2021-22 UEFA Champions League Group stage match day 5 come to conclusion today on November 24th. Total 11 teams booked their place in Round of 16 already, while remaining five places will be decided on final match day on December 7th & 8th.
Group E Match Day 5 Results and Review
Barcelona 0-0 Benfica
Xavi Hernández’s first Champions League match as a coach ended in frustration as third-placed Benfica stayed two points behind Barcelona. Teenage winger Yusuf Demir rattled the crossbar shortly before the interval in an absorbing encounter, and only a superb Marc-André ter Stegen save prevented Roman Yaremchuk’s header from putting the visitors ahead. Haris Seferović then missed a glorious chance in added time as both sides came agonisingly close to a winner in a frantic finale.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 13 home matches against Portuguese teams in UEFA club competitions, winning 11 of them.
Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Bayern
A spectacular 14th-minute bicycle kick from Robert Lewandowski set the German side on course for a fifth win as they sealed top spot in the group. Kingsley Coman doubled the lead before the break and the writing was on the wall for a Dynamo side fighting for Champions League survival. The Ukrainian titleholders battled back gamely, though, with substitute Denys Garmash halving the deficit. They came close to an equaliser too, but an understrength Bayern just about held on.
Lewandowski is the first player to score in nine successive Champions League matches twice, with both runs coming since the start of 2019/20.
Remaining Fixture of group E: Bayern vs Barcelona, Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv will be played on December 8th.
Group F Match Day 5 Results and Review
Villarreal 0-2 Manchester United
United sealed their ticket to the last 16 in Michael Carrick’s first match as interim manager. David de Gea made two fine saves from Manu Trigueros to keep the visitors level and they made the most by striking twice in the final 12 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo coolly lobbed United in front after Fred had won possession before Jadon Sancho rifled in his first for the club off the bar.
United kept a clean sheet for just the second time in 16 UEFA Champions League matches.
Young Boys 3-3 Atalanta
Atalanta must beat Villarreal on Matchday 6 to qualify after twice giving up a lead then coming back to draw in Berne. Jordan Siebatcheu cancelled out Duván Zapata’s opener and the hosts turned the game around when Vincent Sierro and Silvan Hefti struck after José Luis Palomino had restored the visitors’ lead. The Swiss side looked like they would hang on, but a superb free-kick from Luis Muriel meant the points were shared.
Atalanta have now given up leads six times in their five group fixtures, having scored first in each encounter.
Remaining Fixture of group F: Manchester United vs Young Boys, Atalanta vs Villarreal will be played on December 8th.
Group G Match Day 5 Results and Review
LOSC 1-0 Salzburg
Another goal from the prolific Jonathan David gave LOSC a first home win in the Champions League in 15 years and lifted them top of a congested section. Salzburg would have qualified with a win, but instead David settled a scrappy game from close range following Burak Yılmaz’s mazy run to set up an epic group conclusion.
David has now scored eight of LOSC’s last ten goals and 11 of their last 15 in all competitions.
Sevilla 2-0 Wolfsburg
Sevilla moved off the bottom of the group after Joan Jordán’s first Champions League goal set up victory. Jordán headed in a delightful Ivan Rakitić cross from close range in the 13th minute and Wolfsburg could not reply. Lukas Nmecha had an effort tipped onto the crossbar, but that was as close as the German visitors came, with Sevilla on top throughout and clinching victory right at the end thanks to Rafa Mir’s tap-in.
Sevilla ended a six-match winless run in the competition.
Remaining Fixture of group G: Salzburg vs Sevilla, Wolfsburg vs LOSC will be played on December 8th.
Group H Match Day 5 Results and Review
Malmö 1-1 Zenit
Yaroslav Rakitskyy’s added-time penalty earned Zenit a draw in Sweden and ensured the Russian club safe passage into the Europa League play-offs. Søren Rieks had put Malmö in front with a first-half strike, ending the club’s 388-minute wait for a goal in this season’s competition, and Johan Dahlin’s save from an Artem Dzyuba penalty shortly after the break gave Malmö hope of securing three points. However, despite Dmitrii Chistiakov being sent off for two yellow cards, Rakitskyy came up with the leveller following Rieks’ foul on Dzyuba.
Rieks is the first player to score for Malmö in the group stage since Markus Rosenberg against Shakhtar Donetsk in October 2015.
Chelsea 4-0 Juventus
Chelsea leapfrogged Juventus at the summit with an impressive display. Needing only a draw to progress, the Blues took the lead when Trevoh Chalobah, on his first Champions League start, drilled in a fine half-volley from close range following Hakim Ziyech’s corner.
Thomas Tuchel’s side then hit two goals in the space of three devastating minutes just before the hour, with Reece James rifling a powerful strike in from a tight angle and Callum Hudson-Odoi side-footing home from close range. Substitute Timo Werner rounded off the scoring with a fourth in added time.
The defeat was the heaviest Juventus have ever suffered in the UEFA Champions League.
Remaining Fixture of group H: Juventus vs Malmö, Zenit vs Chelsea will be played on December 8th.
