PARIS: European heavyweights Real Madrid and Manchester City both suffered big defeats in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Defending champions Real were humbled 3-1 at home by AC Milan, while Erling Haaland missed a penalty and City squandered a fourth-minute lead as they lost 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon, whose coach Ruben Amorim will soon take charge of their crosstown rivals.

It was a much better evening for Liverpool, as Luis Diaz scored a hat trick and Cody Gakpo grabbed another goal in a 4-0 win over German champion Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield that marred Xabi Alonso’s return to his old home.

The Leverkusen coach was given a warm welcome on his return to the club where he became a fan favourite as a player over five seasons between 2004-09. Alonso won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005.

Liverpool moved top of the league phase table with four wins from four games, followed by Sporting and Monaco, both on 10 points after three wins and a draw.

Thilo Kehrer stabbed home from close range in the 86th minute for Monaco to win 1-0 at Bologna while Borussia Dortmund are fourth on nine points after Donyell Malen’s 85th-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win at home to Sturm Graz.

German forward Nicolas Kuhn scored twice as Celtic defeated RB Leipzig 3-1 at home, and Juventus drew 1-1 at Lille.

In the early games, Dinamo Zagreb earned a second consecutive victory in the competition with an emphatic 4-1 win over Slovan Bratislava while PSV Eindhoven picked up their first European win this season with a 4-0 thrashing of Girona.

Under the new 36-team format introduced by UEFA this season, the top eight teams advance directly to the next round, and those from ninth to 24th enter playoffs to reach it, while the bottom 12 are eliminated.

AMORIM’S AUDITION

Before their game, Sporting fans displayed a huge tifo thanking Amorim in his last home game in Lisbon before he takes over Manchester United.

Phil Foden then got City off to a flying start in the fourth minute, only the second goal Sporting have conceded in four games of the competition.

But Swedish forward Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick as Sporting came roaring back.

Gyokeres equalised seven minutes before half-time after a perfect through ball from Geovany Quenda, holding off Champions League debutant Jahmai Simpson-Pusey as he ran through to finish.

Sporting then went ahead 19 seconds into the second half as Maximiliano Araujo finished off a fine move, and shortly after that Gyokeres converted a penalty after Josko Gvardiol was penalised for a shove on Francisco Trincao in the area.

City could have pulled one back but Haaland hit the bar from the spot before Gyokeres the Norwegian how it’s done as he scored his second spot-kick to complete a hat-trick, condemning City to their heaviest losing margin in Europe since a 3-0 loss to Liverpool in April 2018.

It was the first time City — who have seven points —have lost three games in succession since 2018, excluding a later sequence in 2021 that included the Community Shield.

“In my seven and a half years at the club, I don’t remember losing three games in a row,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva said.

Gyokeres has 23 goals in 17 games in all competitions this season and will surely be the next star to leave Sporting for a bigger club elsewhere following Amorim’s departure.

“It was written that it had to be like that I think, there is no other explanation,” Amorim, at Sporting since 2020, said. “I think everyone who has been here in the last four years deserved this. It was a special night.”

FALTERING REAL

In Spain, Christian Pulisic sent in a corner for Malick Thiaw to head Milan, whose tally of seven European Cups is bettered only by Real’s 15, into a 12th-minute lead, ensuring Real trailed in a third straight game in the Champions League this season. Real had already lost to Lille in their second game.

Vinicius Junior equalised from the penalty spot in the 23rd after he’d been tripped, but Álvaro Morata pounced on the rebound after Andriy Lunin saved Rafael Leao’s shot to restore the visitors’ lead against his former club.

Morata had already been given a hostile reception from the home fans, who evidently remember the goal he scored to take Juventus through to the 2015 final at their team’s expense.

Tijjani Reijnders scored Milan’s third goal on 73 minutes after great play by Leao and Antonio Ruediger had a late effort disallowed for Real as the home fans made their frustrations known at Santiago Bernabeu.

“When we are 11 lions on the pitch, it is very difficult for a team to beat us,” Morata said at full-time.

It’s the first time since 2009 that Madrid has lost two successive games at home with at least three goals conceded in each, according to Opta.

“The last two defeats are inexplicable. We have to analyze and react quickly,” Lunin said, referring to Real’s 4-0 loss to Barcelona in their previous La Liga game. “We have to get back on track.”

DIAZ HAT-TRICK

Diaz scored Liverpool’s first Champions League hat-trick at Anfield in seven years as they extended their 100 per-cent record with a statement win over Leverkusen, with all the goals coming in the second half.

“In the last 30 minutes, we didn’t put up much of a fight. The goals came too quickly one after the other. The result is disappointing, especially for our fans,” Lever­kusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky said.

Diaz’s chip put Liverpool ahead just after the hour mark and Cody Gakpo headed in shortly after as the hosts won the game within the space of three second-half minutes.

Diaz scored again to make it 3-0 and then got his third and his team’s fourth in stoppage time, leaving the German champions on seven points after four outings.

“I think it’s a good result against a very good team,” Gakpo told Amazon Prime. “They played a very good game, but we kept going, trying, creating chances, defending well.”

Dortmund kept their winning record at home this season thanks to substitute Malen.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter how we take the three points. We’ve finally kept a clean sheet again after a long time. We’ll take the 1-0 and go home happy,” defender Nico Schlotterbeck said.

While Dortmund are the best German team in the Champions League, Leipzig are yet to score a point and suffered their fourth defeat in four games.

CELTIC IMPRESS

Celtic have seven points after a fine fightback secured victory for the Scottish champions against Leipzig in Glasgow.

German winger Kuhn produced an outstanding display as his double late in the first half put Celtic in front after Christoph Baumgartner had headed the visitors in front.

Reo Hatate capitalised on a goalkeeping mistake to ensure a deserved win which propelled Celtic well into the top half of the table.

“They pressed us back and made it difficult for us to get out from the back. When they scored the third, there was no way back for us,” Baumgartner said.

Dusan Vlahovic’s penalty allowed Juventus to come from behind and draw at Lille, after Canada’s Jonathan David had given the French side the lead.

Lille midfielder Edon Zhegrova eluded two defenders before playing a perfect pass for David, who fired inside the far post, but Vlahovic bagged a point for the Italian club.

PSV crushed Girona, with Ryan Flam­ingo and Malik Tillman netting in the first half. Arnau Martinez was sent off for Girona before Johan Bakayoko made it 3-0 and Ladislav Krejci scored an own goal.

Dinamo dealt Slovan their fourth straight defeat in the competition as the visitors came from behind in Bratislava with Sandro Kulenovic scoring twice for the Croatians.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2024