Champions League: “Bayern will have respect” – BVB in the lead

B.Russia Dortmund are also convinced they are apparently prepared for Saturday’s championship summit against FC Bayern (18.30, in the WELT sports ticker). With 3-0 (3-0) at Club Brugge, the Bundesliga runner-up returned to the Champions League on the road to success and took a big step towards the round of 16. Unlike the false start in the premier class two weeks earlier at Lazio (1: 3), the BVB showed a courageous performance and imposed themselves in Group F thanks to goals from Thorgan Hazard (14th) and Erling Haaland ( 18/32) the ranking.

Before the start of the second half of the preliminary round, Revierklub can hope for a place in the round of 16 with two home games still pending and now with six points. The Dortmund team won the second group match against Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0.

Even without defense chief Mats Hummels, who injured his thigh in his side’s 2-0 win in Bielefeld last Saturday and was replaced by midfielder Axel Witsel, BVB set an example after four consecutive away losses. in Europe. This was successful. The defensive of the BVB was also with the emergency solution Witsel, in Bruges the fourth competitive match in a row was played without conceding a goal, in six of the last seven official matches the zero was (only not on 1: 3 at Lazio ). But the start was not very promising. It was only with a bit of luck that Dortmund managed to escape a first deficit when Hazard blocked a shot from Noa Lang (5th) in desperate need.

Hazard paved the way for victory

Unlike the Belgians, however, BVB took their first chance: after a Thomas Delaney cross, Belgian international Hazard was there and put his team ahead with a well-placed shot from ten meters.

The first shot stimulated Borussia. With constant offensive play, she put the opponent under further pressure and was rewarded again just four minutes later. After a failed header attempt, Haaland pushed the ball over the line from close range and scored his 13th goal in his 11th Champions League game.

Despite the capital failure, Bruges was not defeated but missed the opportunity to shorten with Ruud Vormer (23rd). Instead, the Bundesliga runner-up proved once again to be a master of effectiveness. An extraordinary pass from Mahmoud Dahoud to Thomas Meunier kicked off the 3-0. The Belgian full-back’s clever pass brought Haaland into the opponent’s goal without any effort.

Haaland scored his fourth double only in the eleventh Champions League match. After the break, the BVB seemed to switch to sweet mode a bit ahead of the duel with rivals from Monaco. “We have fun, we have no thoughts about the next match against Bayern”, said coach Favre: “We immediately showed that we wanted to win. The first half was good.”

Bruges took one or the other opportunity after about an hour. Emmanuel Dennis failed from a tight angle against Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki (56th), shortly after Giovanni Reyna saved from Odilon Kossouno’s header for the already overtaken Bürki (57th). Eduard Sobol moved sharply (59th).

BVB has no longer invested too much energy and effort. In the 72nd minute, captain Marco Reus came on for Julian Brandt, four minutes later Borussia had a small chance to score. Haaland got the better of the offensive left, but Hazard missed his cross. The Dortmund team defended the lead calmly and unspectacularly and after four consecutive victories against FC Schalke (3: 0), St. Petersburg (2: 0), Bielefeld (2: 0) and Bruges now new courage in the duel with Bayern on Saturday.

Dortmund Authorized Player Director Sebastian Kehl said: “You can praise many of our players after this match. This gives us a good feeling for Saturday. Bayern will have respect ”. He was asked if Defense Chief Hummels could rejoin the game. “Mats has good healing meat,” Kehl replied – and smiled.

Leipzig puts exclamation points against Paris St. Germain

At the same time, RB Leipzig won the first part of Julian Nagelsmann’s knockout duel with Paris St. Germain and once again the best prospects for advancing into the Champions League. 78 days after the semi-final lost, the Saxons reacted Wednesday with a 2-1 (1-1) against the French champions. With six points, Leipzig are in second place midway through the group stage behind Manchester United, who surprisingly lost 2-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir.

“Paris had little chance of it happening on its own, but it was our flaws. We put the opponent on the line. We are a little lucky with the penalty, but after that we recovered well and deserved to win, “said Nagelsmann.

Angel Di Maria (6th minute) soon shocked RB with the deficit. The Argentine international, who had already played in the semifinals in August, benefited from a serious mistake by Dayot Upamecano. Of all people, Christopher Nkunku (42nd), from PSG’s youth academy, drew before half-time. “Obviously it was a special success. But the most important thing is that it was my first in the Champions League, ”Nkunku said.

