Champions League
Real Madrid dresses up as Mozart; City on the brink of doom
The reigning Champions League titleholders triumphed over Salzburg, led by a dazzling performance from Vinícius, Mbappé, and Rodrygo. Meanwhile, the English side suffered a defeat to PSG, putting them on the brink of elimination.
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Rodrygo, Mbappé and Vinícius celebrate a goal against Salzburg
With one matchday remaining in the first phase of the revamped UEFA Champions League, only two teams—Liverpool and FC Barcelona—have secured their place in the round of 16. Real Madrid, despite dominating their last match, will still need to fight for a spot in the top eight and avoid the play-in.
The reigning champions of Europe’s top competition delivered a commanding 5-1 victory over Salzburg, the team hailing from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birthplace, in what was their best performance of the Champions League so far. Despite this victory, which brought Real Madrid to 12 points, securing a direct ticket to the next round without facing the play-in will remain a challenging task.
The four strikers in Carlo Ancelotti's squad - Kylian Mbappé, Rodrygo Goes, Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham - put on quite the show against Salzburg.
"We are never going to have problems scoring goals, with Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius and Mbappé, then better to focus on defensive work, that's where we have to improve," Ancelotti said at the post-game press conference, stressing that he is at ease with the team's offensive capacity.
The front three orchestrated a masterful performance, with Bellingham conducting the midfield like a true maestro. Rodrygo opened the scoring for Real Madrid with two goals, while Vinícius, also scoring twice, delivered a grand finale at the Santiago Bernabéu. In between, Mbappé took advantage of the opposing goalkeeper's mistake and added his name to the scoresheet. Late in the game, Denmark's Mads Bidstrup found the net late in the game, ensuring Salzburg didn't leave with a clean sheet.
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Sports
Atlético de Madrid comes from behind and FC Barcelona wins in a maddening duel
Alejandro Baños
On the final matchday, Real Madrid will seek victory in France against Brest, while also relying on the results of other matches to decide whether they advance directly to the round of 16 or must play an additional round to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
City is in trouble
Manchester City finds itself in serious trouble, as they currently face elimination. The team, led by Pep Guardiola—the Champions League winners from two seasons ago—has struggled to find its best form and suffered a 4-2 defeat in France against Paris Saint-Germain, who overturned an early two-goal deficit by the English side.
All six goals at the Parc des Princes in the French capital came in the second half. City struck first with a goal from Jack Grealish, followed just three minutes later by Erling Haaland doubling the lead. However, PSG, aware of the high stakes, refused to back down. They launched a relentless offensive and quickly pulled it together.
Haaland's goal came in the 53rd minute but by the 60th minute, PSG had already tied through goals from Frenchmen Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola. Later, Portugal’s João Neves sent the fans into raptures by putting Luis Enrique Martínez's side ahead. Another Portuguese player, Gonçalo Ramos, sealed the comeback with a goal in extra time.
With this victory, PSG—despite a less-than-impressive campaign in the Champions League—now has control of its fate, needing only to beat Stuttgart in Germany to secure a spot in the play-in round. As for City, they must defeat Club Brugge and hope for favorable results from the teams above them in the standings to stay alive in Europe’s top competition.
Bayern Munich also lost 3-0 in the Netherlands to Feyenoord, with Mexican Santiago Giménez scoring twice. Arsenal also won 3-0 to Dinamo Zagreb.
Champions League results
Shakhtar 2-0 Brest
AC Milan 1-0 Girona
Arsenal 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Celtic 1-0 Young Boys
Feyenoord 3-0 Bayern Munich
PSG 4-2 Manchester City
Real Madrid 5-1 Salzburg
Sparta Prague 0-1 Inter
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