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UEFA Champions League

LIVE: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REPORTS: ATALANTA 1-2 PSG

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GOAL!!!!!

90+3mins: PSG Leads!!!! Choupo-Moting scores for PSG

Atalanta 1-1 PSG

Minutes are turning into seconds now. Can PSG survive?

87mins: Draxler (PSG) misses the target.

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Chance for Draxler to shoot, but he blazes the effort over the top. Atalanta will be happy with that for the rest of the night.

86 mins: Choupo-Moting (Paris) misses the target.

After Caldara slices a cross over his own crossbar, Choupo-Moting, once of Stoke City, climbs highest to meet Draxler’s corner but heads it over.

85 mins: Atalanta fouling at will now. Palomino is booked this time.

84 mins: Hateboer (Atalanta) is penalised for a foul on Neymar (Paris).

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82 mins: Substitution: Da Riva (in)Zapata (out) (Atalanta).

81 mins

Another big chance for Mbappe!

He’s in on the left and makes his way into the box before getting a left-footed shot away.

79 mins: Substitution for PSG

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Rico (in)Navas (out)

73 mins:

Three changes for PSG, starting with an enforced one as Draxler and Paredes replace Gueye and Herrera.

Goalkeeper Navas had looked to be coming off with an injury but he’s OK to continue.

72mins: Substitutions: Draxler (in)Herrera (out) (Paris).

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Paredes (in)Gueye (out) (Paris).

70mins: Substitution: Goal scorer, Pasalic replaced

Muriel (in)Pašalić (out) (Atalanta).

62mins: Mbappé’s first contribution is a cross into the box but not for the first time this evening there aren’t too many white shirts up there in support.

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60 mins: Substitution: Palomino (in)Djimsiti (out) (Atalanta)

60 mins: Sub for PSG. Tuchel has seen enough. On comes Mbappe.

54 mins

Neymar pulls off a brilliant nutmeg before driving towards goal.

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There’s nobody making a good run, however, and the attack comes to nothing.

It’s Neymar and 10 robots at the moment.

51mins: Neymar’s driven free-kick from 30 yards takes a deflection and goes behind

50 mins: Neymar shows brilliant skill to skip past two players but Marten de Roon pulls him back.

He’s booked for his troubles.

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49 mins:  Atalanta are dominating and preparing to make substitution. Not a defensive one as expected. They appear still hungry for goals.

No changes for either side but Mbappe was warming fairly thoroughly at the break.

The second half begins.

HALF TIME

Match UPDATE AT HALF TIME

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  • Pašalić curls in opener for Atalanta
  • Neymar spurns two one-on-one chances
  • Mbappé on the bench for Paris
  • Atalanta in quarters in debut campaign
  • Winners face Leipzig/Atlético in semis

ATALANTA 1-0 PSG

45+1 mins

Remo Freuler receives the game’s second yellow card.

45 mins

There will be one minute of added time.

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42 mins

Another big miss from Neymar!

He intercepts another loose pass and drives through on the left. The keeper is out of position but the Brazilian shanks his left-footed finish high and wide.

40 mins

Close!

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Sarabia is played into loads of space on the left and makes his way towards the box before trying to find Icardi in the centre.

His low cross is good but just too far out of the Argentine’s reach!

37 mins

Berat Djimsiti picks up the game’s first yellow for a foul on Icardi.

32 mins

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All PSG’s good attacking play has come through Neymar down the left so far but he’s getting little support.

If only a certain Kylian Mbappe was fit.

30 mins:Atalanta are unbeaten in all 16 matches in which Mario Pasalic has scored (W14 D2)…

UPSET!!!  ATALANTA SCORES!

GOAL! Atalanta 1-0 PSG (Pasalic 26)

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Match Update

Atalanta 1-0 PSG

20mins: Match Update

Atalanta 0-0 PSG

  • Neymar spurns early one on one
  • Navas keeps out Hateboer header
  • Mbappé on the bench for Paris
  • Atalanta in quarters in debut campaign
  • Winners face Leipzig/Atlético in semis

15 mins: Atalanta now piling up the chances – they have to take them, though!

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5 mins: What a miss from Neymar!

