Wednesday’s games saw a lot of action and a 26 goals. PSG netted 6 against a fan-less Red Star Belgrade, whilst Messi and his Barcelona team put 4 past Spurs.
GROUP A
Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge
3-1
Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atletico made it two wins in two in the Champions League. He opened the scoring with a first half goal only to see Arnaut Danjuma level things just before the break.
Diego Simeone’s side pressed and were rewarded when Griezmann drilled home from Diego Costa’s pass for his second of the night. Koke then sealed the win from Griezmann‘s pass in injury time.
Atletico and Borussia Dortmund are joint top of Group A, both with 6 points.
Up Next:
Champions League
Borussia v Atletico – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Brugge v Monaco – Wednesday October 24th (12:55pm)
La Liga
Atletico v Real Betis – Sunday October 7th (10:15am)
Belgian Pro League
Standard Liège v Brugge – Sunday October 7th (12pm)
Borussia Dortmund v AS Monaco
3-0
Dortmund remain unbeaten in the competition this season after a comfortable victory over struggling Monaco. All three goals came in the second half.
Half-time substitute Jacob Bruun Larsen made the breakthrough in the 51st minute, Paco Alcacer followed up with the second in the 72nd minute to make amends for missing an earlier penalty and Marco Reus added a third in stoppage time.
The French team, who are in the Ligue 1 relegation zone have now gone 10 games without a victory in the Champions League.
Dortmund sit top of the Group A table level on points with Atletico.
Up Next:
Champions League
Dortmund v Atletico – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Brugge v Monaco – Wednesday October 24th (12:55pm)
Bundesliga
Dortmund v FC Augsburg – Saturday October 6th (9:30am)
Ligue 1
Monaco v Rennes – Sunday October 7th (11am)
GROUP B
PSV Eindhoven v Inter Milan
1-2
The Dutch hosts opened the scoring when Pablo Rosario hit home from 30 yards after 27 minutes.
There was a moment of controversy five minutes before the break when Samir Handanović came out of the box and handled the ball as Steven Bergwijn played it past him, earning the keeper a yellow card. He was very fortunate not to see red with Bergwijn free on goal but for his intervention.
Matters got worse for a seething home crowd when, just before half time Radja Nainggolan scored an equalizer for the Italian visitors.
Mauro Icardi took advantage when PSV’s goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet collided with defender Daniel Schwaab to gift Inter Milan a 2-1 victory.
Bergwijn denied PSV and Donyell Malen a late equaliser from an overhead kick which was saved. The home fans felt somewhat aggrieved, as had the red card been shown, he wouldn’t have been on to make that save. Their displeasure was shown by the plastic bottles that were launched from the seats on to the pitch late in the match.
Up Next:
Champions League
PSV v Spurs – Wednesday October 24th (12:55pm)
Barca v Inter – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Eredivisie
PSV v VVV – Saturday October 6th (1:45pm)
Serie A
SPAL v Inter – Sunday October 7th (2:30pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v Barcelona
2-4
Tottenham were without some of their key players against Barcelona. Cristian Eriksen was out with an abdominal injury, Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen (both hamstring) and Mousa Dembele (thigh) were all missing too.
Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring with a beautiful half volley in to an empty net after Hugo Lloris had needlessly come out of goal earlier in the play.
The Spanish giants made it 2-0 just before the half hour mark. A remarkable half volley strike by Ivan Rakitić smacked in off the post.
Spurs thought they’d answered just moments later but the linesman justly deemed it a handball by Kieran Tripper to control the ball before Son Heung-min hit it home.
The game was non-stop, end-to-end in the second half.
Who else to open the scoring for Tottenham but Harry Kane? World class footwork, for a world class goal, by a world class player, just moments after Lionel Messi looked to triple their lead. The Argentine did get that goal in the 56th minute though to extend the visitor’s lead by 3-1.
Erik Lamela struck the ball beautifully to give Spurs a fighting chance with 24 minutes remaining. Moments later Lloris made another avoidable mistake but Toby Alderweireld got back just in the knick of time to stop Messi from scoring his second and Barca’s 4th.
It was Spurs for the majority of the latter part of second half, but, in a moment of insanity Barca had the ball back, it fell to Messi‘s feet and he got his second of the game, to seal a well deserved victory.
Tottenham stay joint bottom of the table with PSV who also haven’t won a game in this years’ group stages. Barca sit top of Group B through goal difference, tied with Inter Milan.
