Champions League Matchday 5: Liverpool Collapses; Real Madrid, Besiktas Through
Real Madrid and Besiktas are through to the Champions League round of 16, while Liverpool isn't ... at least not yet.
The Reds blew a 3-0 lead to Sevilla and must wait until the final day of group play to go through, with a first-place finish anything but guaranteed after a 3-3 draw in Spain.
Liverpool's Premier League counterparts, Tottenham and Manchester City, cemented first-place finishes, though, with wins over Dortmund and Feyenoord, respectively.
In the day's early games, surprise first-place side Besiktas punched its first ticket to the knockout stage ever, drawing Porto to clinch first in Group G with a game to spare, joining Real Madrid, Man City, Tottenham, PSG and Bayern as teams to secure their place in the last 16.
Here are the day's final scores:
Besiktas 1, Porto 1
Spartak Moscow 1, Maribor 1
Sevilla 3, Liverpool 3
Manchester City 1, Feyenoord 0
Napoli 3, Shakhtar Donetsk 0
Monaco 1, RB Leipzig 4
APOEL 0, Real Madrid 6
Borussia Dortmund 1, Tottenham 2
Here are highlights from the day in the Champions League:
PIZARRO COMPLETES SEVILLA'S COMEBACK
Liverpool really blew it. The Reds let their 3-0 lead slip away, with Guido Pizarro's goal in the third and final minute of stoppage time off a corner kick bringing Sevilla level at 3-3 and keeping its hopes alive of advancing.
STERLING PUNCHES EXCLAMATION POINT FOR MAN CITY
It had been a rather quiet day for Manchester City, but Raheem Sterling's 88th-minute finish has the club in position for a fifth win out of five in the competition.
TWO HUGE LATE GOALS BOOST NAPOLI'S CHANCES
Napoli will feel a bit better after two late goals from Piotr Zielinski and Dries Mertens have extended its lead to 3-0 over Shakhtar. Man City is still on course to win the group, but Napoli will pull within three points and have the tiebreaker against Shakhtar going into the final matches. A Man City win over Shakhtar and Napoli win over Feyenoord would send the Italian power through in second.
SON DELIVERS A DAGGER TO DORTMUND
Son Heung-min scored a fantastic go-ahead goal for Tottenham, taking Dele Alli's lay-off pass and firing a rocket by Roman Burki to give Spurs a 2-1 lead in the 76th minute. A win would clinch first in the group. With a loss, Dortmund would have to fight just to reach the Europa League as a third-place finisher.
SEVILLA PK MAKES IT INTERESTING
Is it all unraveling for Liverpool? Sevilla star Wissam Ben Yedder scored his second goal in a matter of nine minutes, slotting home from the penalty spot to cut Liverpool's lead down to 3-2 at the hour mark.
INSIGNE STUNNER PUTS NAPOLI IN FRONT
Napoli got a special goal from Lorenzo Insigne, with his long-range curler breaking a deadlock vs. Shakhtar Donetsk and putting Napoli in position to reach the knockout stage after a double setback vs. Man City.
RONALDO PILES ON
Cristiano Ronaldo played provider in the first half, and he's played goal shark in the second. With blood in the water, Ronaldo tallied his second in a matter of minutes, and competition-leading eighth, to give Real Madrid a 6-0 lead at APOEL.
BEN YEDDER PULLS ONE BACK
Wissam Ben Yedder has given Sevilla some hope with a second-half finish. Should goal differential come into play for who goes through, between Sevilla and Spartak Moscow, that could prove to be a valuable strike.
KANE, RONALDO SCORE SIMULTANEOUSLY
In different games, of course. Harry Kane delivered an equalizer for Tottenham at Dortmund with his sixth goal in the competition, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to score Real Madrid's fifth–and his seventh in the competition–in the champions' romp at APOEL.
FALCAO, KEITA SWAP GOALS
Monaco pulled one back vs. RB Leipzig for a momentary reprieve, but Naby Keita pulled it right back for the Bundesliga side, restoring a three-goal edge just before halftime.