Emil Forsberg (57th) eventually converted a penalty in his hand and secured Julian Nagelsmann’s first win against his teacher Thomas Tuchel. PSG had to close the game after a yellow-red card against Idrissa Gueye (69th).

Nagelsmann reacted surprisingly to the injury defeat of Parisian superstars Kylian Mbappé and Neymar: he himself did without a forward in the starting eleven and offered Forsberg as a suspended tip. However, the alarm was initially on the other side when Di Maria passed RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi with the instep of his outside foot.

Nkunku from 18 meters with the draw

In direct response, Amadou Haidara and Angeliño (8th) had a huge double chance to equalize, but both attempts were blocked just before the line. At the end of a turbulent initial phase, Di Maria could have become a hero. But the offensive champion (16th) fails with a penalty in the hand caused by Upamecano in Gulacsi. “That was a key scene. The match would have been different with the 2-0 defeat, “Nagelsmann said.

Paris was more helpful, safer and always felt a step faster than RB. Nagelsmann’s offensive concept hasn’t worked at all in the last two goalless Leipzig. Again the Saxons were lucky when Moise Kean’s goal (39th) was not given for offside. Then RB had a little more access and Nkunku used Angeliño’s back pass with an 18-meter shot to equalize.

Leipzig returned to the game and Nagelsmann made no changes or tactical changes during the break. Forsberg’s shot (53 °) went just above the goal, under pressure from Swede Presnel Kimpembe he played the ball with his hand three minutes later in his own penalty area. After the video rehearsals, Polish referee Szymon Marciniak gave a penalty, which Forsberg converted into safety.

Paris had lost control of the game, as had Gueye a good 20 minutes before the end. The midfielder fouled Haidara on the center line entirely to no avail and saw his second yellow card. After that, the visitors found it difficult to increase the pressure and create compelling scoring opportunities. In recovery time they also lost Presnel Kimpembe, who also saw the Giallorossi after committing a foul on Poulsen.

“We played a good first half and we could have gone 2-0, but it was 1-1. The red card was a key moment. There were some situations against us and some mistakes that prevented a better result. But we still have every chance of winning the direct duel with Leipzig, “said Paris coach Thomas Tuchel. However, it will be even more uncomfortable for the struggling coach who has quarreled with the PSG sporting director. Leonardo after this defeat. His contract expires at the end of the season. “If it shouldn’t be extended, that’s fine too,” he said after the game.

Corona – bad news from Havertz

Basaksehir Istanbul had previously celebrated his first win and cheated Manchester United. The Turkish champions won against their favorite Premier League club 2-1 (2-1). Former Hoffenheim Bundesliga player Demba Ba scored the hosts’ first Champions League goal for a 1-0 win in the 13th minute. Edin Visca (40th) increased to 2-0 before Anthony Martial (43rd) scored for Manchester. Previously, the Istanbul side had lost 2-0 in Group H to RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain.

In group F of Borussia Dortmund, Lazio avoided a defeat in the final stages. Thanks to a goal by Felipe Caicedo in the 82nd minute, the Italians drew 1-1 (0-1) at Zenit St. Petersburg. Alexander Jerochin had led the Russian hosts 1-0 (32nd). Despite the crown pandemic, the match was held in front of more than 15,000 spectators.

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Without losing any points, FC Barcelona remain at the top of the table in Group G. The Catalans defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-1 (1-0) with goals from Lionel Messi from a penalty (5th) and Gerard Piqué (65th) . Chasers Juventus Turin scored a 4-1 (1-0) win with two goals from Alvaro Morata (7th, 60th), one from Paulo Dybala (72nd) and an own goal from Lasha Dvali (82nd) ​​Ferencvaros Budapest .

Meanwhile, Chelsea FC national player Kai Havertz has been reported to have been infected with the corona virus. Coach Frank Lampard announced Wednesday just before the match against Stade Rennes (3-0, 2-0 at half time). Havertz had tested positive, the association wrote on Twitter. As a result, the player went into self-isolation. The club did not explain whether the 21-year-old had symptoms of Sars-CoV-2 virus infection. Havertz was therefore not part of the squad for the match against the French club, unlike national striker Timo Werner (scored twice from a penalty).

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