He pounces on a loose ball and runs through on goal before proceeding to slice his effort horribly wide.

Mbappe has his head in his hands in the stands.

KICK-OFF

After a minute’s silence in memory of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19, we’re underway

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TEAM LISTS

Atalanta: Sportiello, Toloi, Caldara, Djimsiti, Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens, Papu Gómez, Pasalic, Zapata.

PSG: Keylor Navas, Kehrer, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat, Ander Herrera, Marquinhos, Gueye, Neymar, Icardi, Sarabia.

Subs: Rico, Bulka, Mbappe, Paredes, Choupo-Moting, Diallo, Draxler, Bakker, Kalimuendo-Muinga, Dagba, Ruiz-Atil, Mbe Soh

The first ever-mini tournament version of the Champions League kicks off tonight in Lisbon. Ligue 1 side, PSG takes on Serie A team, Atalanta in the first of the four quarter final matches.

PSG will be hoping to continue their European journey after doing one better than last season and progressing pass the round of 16.

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Atalanta will be likely without key forward Josip Ilicic due to personal reasons, which will leave the scoring duties to Duvan Zupata and Luis Muriel as they look to continue their fine season.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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UEFA Champions League

CAF Awards  hopeful, Lookman and Zaniolo fire Atalanta to 2-0 win over Stuttgart

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Second-half goals from Ademola Lookman and Nicolo Zaniolo earned Atalanta a 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday and the Italian side are still yet to concede a goal in this season’s competition.

The opener came in the 51st minute when Ademola Lookman tapped in a cross from Charles De Ketelaere and, with the home side struggling to find a way through, Zaniolo struck the decisive second two minutes from time.

The defeat ended Stuttgart’s impressive home record of not losing a game in any competition for more than a year, while Atalanta continued their excellent form, unbeaten in their last eight matches.

Atalanta moved up to ninth in the standings on eight points, with Stuttgart dropping out of the playoff zone as they slipped to 27th with four points.

“We came here with ambition but from there to winning is a long way off,” Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini told Sky Sport.

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“These are difficult pitches, Stuttgart had won in Turin against Juventus. It is the way this victory came that gives us confidence. We won with personality.”

The visitors had the bulk of the possession in the opening half but it was Stuttgart who looked the more likely to score, with Anthony Rouault heading over from inside the six-yard box.

Stuttgart’s best chance of the half came right at the end when Chris Fuhrich’s pass set Deniz Undav up for a shot from close range but he hit the side netting.

Atalanta sent De Ketelaere on at the start of the second half and it was his silky skills which led to the breakthrough as he went past two defenders and his ball across the goal gave Lookman the easiest of tap-ins.

Stuttgart, who had beaten Juventus 1-0 in their last Champions League game, could not find a way past the Atalanta defence, and the visitors wrapped up the win near the end.

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Substitute Zaniolo pounced on sloppy Stuttgart defending and in a one-on-one with the keeper he coolly slipped the ball past Alexander Nubel.

Atalanta and Inter Milan are the only two sides in the competition who have not conceded a goal after four games, and Gasperini’s side have put themselves in an excellent position at the halfway stage of the league phase.

“In all the games we have played we have shown solidity and we haven’t suffered much,” Gasperini said.

“We were able to have a good defensive phase and we built the points on that.”

-Reuters

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UEFA Champions League

Diaz treble leads Liverpool to 4-0 win over Leverkusen on Alonso’s return

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Champions League - Liverpool v Bayer Leverkusen - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - November 5, 2024 Liverpool's Luis Diaz celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Molly Darlington

 Liverpool’s Luis Diaz scored a hat-trick as they maintained their perfect Champions League campaign with a barnstorming second-half display in a 4-0 victory over Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield on Tuesday.

Arne Slot’s men, who top the Premier League table, provisionally lead the standings of Europe’s elite club competition with their fourth win in four matches, with Aston Villa, the only other team with a 100% record, playing Club Brugge in their fourth game on Wednesday.

Leverkusen’s loss spoiled the return of manager and former Liverpool hero Alonso, who hoisted the Champions League trophy with the Reds in 2005.

“It’s painful the result more than the performance, probably,” Alonso told Amazon Prime. “But this is the Champions League, this is the highest level, and today it wasn’t enough for us.

