Mohamed Salah helped keep Liverpool’s excellent document within the Champions League on Tuesday whereas holders Actual Madrid bounced again from their defeat at Anfield to topple in-form Italians Atalanta.
Elsewhere, struggling Paris Saint-Germain gained a significant win at Salzburg, whereas Bayer Leverkusen edged Inter Milan to maneuver second.
Aston Villa, of their first look within the continent’s elite membership competitors for 41 years, maintained their vivid progress beating Leipzig 3-2 to sit down third.
The primary eight groups qualify immediately for the final 16 with these positioned ninth to 24 coming into a play-off spherical.
In Spain, Salah’s 63rd-minute penalty proved decisive towards dogged debutants Girona to increase the Premier League leaders’ document to 6 from six within the revamped format of Europe’s flagship membership competitors.
Below new coach Arne Slot Liverpool are just about assured a spot within the final 16.
“If you happen to ask me about all six video games, I am actually happy with all the outcomes… (however) I am removed from happy concerning the efficiency tonight,” Slot advised reporters in Girona.
“(We had) hardly any management at all around the sport, possibly the second half was a bit higher however then I am attempting to be optimistic.”
Salah despatched Paulo Gazzaniga the flawed method to internet his fiftieth Champions League aim, pulling the Egyptian stage with Filippo Inzaghi because the tenth highest goalscorer of all-time within the competitors.
The winger is out of contract on the finish of the season however his 16 targets throughout all competitions have been important in Liverpool’s excellent first half of the season.
Whereas Liverpool are sitting fairly with two league section rounds to return early subsequent 12 months, kings of Europe Actual Madrid, overwhelmed 2-0 by Liverpool final day out, have work to do to make sure their progress into the knockout section.
Kylian Mbappe gave Actual a tenth minute lead earlier than hobbling off injured in Atalanta, his strike was cancelled out by Charles de Ketelaere’s penalty in first-half extra time.
– Settle nerves –
Actual coach Carlo Ancelotti began Vinicius Junior for the primary time since a hamstring drawback final month. The Brazilian had Actual again on prime earlier than the hour, with Jude Bellingham additionally on the scoresheet for a 3-2 win over the Serie a leaders.
The hard-fought victory moved Actual as much as 18th on 9 factors and can have helped to settle any nerves on the 15-time European champions forward of video games towards Salzburg and Brest in January.
PSG put the wheels again on their stuttering marketing campaign with a a lot wanted 3-0 defeat on the street at Salzburg.
The French champions went into this encounter in twenty fifth with simply 4 factors and three targets scored after 5 matches.
They method their final two league outings in provisional twenty fourth – the ultimate berth for the play-offs forward of Wednesday’s video games.
Bayern swept apart Ukraine facet Shakhtar Donetsk in Gelsenkirchen 5-1. Fellow Bundesliga giants Leverkusen turned the primary workforce to attain towards Inter on this 12 months’s competitors in a 1-0 win that lifted them 5 factors adrift of Liverpool on the prime of the league.
One other noteworthy efficiency on matchday six got here on the Brittany coast the place modest French Ligue 1 outfit Brest dished out a 1-0 defeat to former European champions PSV Eindhoven.
It left the Atlantic port metropolis membership flying excessive in fifth of their first ever look at European soccer’s excessive desk.
In different video games, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb remained in rivalry for the knockout spherical after an uninspiring 0-0 draw and Membership Brugge beat Sporting 2-1.
Headline matches on Wednesday embrace Manchester metropolis at Juventus, and Barcelona at Borussia Dortmund.
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