Saudi club Newcastle squander everything late on
A number of decisions were made on the final group match day of the Champions League preliminary round: Newcastle United are knocked out completely, while Porto send Donetsk to the Europa League. FC Barcelona surprisingly lost in Antwerp and Celtic Glasgow at least left the European stage victorious.
Thanks to a hard-fought 2:1 (0:1) against Newcastle United, AC Milan saved themselves in third place in Dortmund's Champions League group and prevented a complete exit from the European Cup. After taking the lead through Joelinton (33'), Milan hit back with Christian Pulisic (59') and Samu Chukwueze (84'). Only the loss in the head-to-head tie with Paris Saint-Germain, who were held to a 1-1 draw by BVB, cost Milan second place and a place in the last 16. Newcastle, on the other hand, slipped to fourth place on the final matchday and are no longer represented internationally.
While the English club, which is owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, squandered everything, Shakhtar Donetsk were also forced to bow out of the round of 16. The Ukrainian champions lost 3:5 (1:2) at FC Porto on the final group stage matchday and will therefore play in the Europa League after the winter break. The goals from Danylo Sikan (29'), an own goal from Eustaquio (72') and Eguinaldo (88') were not enough for Shakhtar, who play their European Cup home games at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion. The Portuguese, for whom the Brazilian Galeno (9th, 43rd), Mehdi Taremi (62nd), former star Pepe (76th) and Francisco Conceicao (82nd) were successful, snatched one of the two remaining tickets for the last 16.
FC Barcelona were surprisingly defeated 2:3 (1:1) by FC Antwerp with national team captain İlkay Gündoğan and other regulars in the starting line-up. Gündoğan set up Marc Guiu's equalizer with a free-kick in stoppage time (90.+1), but Antwerp then scored a third goal. The Catalans, who had already qualified, still managed to finish top of the group because Shakhtar Donetsk lost at FC Porto.
Atlético Madrid decided the duel for victory in Group E in their favor, beating Lazio Roma 2:0 (1:0). Antoine Griezman (6) and Samuel Lino (51) scored. Feyenoord Rotterdam lost 2-1 (0-1) to Celtic Glasgow, but had already secured third place before kick-off. It was the only win for the Scots in the group stage. Luis Palma had put Celtic ahead from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, Yankuba Minteh (82nd) equalized shortly before the end before Gustaf Lagerbielke scored the final goal in stoppage time (90.+1).
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- Borussia Dortmund missed the opportunity to secure a direct spot in the Champions League round of 16, as they could only draw 1-1 against Paris St. Germain, allowing AC Milan to take third place in their group.
- In the same Champions League group, FC Barcelona managed to finish first despite a shocking 2:3 loss to Antwerp, thanks to Shakhtar Donetsk's defeat at Porto.
- Meanwhile, Lazio Rome could not secure a victory against Atlético Madrid in their Champions League match, losing 2-0, while Celtic Glasgow celebrated their only group stage win against Feyenoord Rotterdam.
- After the Champions League group stage matches, the attention now turns to the Europa League, where Borussia Dortmund's rivals, Borussia Mönchengladbach, will be representing Germany, having qualified from their group.
Source: www.ntv.de