“I tried to separate the game and the pain from the result from the nice feelings to come back. I’m really happy and thankful for that reception,” he added on the warm greeting he received from the Anfield crowd.

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Alonso was heavily touted as a replacement for former Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp before ruling himself out of the running. Slot, however, has proved a worthy replacement for Klopp, and his halftime team talk certainly did the trick as they went on to record their 14th win in 16 games this season.

“We took more risk (in the second half),” Slot told Amazon Prime. “They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adjusted at halftime and took the risk to play one v one all over.”

The Dutchman played Diaz as a centre forward and it proved to be a masterful move, as the Colombian broke the deadlock of what had been a sluggish affair in stunning fashion in the 61st minute, timing his run onto Curtis Jones’ pinpoint pass through the heart of Leverkusen’s defence before lifting the ball over keeper Lukas Hradecky.

Cody Gakpo doubled the Reds’ lead two minutes later when he dived to head Mohamed Salah’s cross home at the back post. The goal was initially ruled offside but the decision was overturned by VAR.

Diaz netted his second in the 83rd minute when he latched onto a cross from Salah, and then held off a challenge before slotting past Hradecky.

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He completed his hat-trick with a tap-in from close range in stoppage time after Darwin Nunez’s shot was blocked in a statement victory for the six-times winners of Europe’s top competition against the Bundesliga champions who lost just once in all competitions last season.

“We have top quality players all over the pitch, but actually, I really enjoyed playing in that position today, and wherever I’m playing on the pitch, I’m going to work hard, and I hope I can help the team,” said Diaz, adding he planned to go and search for the match ball.

Both teams were lacking quality in the final third in a dull first half. Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong had an effort shortly before halftime chalked off for a handball in the build-up, while Gakpo squandered a terrific chance for Liverpool, shooting straight at Hradecky after working the ball up the left side.

Alonso’s Leverkusen are provisionally 11th in the Champions League standings with a pair of wins, a draw and a loss.

The 42-year-old Alonso played 210 games for Liverpool in a five-year spell from 2004, and was part of the side that completed a miraculous comeback in their Champions League final win over AC Milan in Istanbul.

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-Reuters

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UEFA Champions League

Ancelotti concerned over Real Madrid’s poor form after defeat by Milan

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 Champions League - Real Madrid v AC Milan - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - November 5, 2024 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti before the match REUTERS/Susana Vera

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said he was worried about their performance in a 3-1 Champions League loss to AC Milan at the Bernabeu on Tuesday as they suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions for the first time in over three years.

Real hosted Milan after a humiliating 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in the Clasico over a week ago and they were again dominated at their own ground in a display that exposed last season’s champions for poor defending and lack of firepower.

Ancelotti urged his players to react quickly so they don’t fall too far behind in the hunt for a top eight finish in the 36-team Champions League table as they currently languish in 17th place with six points after four games.

“We have to be concerned, the team is not playing well,” Ancelotti told a press conference on Tuesday.

“The team is not compact, we need to be more compact, more organised, we’ve conceded a lot of goals … The team is not well organised on the pitch and we need to work on this.

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“We have to focus on what we have today, which is a team that is not at its best, and get back to our level so we can fight for all competitions.”

Ancelotti acknowledged Real’s lack of balance and struggles defending, as they have conceded nine goals in their last three games – all at home.

He downplayed the crowd booing players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Kylian Mbappe, who have been heavily criticised by fans and pundits over their latest performances, saying his side’s issues are collective rather than individual.

“It is not an issue of motivation or attitude, it’s a collective thing that we need to fix quickly,” Ancelotti said.

“On the pitch something is missing and we have not been able to show our best version. We have to fix this, but the nights are going to be very long and we have to recover the solidity that we are lacking.

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“That’s the problem above all, we’ve conceded too many goals for a team that is built on solidity.

“We have to accept criticism and accept reality. We want to do better because it’s very difficult to get to the end of the season like this. We have to defend better and we have to look for solutions, without going crazy after drastic changes.

“It’s good that the players are down like I am. We can all think about how to improve our version. We are confident that this team will improve.”

-Reuters

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