Group A Match Day 5 Results and Review
Manchester City 2-1 Paris
A cool 76th-minute finish from substitute Gabriel Jesus ensured last season’s finalists go through as Group A winners, with Paris qualifying as runners-up. After dominating the first half, City were caught out by a slick interchange involving the visitors’ attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, culminating in the France striker firing his side ahead five minutes after the break on his 50th UEFA Champions League appearance.
Raheem Sterling prodded the hosts level, however, and Neymar put a golden chance to restore Paris’s lead wide two minutes before Jesus’s eventual winner.
City’s defeat by Paris on Matchday 2 is their only loss in their last 22 group stage matches (W16).
Club Brugge 0-5 Leipzig
Lacking several key players for their trip to Belgium, the visitors were nevertheless on top from the first whistle and had already gone close twice by the time Christopher Nkunku tapped in for his sixth goal of the group phase.
Emil Forsberg swiftly doubled the advantage from the penalty spot before André Silva’s towering header made it three and Forsberg scored from distance with the final kick of the first period. Leipzig crowned their biggest European win, and one that takes them third in Group A, when Nkunku turned in in the final seconds.
Forsberg is now Leipzig’s outright top scorer in the Champions League with nine goals, one more than Nkunku, and with the club’s former forward Timo Werner on seven.
Remaining Fixture of group A : 7/12: Paris vs Club Brugge, Leipzig vs Man. City will be played on December 7th.
Group B Match Day 5 Results and Review
Liverpool 2-0 Porto
Two superb second-half goals helped Liverpool make it five victories out of five in Group B. Porto had the better of the first-half openings, not least when Otávio sliced a gilt-edged opportunity wide.
Liverpool were sparked into life by a brilliant Thiago Alcántara strike soon after the interval. Mohamed Salah then added a fine solo effort as the Reds coasted to another win, though Porto’s fate is still in their own hands thanks to Milan’s defeat of Atlético in Madrid.
Liverpool scored two or more for the 16th game running – the best such run by an English team since Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1939.
Atlético 0-1 AC Milan
Milan remain in contention for a place in the last 16 after a goal three minutes from the end by Champions League debutant Messias Junior gave them their first win of this campaign.
The 30-year-old’s header from a delightful Franck Kessié cross took the Rossoneri off the bottom of the group – with Atlético replacing them – and they are within a point of Porto with one game to go.
This was Milan’s first away victory in the competition for almost exactly eight years, since a 3-1 win at Celtic in November 2013.
Remaining Fixture of group B : 7/12: Porto vs Atlético, AC Milan vs Liverpool will be played on December 7th.
Group C Match Day 5 Results and Review
Sporting CP 3-1 Dortmund
Sporting sealed their last-16 spot with a Pedro Gonçalves-inspired triumph over ten-man Dortmund. The visitors controlled possession but were made to pay for moments of lax defending, not least when Pedro Gonçalves was allowed to nip in to poke home the opener. The 23-year-old made it back-to-back Champions League doubles with a brilliant curler before half-time.
Dortmund’s own qualification hopes imploded with Emre Can’s late red card, before Pedro Porro nodded in the rebound from Gonçalves’s missed penalty. Donyell Malen’s added-time reply was only a consolation.
This was only Sporting’s third victory over German opposition in 14 attempts.
Beşiktaş 1-2 Ajax
Substitute Sébastien Haller’s brace ensured Ajax came from behind to clinch top spot in Group C. The forward, introduced at half-time with the visitors trailing to Rachid Ghezzal’s 22nd-minute spot kick, took just nine minutes to pull his side level, converting Nicolás Tagliafico’s unselfish pass from close range.
The competition’s joint-leading scorer this season bagged a second with 21 minutes left to keep Ajax’s perfect record intact.
Haller has scored more goals – nine – in his first five Champions League appearances than any other player.
Remaining Fixture of group C: 7/12: Dortmund vs Beşiktaş, Ajax vs Sporting CP will be played on December 7th.
Group D Match Day 5 Results and Review
Sheriff 0-3 Real Madrid
The Merengues weathered early pressure that must have raised fears of a repeat of September’s shock home loss to the Moldovan champions, as they claimed their place in the last 16 with a game to spare.
David Alaba’s deflected free-kick and a sweet strike from Toni Kroos opened up a 2-0 lead by the interval, and Karim Benzema added a third soon after the restart to cap an impressive performance by Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
Madrid are through to the knockout stage for the 25th season running.
Inter 2-0 Shakhtar
Inter advanced to the knockout stage for the first time in a decade thanks to two second-half goals from Edin Džeko.
The Nerazzurri were left frustrated after failing to reap reward from a dominant first half, but the pressure valve was released when Džeko finished expertly from the edge of the penalty area just after the hour. He headed in a second six minutes later to rubber-stamp the win.
Džeko’s double means he has become the 20th player to have scored 50 UEFA club competition goals.
Remaining Fixture of group D: Real Madrid vs Inter, Shakhtar vs Sheriff will be played on December 7th.
