 Leverkusen (Alvarez, 52)
It’s a breakaway goal, as the Argentinian escapes from a Leverkusen attack breaking down and then scores. He holds off Tah and a lovely finish.
Updated
Red card for PSV - Flamingo (52)
A last-man foul sees him removed, presumably for DOGSO. PSV are three goals up, and will have to see it out with ten men.
Updated
Liverpool 1-0 Lille: Jarrell Quansah misses a good chance for a header from a corner.
Club Brugge 0-0 Juventus: Still not much happening in Bruges. Juve, the draw specialists, could be heading for their usual result.
Liverpool 1-0 Lille: Lille look to improve on their first-half display, which lacked danger.
Peter Oh gets in touch: “Wow! Barça have shipped three first-half goals to Vangelis Pavlidis? Goodness gracious, great Chariots of Fire!”
Here’s Ben Fisher’s report from Monaco.
Half-time scores
Atletico 0-1 Leverkusen
Benfica 3-1 Barcelona
Red Star 0-3 PSV
Liverpool 1-0 Lille
Club Brugge 0-0 Juventus
Slovan Bratislava 0-2 Stuttgart
Bologna 0-1 Dortmund
Earlier matches:Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa
Atalanta 5-0 Sturm Graz
Updated
Goal! Atletico 0-1 Leverkusen (Hincapie, 45+1)
Fine, fine header from a Mukiele cross and the Atleti plan of seeing out with ten is out of the window. There’s some tempers fraying.
Updated
Goal! Red Star 0-3 PSV (Flamingo, 44)
Another corner, and this time the ball bounces out and Flamengo rifles a volley home.
Liverpool 1-0 Lille: Salah is put through, in that sweet spot and yet misses, bending his left-foot shot beyond the far post.
Liverpool 1-0 Lille: Not really a great European night so far. Liverpool doing enough. Mohamed Salah in jocular chat with the referee. There is an injury to Curtis Jones at the moment.
Goal! Slovan Bratislava 0-2 Stuttgart (Leweling, 39)
There’s some VAR confusion here as Leweling takes the ball down and slots. He was onside. And the English officials are not popular in Slovakia.
Updated
Club Brugge 0-0 Juventus
It’s freezing cold in Bruges, and that’s given rise to one of those intriguing tactical battles you hear about.
Goal! Liverpool 1-0 Lille (Salah, 34)
Salah, yes, guess who. Jonathan David is robbed by Tsimikas, and a long ball forward finds the Egyptian king. A fine pass from Curtis Jones. Lille think David was fouled.
Updated
Goal! Benfica 3-1 Barcelona (Pavlidis, 30 pen)
A hat-trick for the Greek striker. He has been borne gifts by Szczesny, who has had a nightmare.
Penalty to Benfica!
Szczesny – oh no – runs out and collides with Aktürkoğlu. It’s almost as if he was a retired goalkeeper a few weeks ago.
Updated
Liverpool 0-0 Lille
This has been one of the quiter games of the night.
Red card for Atletico v Leverkusen (26)
Pablo Barrios is sliding in and rakes down the ankles of Mukiele. He doesn’t protest too much, though Diego Simeone is seething.
Updated
Goal! Red Star 0-2 PSV (De Jong, 23)
Another corner, another header and De Jong does what he does, having had the Red Star fans pelt the PSV players with snow balls.
Goal! Benfica 2-1 Barcelona (Pavlidis, 22)
And yet it’s Benfica who go back in front. Sczczesny came out on to a ball from Otamendi. He and his defender collide, and Pavlidis has an open goal to slot into. Balde got clattered. That was utter farce.
Updated
Benfica 1-1 Barcelona
Trubin, the Benfica goalkeeper, is in for a busy night as Barca pick up their rhythm. The latest save comes from Lewandowski.
Goal! Red Star 0-1 PSV (De Jong, 17)
It’s the old man, the club legend, and in the usual way, with a superb header from a corner. It’s his first goal of the Champions League campaign.
Updated
Liverpool 0-0 Lille
Promising attack by Newcastle legend Cabella but Lille delay and Liverpool get it clear. As we said before, watch out for the French teams.
Goal! Benfica 1-1 Barcelona (Lewandowski, 13 pen)
Balde is fouled, and VAR spots it. Lewandowski does his no run-up routine and slots.
Updated
Goal! Bologna 0-1 Borussia Dortmund (Guirassy, 15 pen)
He almost got caught out on the Panenka. The goalie almost gets it away.
Updated
Bologna 0-0 Borussia Dortmund
There’s a penalty call, for a shirt pull.
Goal! Slovan Bratislava 0-1 Stuttgart (Leweling, 12)
Stuttgart went at it from the start and get their reward when Denis Undav’s run sets up the chance for Leweling to convert. That puts Stuttgart in the top 20.
Updated
Benfica 1-0 Barcelona
It’s all Benfica, Barca rocking back on their heels.
Liverpool 0-0 Lille
Early sighter from Salah, who cuts inside and then shoots on goal. Not enough to beat the Lille goalkeeper.
Benfica 1-0 Barcelona
Barcelona had an early chance through Lamine Yamal but were caught cold. They’ve slipped from early season and kicked off in second place.
Goal! Benfica 1-0 Barcelona (Pavlidis, 2)
An early strike in the Iberian derby. Carreras’s ball inside and one hell of a finish from Pavlidis, first-time, and wallop. Wow!
Updated
Liverpool 0-0 Lille
Gabriel Gudmundsson has an early glimpse of the Liverpool goal and fires wide.
Kick-offs across Europe
And away we go….
A word on Dortmund, whose coach Nuri Sahin is under pressure. He’s dropped Julian Brandt and Emre Can from the match at strugglers Bologna.
Champions League football in January: it’s going to take some getting used to.