BENZEMA, NACHO SEAL REAL MADRID'S RESULT BY HALFTIME
Real Madrid appears set to put the finishing touches on its knockout-stage ticket, with Karim Benzema breaking his drought and Nacho following moments later to make it 3-0.
If that wasn't enough, Benzema scored his second just before halftime, with Cristiano Ronaldo supplying the unselfish assist.
AUBAMEYANG LIFTS DORTMUND'S SPIRITS
It's been a dreadful stretch for Borussia Dortmund, whose manager, Peter Bosz, is under fire, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang delivered a bright spot with a first-class finish to beat Hugo Lloris and give Dortmund a 1-0 home lead over Tottenham in the 31st minute.
LIVERPOOL, RB LEIPZIG BOTH GO 3-0 UP
It's been a walk in the park for the two sides that will do business for midfielder Naby Keita this coming summer. At Sevilla, Roberto Firmino netted his second, going with a no-look finish to tap in from close range in the 30th minute.
At Monaco, Timo Werner hit for his second from the penalty spot, improving the club's chances of advancing to the knockout stage.
MODRIC ROCKET PUTS REAL MADRID IN FRONT
Luka Modric picked out a failed clearance and delivered a perfect hit, firing Real Madrid in front of APOEL in the 23rd minute.
MANE DOUBLES LIVERPOOL'S LEAD
Another corner, another redirected header for a Liverpool goal. This time it was Sadio Mane doing the honors, doubling Liverpool's lead at Sevilla in the 22nd minute, with the first goalscorer, Roberto Firmino, delivering the assist.
OWN GOAL, WERNER STRIKE BOOST RB LEIPZIG
Monaco isn't doing itself any favors. Jemerson turned a cross into his own net, and that was followed minutes later by Timo Werner's finish (after a Jemerson turnover), giving RB Leipzig an early 2-0 lead away from home. A win would put the club level on points with Porto for second place in the group.
FIRMINO STRIKES EARLY FOR LIVERPOOL
The Reds can put the finishing touches on first place in the group in Spain, and it got on its way incredibly early. Roberto Firmino's close-range finish in the second minute has Liverpool up 1-0 on Sevilla.
MARIBOR STUNS SPARTAK AT THE DEATH
Just minutes after Spartak Moscow's late breakthrough from Cape Verde international Ze Luis, Maribor played spoiler with a dagger at the death. Jasmin Mesanovic's stoppage-time goal forced a 1-1 draw, which helps both Liverpool and Sevilla and deals a big blow to Spartak's hopes of going through. A win would have boosted the Russian side to the top of the group (provisionally) with Liverpool. Instead, it's left trailing the two group favorites with a game to go, at the mercy of their result to see how much work needs to be done in the finale at Liverpool.
TALISCA PULLS BESIKTAS EVEN
Besiktas didn't trail long, with Anderson Talisca finishing from close range off a sublime play and assist from Cenk Tosun in the 41st minute.
That goal was enough to force a 1-1 draw, which clinched first place in the group for Besiktas and its first place ever in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
PORTO GOES IN FRONT OF BESIKTAS
Felipe's clinical, first-time finish off a well-worked set-piece play just before the half-hour mark gave Porto a lead in Turkey, where Besiktas had otherwise controlled the run of play.
BABEL NEARLY BREAKS THROUGH
Ryan Babel's resurgence at Besiktas has been one of the low-key stories in Europe this season, and he nearly got on the board again with a wicked long-range blast in the 19th minute, only to be denied by Jose Sa's diving save.
Here are the lineups for today's games:
Borussia Dortmund vs. Tottenham
APOEL vs. Real Madrid
Sevilla vs. Liverpool
Manchester City vs. Feyenoord
Napoli vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
Monaco vs. RB Leipzig
Besiktas vs. Porto
Spartak Moscow vs. Maribor
Champions League Matchday 5 resumes Wednesday, with Juventus-Barcelona and Atletico Madrid-Roma headlining the day, while Manchester United and Chelsea are also among teams who could punch their knockout tickets.