Up Next:
Champions League
PSV v Spurs – Wednesday October 24th (12:55pm)
Barca v Inter – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Premier League
Spurs v Cardiff – Saturday October 6th (10am)
La Liga
Valencia v Barca – Sunday October 7th (2:45pm)
GROUP C
Paris Saint-Germain v Red Star Belgrade
6-1
Belgrade had to play on opposition territory without their fans. UEFA handed the Serbian team a fan ban after they showed violent conduct in the qualifying stages. PSG decided to step up their security and rightfully so, more than 2,000 Red Star fans still showed up in Paris.
PSG came closest to opening the scoring in the early stages when Kylian Mbappe saw his 9th minute shot trickle past the post after Milan Borjan opted for the punch rather than the catch on the previous play.
10 minutes later they did take the lead through a magical Neymar free kick. The Brazilian doubled their lead two minutes later with a perfect tap in from an Mbappe cross. At this point in the game the 26 year old had only two shots on goal and scored on both.
Edison Cavani added a third nine minutes before the break with some tantalizing footwork to weave his way around a number of Belgrade players. Angel Di Maria made it 4-0 to the hosts with a little flick four minutes later.
Borjan brought out some stunning saves to keep Neymar from his hat trick for as long as possible, including a double in stoppage time of the first half.
PSG continued on top after the break having four attempts in the first eight minutes of the second half, including two more attempts from Neymar for his hat trick.
It took until the 70th minute for the French side to capitalize on their first half show but 19 year old Mbappe tapped home. The scoreline equalled Red Star’s worst defeat in the competition, they lost 5-0 to PSV Eindhoven in 2004.
Red Star got a goal back with a wonderfully struck ball from Marko Marin four minutes later.
Moments before he was substituted for Julian Draxler, Neymar finally got his hat trick on the stroke of 80 with an even more superb free kick than his first. It’s his second hat trick for both PSG and in the Champions League. He now has 30 goals in the competition.
Things could have been even worse for the Serbs when Cavani looked to have scored but to save their graces it was ruled offside.
16 of PSG’s 28 shots were on target.
Up Next:
Champions League
PSG v Napoli – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Liverpool v Red Star – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Ligue 1
PSG v Lyon – Sunday October 7th (3pm)
Serbian Superliga
Zemun v Red Star – Sunday October 7th (7am)
Napoli v Liverpool
1-0
Lorenzo Insigne scored a dramatic late winner to give Napoli the victory over Liverpool.
The hosts dominated the second half, Fabian Ruiz and Arkadiusz Milik both saw their efforts saved by Alisson. Jose Callejon‘s volley was also kept out.
Liverpool’s best effort came via Mo Salah, who shot wide after the break, but Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to record a single effort on target in Italy. Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina also reacted quickly to prevent Sadio Mane and Salah running on to some late throughballs.
Klopp brought on defensive midfielder Fabinho to try and add stability but as Liverpool pressed for a winner, Napoli took advantage with a sweeping move down the right that lead to the winner.
Up Next:
Champions League
PSG v Napoli – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Liverpool v Red Star – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Serie A
Napoli v Sassuolo – Sunday October 7th (12pm)
Premier League
Liverpool v Man City – Sunday October 7th (11:30am)
GROUP D
Lokomotiv Moscow v FC Schalke 04
0-1
Lokomotiv suffered their second defeat in as many Champions league games this season. American Weston McKennie sealed their fate with his first goal for the club in the 88th minute.
Both sides missed several chances on a wet night in Moscow, but McKennie ultimately made the difference when he leapt unmarked at the far post to head in Yevhen Konoplyanka‘s corner.
The win leaves Schalke with four points in Group D and gives them a second victory on the back of a six-game winless run that included five consecutive Bundesliga defeats.
Up Next:
Champions League
Lokomotiv v Porto – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Galatasaray v Schalke – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Russian Premier League
CSKA v Lokmotiv – Sunday October 7th (12pm)
Bundesliga
Fortuna v Schalke – Saturday October 6th (9:30am)
FC Porto v Galatasaray
1-0
Moussa Marega gave Porto a 1-0 lead with a second half header, which would end up being the game winner.
Both teams created chances in an open end-to-end game, with both goalkeepers – Iker Casillas, who is now in his 20th Champions League campaign and Fernando Muslera producing some fine saves to keep the score down.
Thanks to Casillas‘ efforts and Marega‘s goal four minutes in to the second half Porto claimed their first win in Group D, leaving them level on points at the top with Schalke and one ahead of Galatasaray.
Up Next:
Champions League
Lokomotiv v Porto – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Galatasaray v Schalke – Wednesday October 24th (3pm)
Primeira Liga
Benfica v Porto – Sunday October 7th (12:30pm)
Süper Lig
Antalyaspor v Galatasaray – Saturday October 6th (12pm)
ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN
Artistry of Sport 
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