Like holding Wimbledon in August and the Six Nations in May.
Here’s the table AS IT STANDS ahead of kick-off.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 6 | 14 | 15 |
| 3 | Atalanta | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| 5 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| 6 | Inter Milan | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 8 | Brest | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 9 | Monaco | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| 10 | Lille | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| 11 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 12 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 13 | Atletico Madrid | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| 14 | AC Milan | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 15 | Juventus | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| 16 | Benfica | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Sporting | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 18 | Feyenoord | 6 | -1 | 10 |
| 19 | Club Brugge | 6 | -2 | 10 |
| 20 | Real Madrid | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 21 | Celtic | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 | Man City | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 23 | PSV | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 24 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | -5 | 8 |
| 25 | PSG | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 26 | Stuttgart | 6 | -3 | 7 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | -8 | 4 |
| 28 | Sparta Prague | 6 | -11 | 4 |
| 29 | Girona | 6 | -6 | 3 |
| 30 | Red Star Belgrade | 6 | -9 | 3 |
| 31 | Sturm Graz | 7 | -10 | 3 |
| 32 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | -15 | 3 |
| 33 | Bologna | 6 | -6 | 2 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 6 | -7 | 0 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 6 | -16 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 6 | -19 | 0 |
OK, here comes Gerry Marsden, which means it’s almost time for kick-off in the 8pm kick-offs. So much on the line tonight across the matches, many a permutation
Final score: Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa
Villa went behind early to Wilfried Singo’s goal and never got going against a very good Monaco team. A last-gasp Jhon Duran overhead wasn’t going to cut it. Villa must beat Celtic next week, while Monaco travel to Inter.
Final score: Atalanta 5-0 Sturm Graz
Atalanta were 3-0 up on Sturm Graz, and that’s going to put them in a decent position for one of those top-eight positions. Then, Ademola Lookman got the fourth in the 90th minute before Marco Brescianini got another. Sturm’s outside chance of making the top 24 is gone.
Updated
Meanwhile, in the other earlier game, Atalanta are leading Sturm Graz 1-0. That will lift them to third, though with plenty of football to be played this match day. Villa are in danger of slipping from the top eight; Monaco could go to ninth. So much to play for. Thank you, Uefa, thank you!
Not going to plan for Villa in the Principality.
Brugge v Juventus teams
Club Brugge: Mignolet, Sabbe, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper, Nwadike, Jashari, Talbi, Vanaken, Tzolis, Jutgla. Subs: Jackers, Romero, Vetlesen, Meijer, Vermant, Nilsson, Skoras, Nielsen, Siquet, Spileers, Seys.
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Savona, Gatti, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Cambiaso, Locatelli, Douglas Luiz, Weah, Koopmeiners, Mbangula, Gonzalez. Subs: Francisco Conceicao, Vlahovic, Yildiz, McKennie, Adzic, Thuram, Fagioli, Rouhi, Perin, Pinsoglio
Benfica v Barcelona teams
Benfica: Trubin, Araujo, Silva, Otamendi, Carreras, Aursnes, Florentino, Kokcu, Akturkoglu, Pavlidis, Schjelderup. Subs: Soares, Bah, Amdouni, Arthur Cabral, Di Maria, Barreiro, Prestianni, Rollheiser, Beste, Nuno Felix, Bajrami, Rego.
Barcelona: Szczesny, Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde, Casado, Gonzalez, Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha, Lewandowski. Subs: Pena, Kochen, Torres, Fati, Torre, Christensen, Lopez, Victor, de Jong, Garcia, Fort, Gerard.
So, Nunez starts for Liverpool, and Ethan Mbappé, brother of, is on the bench for Lille. “Trent” is benched though that is still a strong team selection from Arne Slot.
Liverpool v Lille teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Bradley, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Subs: Jaros, Kelleher, Endo, Konate, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Gakpo, Elliott, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Danns, Morton.
Lille: Chevalier, Mandi, Diakite, Alexsandro Victor, Gudmundsson, Mukau, Andre, Bakker, Arnar Haraldsson, Cabella, David. Subs: Mannone, Caillard, Gomes, Sahraoui, Meunier, Bayo, Mbappe, Ismaily, Bouaddi, Cossier.
Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen teams
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Molina, Gimenez, Lenglet, Galan,
Llorente, De Paul, Barrios, Simeone, Alvarez, Griezmann. Subs: Musso, Gomis, Azpilicueta, Gallagher, Koke, Correa, Lemar, Samuel Dias, Riquelme, Witsel, Mandava, Le Normand.
Bayer Leverkusen: Kovar, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie, Mukiele, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo, Frimpong, Wirtz, Tella. Subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Hofmann, Andrich, Arthur, Schick, Boniface, Garcia, Hawighorst, Stepanov, Onyeka.
Contract rebel FC.
Watch out for those French clubs: Monaco are currently beating Aston Villa, and Lille lie in wait for Liverpool.
Preamble
The seventh of eight weeks, and against many’s predictions, rather a lot to play for. Not only are there play-offs to avoid, or play-offs to seek refuge in, there’s the fact that the group stage also shapes the knockouts by using seeding to reward good group performances. So, plenty on tonight and tomorrow before next week sees 18 (eighteen) ties played at once.
The permutations are complicated but a win against Lille would see Liverpool through to the knockouts, no play-off. Beyond that, even Barcelona, despite kicking off in second against Benfica might have to wait for the final round to know their fate. They need a win and for other results to favour them, including that of Aston Villa in the early game with Monaco.
Bayer Leverkusen away to Atlético Madrid, fourth v 11th could go some way to deciding if either go to the last 16 or straight to the quarter-finals. Should Celtic beat Young Boys, the worst team in the group stage, then the play-offs beckon.
Join me for the 8pm kick-offs and the latest news.
