UEFA Champions League 2020-21: Matchday 4 review

The second half of the group stage fixtures kicked off on Tuesday and Wednesday as the best teams in Europe faced off in the Champions League. Here are the events from matchday four:

Results 

• Krasnodar 1-2 Sevilla
• Rennes 1-2 Chelsea
• Lazio 3-1 Zenit
• Dortmund 3-0 Club Brugge
• Dynamo Kiev 0-4 Barcelona
• Juventus 2-1 Ferencvaros
• Manchester United 4-1 Istanbul Basaksehir 
• PSG 1-0 RB Leipzig 
• Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-0 Shakhtar Donetsk 
• Olympiacos 0-1 Manchester City 
• Atletico Madrid 0-0 Lokomotiv Moscow
• Bayern Munich 3-1 RB Salzburg 
• Inter Milan 0-2 Real Madrid 
• Marseille 0-2 FC Porto
• Ajax 3-1 Mitjylland 
• Liverpool 0-2 Atalanta

Liverpool 0-2 Atalanta

Liverpool had a moderately rotated squad as they hosted Atalanta at home. However, despite the inclusion of a returning Salah and Mane on the wings, the boys from Anfield failed to register a single shot on target throughout the 90. 

This is the first time that this has happened since the 2003-04 season since Opta started keeping stats of the competition. Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens featured on the scoresheet for Atalanta as they halted Liverpool’s journey to the knockout stages. 

Inter Milan 0-2 Real Madrid 

In the absence of club captain Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard put away a much-needed penalty to put Los Blancos ahead in the sixth minute itself. Inter played great football throughout the 90, but an Achraf Hakimi own goal ultimately put the 10-men Nerazzurri even further behind.

Antonio Conte’s team must find a way to win their last two fixtures if they are to make it to the knockout stages. Zidane’s Madrid, on the other hand, can breathe easy now that they are in second place in the group. 

Chelsea and Sevilla First to Seal Qualification to R16

Chelsea dispatched Rennes in a dramatic 2-1 victory in France, owing to Olivier Giroud’s last-minute header to put the Blues in front. Edouard Mendy conceded a goal for the first time in this Champions League campaign to his former club. But it wasn’t enough to salvage a point for the Ligue 1 club. 

Sevilla, just like Chelsea, managed to win 2-1 away from home against Krasnodar to seal qualification to the knockout stages. It took 5 minutes into injury time for the Europa League victors to steal the match from the Russians but was a very entertaining finish nevertheless. 

Best Player: Erling Haaland

The Golden Boy managed to celebrate his recent award in the Champions League with the best possible method: scoring goals. 

The 20-year-old managed to score a brace against Club Brugge in Dortmund’s 3-0 home victory. He is now the fastest player to reach 15 goals in the Champions League, with only 12 games played. 

Other Notable Incidents From the Matchday:

• Arturo Vidal managed to become the third player to be sent off for three different clubs with his red card in Inter vs Real Madrid. 
• Marseille achieved an unwanted 13 match losing streak, the longest in the competition. 
• Myrto Uzuni of Ferencvaros copied Ronaldo’s celebration after taking the lead, and eventually managed to swap jerseys with the man himself. 
• Robert Lewandowski managed to surpass Raul and become the third-highest scorer in the Champions League.