Liverpool Breaks Nightmarish Streak 0 14

After suffering four consecutive defeats, Liverpool seriously reshaped their lineup and switched to a formation with two forwards in Frankfurt against Eintracht.

To have both Isak and former Eintracht forward Ekitiqué play together, Arne Slot sacrificed Salah, who started the game on the bench. Familiar faces to the Eagles, Frimpong and Wirtz, also got a chance to prove themselves. The latter has struggled to find his form in England but has also become unaccustomed to the Bundesliga. It’s a joke, of course, but the fact remains that the attack, which was finished by Christensen hitting the post to open the scoring, began with a loss of possession by Wirtz. Frimpong was not on the field at that moment as he was injured in the 19th minute.

However, if anyone thought the Reds would lose for the fifth time in a row for the first time in 72 years, they were mistaken. The turning point (and the 50th of his professional career) was Ekitiqué's goal, who apologized for a while to the crowd that had recently been his home. It’s worth noting the veteran Robertson in this attack — he interrupted the opponent's attack and with his first touch from his own penalty area sent Ekitiqué one-on-one.

The Eagles were finally broken by the opponent's corners. Gakpo and Szoboszlai delivered from different flanks, and the central defenders — Van Dijk and Konaté — scored with headers.

After all, Eintracht is not just the most conceding team in the Bundesliga for nothing. The change of goalkeeper did not help Dino Toppmöller. Moreover, in the second half, Wirtz came to life, earning his first points after moving to England. First, Florian cut a pass to the far post for Gakpo, and then rolled the ball for Szoboszlai's long shot.

Kane Doesn't Stop

The Bavarian machine shows no signs of slowing down, and the match against Brugge was opened by a goal from Karl. The Champions League debutant carried the ball to the penalty area and beautifully sent it under the crossbar. Karl made a spectacular entry into Bayern's history as the author of the youngest goal in the main European competition (17 years and 142 days) and took the club record from the injured Musiala.

Naturally, there was another goal from Kane, who was set up by Laimer in front of an empty corner. Harry extended his scoring streak to ten official matches (including the national team) and became the first player in the top five leagues this season to reach the 20-goal mark. Against this backdrop, the Belgians looked like a punching bag, and in the absence of the injured Mignolet, the visitors had no strong goalkeeper left. This thought was confirmed by Luis Diaz, who did not overthink it and from a sharp angle drove the ball into the net off the crossbar. The final score was 4-0 in favor of the Germans.

Another Humiliation for Ajax

Ajax is the worst team in the group stage, and at Stamford Bridge in the match against Chelsea, the Amsterdammers, who lost six consecutive European matches, seemed to be collecting problems for the second time in history.

To start with — after VAR intervention — Taylor was sent off for a careless tackle in the central zone (already in the 17th minute!). The free kick he caused ended with Fofana assisting for Giou's first goal.

Then, the 41-year-old Dutch goalkeeper Pasveer was left baffled by a deflection after a long shot from Caicedo (who was playing in defense this time).

Ajax briefly showed signs of life when Hato, who joined the London club in the summer, played somewhat uncertainly, and Adarabioyo fouled Raul Moro in the penalty area. After converting the penalty, Weghorst celebrated his first goal in the Champions League, but before the break, the Dutch side conceded two penalties against them. Interestingly, Chelsea rewrote one club record twice in the half. First, Giou became the youngest goalscorer for the Blues in the main European competition (19 years and 291 days), and then Estevao surpassed him (18 years and 181 days). And since 19-year-old George also scored, the Londoners became the first team in history to have three teenagers score in a single Champions League match. The result was 5-1 in their favor.

Simulation and Punishment

Marseille, who had recently topped the Ligue 1 table, started the match in Lisbon against Sporting in a commanding manner. Moreover, Igor Paixão's goal, who received a pass from Aubameyang and beautifully curled the ball into the far top corner, became the 100th for the Provencals in the Champions League.

However, Emerson complicated life for the guests, whose fall in the penalty area was initially deemed worthy of a penalty by the referee. However, VAR intervened, and since a blatant dive was discovered on the monitor, the defender received a second yellow card and went to the locker room.

The reckoning came in the second half — when substitute Katamo placed the ball in the corner from the center of the penalty area, and a deflection off Pavard's hand brought the winning goal to Alisson Santos. Marseille remains true to itself: they have conceded at least two goals in 12 of their last 14 away matches in the Champions League. Additionally, Roberto De Zerbi's team has 12 defeats in their last 13 away games. The final score was 2-1 in favor of Sporting.