PARIS: Liverpool beat Lille 2-1 on Tuesday to maintain their perfect record in this season’s Champions League and clinch qualification for the last 16, while Barcelona produced a stunning comeback to beat Benfica 5-4 in a classic to secure their own place.
The Anfield side are the only team with a maximum 21 points from seven matches in this new, expanded Champions League and they now know they will skip next month’s play-offs and head straight to the last 16 in March.
Mohamed Salah ran clear to give Liverpool the lead at home to a Lille team who have also impressed this season, and the visitors appeared in trouble when they had Aissa Mandi sent off just before the hour mark.
Jonathan David swept in an equaliser for Lille, but Harvey Elliott’s shot took a wicked deflection on its way in to give Liverpool the points.

“We’re happy that we are top eight. That’s the only thing that tells me something, because this league table doesn’t tell you anything,” said Slot when asked about being through to the last 16.
“So normally in tennis, if you’re number 1, you know if you play against the number 24, he’s probably not as good as the number 16.
“But here, because we play different teams, maybe the number 24 is better than the number 16, but the number 16 had an easier draw.“We also want to be on top of the league, but I’m not so sure. We have to wait and see if it’s an advantage, let’s put it that way.”

The biggest drama on the night, however, came in the rain in Lisbon, where Barcelona trailed 4-2 with 12 minutes of the 90 remaining, but somehow recovered to win 5-4.
Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat-trick in the first half-hour for Benfica, including a penalty, while Robert Lewandowski netted from the spot for Barca, who were 3-1 down at the interval.
Raphinha pulled it back to 3-2 when a clearance by the goalkeeper ricocheted back off the Brazilian’s head and in, but a Ronald Araujo own goal midway through the second half appeared to have secured the win for the Portuguese side.
However, another Lewandowski penalty on 78 minutes gave Barcelona renewed hope, and Eric Garcia headed in the equaliser on 86 minutes.
With Benfica appealing for a penalty, Barcelona sprang a quick breakaway and the Brazilian winger slotted home to end a blockbuster battle.
Players from both sides clashed after the final whistle as tempers flared following the thrilling denouement.

“We knew how hard it would be here, in front of their fans, and they know how to play really well, they have top level players,” Raphinha told Movistar.
“We didn’t let ourselves sink at 3-1 down, we were focussed on what we needed to do to try and change the game.
“It was a spectacular game for everyone. They could have won, or us, but we managed to take it.”
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick pointed to his side’s mentality as key to their comeback.
“The mentality of the team, they always believe in themselves and this was unbelievable to see,” said Flick. “In the second half we created more chances than them and we deserved it.”
The Catalans are second with six wins out of seven, and will finish in the top eight to go straight to the last 16. Benfica, with 10 points, must still sweat to reach the play-off round.

DORTMUND SACK COACH AFTER SETBACK
Meanwhile, last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund fired head coach Nuri Sahin in the wake of 2-1 loss at Bologna, saying they had “lost faith” in him.
Bologna’s Thijs Dallinga and Samuel Iling-Junior came from the bench and scored a minute apart in the second half after Serhou Guirassy’s early penalty had put the Germans in front.
The loss on Tuesday was the club’s fourth successive defeat in all competitions. In the Bundesliga, Dortmund sit 10th, 20 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
“We have unfortunately lost faith that we will achieve our sporting goals,” sporting CEO Lars Ricken said on Wednesday.
Ricken added the decision “hurts... but was unavoidable after the game in Bologna.
“We value Nuri Sahin and his work very much, we hoped for a long collaboration and until the end we had hope that we could achieve a sporting turnaround together.”
Despite the away defeat Dortmund should be fine as they can still at least qualify for knockout stage.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid are third on 15 points and certain to at least be in the play-offs after a Julian Alvarez brace secured a 2-1 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen in a game both teams finished with 10 men.
Atletico had Pablo Barrios sent off midway through the first half, and Piero Hincapie then put Leverkusen ahead just before the break.
Argentina star Alvarez levelled seven minutes into the second half, and Hincapie was sent off for the Germans before another Alvarez goal won it for the home side in the last minute as they climbed above Leverkusen.
Last season’s Europa League winners Atalanta are also guaranteed at least a play-off place after crushing Sturm Graz of Austria 5-0 while Monaco got back to winning ways as they beat Aston Villa 1-0.
Both teams are set to progress to the knockout phase and both could still finish in the top eight.
Club Brugge held Juventus to a 0-0 draw in Belgium as that duo both look set to go through to the play-offs at least, while PSV Eindhoven are poised to advance following a 3-2 win at Red Star Belgrade.
VfB Stuttgart maintained their hopes of reaching the play-offs with a 3-1 win away to Slovan Bratislava, who have lost every game.
Earlier in the Europa League match on Tuesday, Galatasaray and Dynamo Kyiv produced an entertaining 3-3 drawa at RAMS Park, Istanbul.
Galatasaray, who moved fifth after a third consecutive draw with 13 points, met a winless Ukrainian team who demonstrated remarkable spirit despite sitting at the bottom of the standings.
The match rolled into action immediately as Davinson Sanchez put Galatasaray ahead in the sixth minute, followed by Abdulkerim Bardakci extending the lead in the 21st minute. Dynamo halved the deficit through Vladyslav Vanat’s strike just before the interval.
Victor Osimhen increased Galatasaray’s advantage from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute. However, Andriy Yarmolenko emerged as the key figure for the visitors, scoring twice in the 68th and 81st minutes to earn Dynamo their first point of this campaign.
Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2025
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