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Matchday four of the group stages was the reverse of matchday three as we count down towards the final matchdays and the knockout stages. We’re starting to pay more attention to the league standings and enjoying this format for the last time being UEFA completely decimate their own competition in the interest of the richer clubs. We’ll be discussing Borussia Dortmund’s game later but there was a small stoppage at the start of the second half as the fans protested the Champions League reforms with fake gold bars and a wonderful series of banners against those at the top of the European game who are pushing through this drivel at the expense of fans who just want to enjoy football. To take a German perspective from this week’s action, it was good, with no side in a bad mood due to the results.
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Newcastle: Champions League Group F
HAHAHAHAHAHA, TWO LOSSES IN A ROW TO DORTMUND! THE SAUDIS MUST BE FUMING!
But anyway let’s not focus on them, let’s focus on Dortmund who bounced back well from their Der Klassiker demolishing at the hands of Bayern to get a win that keeps them in the top two of Group F. Niclas Füllkrug opened the scoring for BVB in the first half after some good passing play with Marcel Sabitzer before Julian Brandt would round off a counter attack. This was a great win for Dortmund and they were completely dominant. It’s feels vital in so many ways as well, we’ve already discussed their Bayern battering, but progress from a tough group in the Champions League will give the side a big boost. Due to this and PSG’s loss to AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund lead the way on seven points from four. That’s still only two points clear of Milan in third and three clear of Saudi Howaybia at rock bottom. So BVB can’t celebrate yet, but they are in a better position than their visitors on Tuesday, there will be plenty of bone saws and body bags if they fail to qualify.
Crvena Zvezda 1-2 Leipzig: Champions League Group G
To plagiarise myself, this still brings me back to the letter from the ultras of Young Boys that stated that this is a game between the energy drink billboard and the side sponsored by Russian state-owned Gazprom. Red Star were better at home, but still required an own goal for their only one of the game, Leipzig deserved to win.
Napoli 1-1 Union Berlin: Champions League Group C
THE RUN IS OVER! Union Berlin have not lost for the first time in thirteen games, and they did so by getting their first Champions League point against Napoli. It didn’t feel like this would be the game to break the run before the match and it didn’t look like it through the opening stages either. Neither did it when Napoli thought they had opened the scoring just before the hour, nor when they did actually take the lead in 39th minute through Matteo Politano. Napoli dominated the first half and little changed in the second, but Union scored against the run of play, one of their classic counter attacks finished off by David Datro Fofana for his first since joining the club on loan. Credit to Jérome Roussillon for that fabulous long ball that started that break. After that, Union just had to cling on, which they did. Hopefully this can be the confidence boost that Union so desperately need to help them in the Bundesliga. It does mean that if they can win away at Braga, they have a chance to get into the Europa League. This game did confirm that Union won’t be in the knockout stages of the Champions League, but they already knew that.
Bayern Munich 2-1 Galatasaray: Champions League Group A
I don’t know if you’re aware of this reader, but that Harry Kane fella is quite good at football. The striker added another two to his collection in midweek, which isn’t exactly a surprise. It was also a surprise that neither side could open the scoring through the opening eighty minutes, though Bayern did try, and the visitors did put the ball in, but saw it rightly disallowed for offside. After that, their new superstar scored twice in six minutes to all but ensure a win, heading in a Joshua Kimmich free kick, and tapping in a Mathys Tel cross. Cédric Bakambu did score for the Turks, but who cares, four from four for Bayern, they’re through in 1st after Manchester United hilariously lost to Copenhagen.
Qarabağ Ağdam 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Europa League Group H
Not the best game Leverkusen have played this season, the trip to Azerbaijan and its capital Baku was successful in the end, but it required a penalty in the 94th minute that was scored by Victor Boniface. This was not a game where Bayer rocked up, had the overwhelming majority of the chances and just struggled to score, Qarabağ were a real test and it would have been hard to tell there was much of a difference between the sides if this was your first experience of the two. Either could have won, but that penalty ended was enough to secure passage to the knockout stages.
Freiburg 5-0 TSC: Europa League Group A
The second game between Freiburg and their Serbian opponents was not as nervy an affair as the first, a terrible defensive error should have allowed Lucas Höler to score after four minutes, but once Merlin Röhl (great name) opened the scoring in the 24th minute with his first for the club, SC were clearly going to win. That was the only goal (somehow) in the first half but Freiburg added four insurance goals in the second, Maximilian Eggestein would score, something his brother is better at (#JohannesEggestein4Balond’Or), Noah Weißhaupt wrestled past his defender like he was barely there to make it 3-0, Chukwubuike Adamu had tons of space to make it 4-0, getting his first for the club, and Ritsu Doan would score the fifth after Adamu played him through. The clear difference between the sides was their physicality, Freiburg found it far too easy to push TSC off the ball and their high press forced tons of errors. TSC couldn’t cope with their hosts all game, and the score reflects it. Five points clear with two to go, Freiburg are nearly there.
HJK Helsinki 0-1 Eintracht Frankfurt: Europa Conference League Group G
Probably a good thing that this game wasn’t at home after the NFL went and stampeded on the pitch, Eintracht took a trip to Finland and the capital of Helsinki to play Champions HJK. The last leg finished 6-0 to Die Adler, this one was not as comfortable. The only goal of the game would be for the Germans, Fares Chaibi with an amazing curling effort from the very edge of the box into the top corner. That wasn’t all the drama in this game, early on an Ellyes Skhiri backfoot flick led to a tangle of bodies fighting for the ball near the goal line, only for HJK to clear. Helsinki’s Santeri Hostikka was hit by a cup of beer in an incident that could have derailed the game entirely. The hosts also seemed to have a goal disallowed for literally no reason whatsoever. The referee blew his whistle just after a free kick was taken and I am yet to find a suitable explanation for why. Even Kevin Trapp shrugged his shoulders when asked why the goal was disallowed. Was this the clearest win? No. Was it deserved? Not really. Does it secure Frankfurt’s qualification? Yes.
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