Thanks to a strong Mark Flekken and joker Patrik Schick, Bayer Leverkusen achieved their important first victory in the Champions League. The efficient Werkself won 1-0 (0-0) at Benfica Lisbon under coach José Mourinho and is now on course for the play-offs with five points from four games.
Schick (65th), who had come on as a substitute eight minutes earlier, scored the victory for the Werkself after a mistake by the Benfica defense, who were able to thank their outstanding goalkeeper Flekken – and two weeks after the 7-2 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, they were lucky with two goals scored by the Portuguese record champions. Before the extremely difficult away game at Manchester City at the end of November, Bayer gained breathing room in the fight for the knockout phase.
Four days after the well-deserved 3-0 defeat at FC Bayern, coach Kasper Hjulmand had to do without his red-suspended captain Robert Andrich for the “very difficult task” in Lisbon. Ibrahim Maza started in the double six for the Werkself, which was struggling with personnel.
And the 19-year-old had to do well from the start, Benfica pushed Bayer into their own half – and missed the early lead: The fast ex-Bundesliga professional Dodi Lukebakio ran towards Flekken from a tight angle after a long ball and hit the crossbar (11th). Bayer gradually worked its way into the game through more possession of the ball without becoming really dangerous. Alejandro Grimaldo, as usual, often moved from the left-wing position to the attacking midfield against his former club, but was initially unable to make any impact. That’s what the hosts did in front of the Bayer goal: Ex-Mainz player Leandro Barreiro got stuck with his shot and Lukebakio’s follow-up shot ended up in the arms of Flekken (26′).
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And Benfica remained dangerous, Argentine world champion Nicolas Otamendi headed it onto the crossbar (33′). On the other side, Ernest Poku suddenly appeared in front of the goal after a beautiful pass, but missed miserably (36th) – the best chance for the German runner-up. A little later, Claudio Echeverri wasted a promising counterattack (39′). On the other side, Lukebakio once again missed the 1-0 lead in the duel with Flekken (43′).
Bayer also struggled at the start of the second half and Benfica pressed for the lead. The outstanding Flekken saved with his foot against Evangelos Pavlidis (47th). Bayer then took the lead out of nowhere: Grimaldo sent Schick strong, but the Czech was initially denied by Anatolij Trubin. Benfica’s Samuel Dahl headed the rebound back to Schick, who this time stayed cool. Bayer then defended their lead passionately.
Barcelona come back from being three times behind – and are lucky in the end
FC Barcelona did not get past a 3-3 (1-2) draw at Club Bruges in the Champions League. The team of former national coach Hansi Flick suffered a setback in the fight for direct qualification for the round of 16 thanks to the happy draw in the end, while the Belgian runner-up achieved a respectable success after the 4-0 defeat at FC Bayern Munich.
In a fast-paced game from the start, Bruges took the lead three times thanks to the German U21 national striker Nicolo Tresoldi (6th) and double goalscorer Carlos Forbs (17th + 64th). Ferran Torres (8th) and Lamine Yamal (60th) equalized for Barcelona, before Bruges’ Christos Tzolis sent a cross from Yamal into his own goal in the 77th minute to make it 3-3 beheaded.
In stoppage time, Romeo Vermant initially gave Bruges a 4-3 lead, but after the VAR check the goal was withdrawn due to a foul on Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. More goals could have been scored in the game because Barcelona hit the woodwork three times.
Osimhen scores a hat-trick against Ajax
Inter Milan, meanwhile, also won its fourth game this season and now has twelve points, like leaders FC Bayern Munich and Arsenal FC. Last year’s Italian finalist defeated Kairat Almaty 2-1 (1-0). Lautaro Martinez (45th) and Carlos Augusto (67th) scored for Inter, and Ofri Arad (55th) equalized for the guests to make it 1-1. Newcastle United with the two German footballers Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw achieved a convincing 2-0 (1-0) win over Athletic Bilbao. Dan Burn (11th) and former Hoffenheim player Joelinton (49th) were the goal scorers.
Galatasaray Istanbul around national player Leroy Sané also achieved unchallenged success. The match winner in the 3-0 (0-0) away win against Ajax Amsterdam was Victor Osimhen (59th + 66th / foul penalty + 78th / hand penalty), the former Wolfsburg player scored a hat trick within 19 minutes. For Newcastle and Galatasaray it was the third win in the fourth game.