Champions League Recap and Open Thread: November, 27, 2019

Wednesday was the second day of Champions League group stage matches for the week. It was a great day for European action.

Zenit were victorious in St. Petersburg with a 2-0 win over Lyon. Both clubs now have the exact same record, goal differential, and number of points in Group G. Zenit hold the second spot because of their win over Lyon.

Valencia drew to Chelsea at the Mestalla off of Daniel Wass’ late equalizer. They found themselves in a similar situation in Group H as Zenit and Lyon do. Chelsea are currently in second, however.

Barcelona rolled over Dortmund at the Camp Nou with a 3-1 win. Lionel Messi scored a goal and two assists to lead them to victory. Jadon Sancho also scored a great goal. Barcelona have now officially qualified for the Round of 16. Ousmane Dembele suffered another injury, this time against his old club.

Inter were able to take a 3-1 road win over Slavia Praha. Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku were a force up top with Martinez scoring a brace. With Dortmund’s loss to Barcelona, The Nerazzurri capitalized and are now second in Group F.

With their 2-0 win over Lille, Ajax moved to the top of Group H. Hakim Ziyech stayed hot with a goal alongside teammate Quincy Promes. Lille, meanwhile, have now lost four of their five Champions League matches so far.

Salzburg took a 4-1 victory at the Luminus Arena in Genk. Norwegian wonder-kid Erling Håland scored again in this match late. This now puts him at 8 goals for the European campaign, just two behind Robert Lewandowski. Red Bull are still third in Group E, but are getting closer to Napoli and Liverpool. Genk have lost their last three matches and only hold a single point in the group table.

Another Group E matchup, Liverpool drew to Napoli 1-1 at Anfield. Dries Mertens put Napoli ahead in the first half while Dejan Lovren leveled in the second. Liverpool did not play their best considering how strong they’ve been in the Premier League this season. They still remain in the top spot by a point, though. They suffered a huge loss with Fabinho injured during the match, the extent of the ankle injury is still to be determined.

Closing the match day out, Leipzig and Benfica drew 2-2 at Red Bull Arena. Benfica led 2-0 until the 90th minute when they took a penalty, which was converted by Emil Forsberg. He scored again six minutes into stoppage time to tie the match in its last moments. Benfica’s potential victory went up in flames and remain at the bottom of the Group G table, while Leipzig hold the top spot.

That concludes match week five of the group stage. There’s just one week of matches left, which takes place the second week of December. Several teams have already qualified for the Round of 16, but there’s still plenty of spots to be had.

Feel free to discuss this match week as the final week is around the corner.