UEFA Champions League
LIVE: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: RB LEIPZIG 2-1 ATLETICO MADRID
It’s all over! Leipzig are in the semifinals for the first time in their history!!!!
It’s 2 minutes beyond the added time.
Yellow card – Gimenez
We’re over the allotted 5 minutes of added time, but still we play on… free kick to Leipzig, and surely that’s it?
90+5 min: Atletico Madrid are throwing men forward now, but they’re running out of time. There’s a Leipzig man down complaining of cramp
FIVE MINUTES ADDED TIME:
GOAL! RB Leipzig 2-1 Atletico Madrid (Adams)
88 min: It’s a great flick around the corner from Sabitzer for Angelino, who finds substitute Adams in the middle. He takes a long range shot, and it takes an awful deflection to go past Oblak and into the goal!
GOAL! RB Leipzig 2-1 Atletico Madrid (Adams)
88 min: It’s a great flick around the corner from Sabitzer for Angelino, who finds substitute Adams in the middle. He takes a long range shot, and it takes an awful deflection to go past Oblak and into the goal!
GOAL!!!!!!OAL! RB Leipzig 2-1 Atletico Madrid (Adams)
Atletico Madrid have scored in each of their last 19 games in all competitions – last enjoying a longer scoring run in 2012 (24 games).82 mins
SUBSTITUTIONS
RB Leipzig 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Goalscorer Dani Olmo is off and is replaced by Patrik Schick and Christopher Nkunku comes off for Amadou Haidara.
João Félix has scored four goals in his three European quarter-final appearances, having hit a hat-trick for Benfica against Eintracht Frankfurt in last season’s UEFA Europa League first leg.That spot kick made it six goals from six penalties for him in senior football – the last three in UEFA club competition.
81mins:
Under 10 minutes to go
Remember, there are no second legs. This one’s going to extra time if the teams can’t be separated in the next 9 minutes
78MIN: Substitution: Adams (in) – Laimer (out) (Leipzig).
77 min: Leipzig now have to come again, as it looks like Atletico are content to sit back again
Subs: Atletico: Morata comes on for Costa
Leipzig: Adams comes on for Laimer
PENALTY KICK!!!
PENALTY TO ATLETICO MADRID
It’s that man Joao Felix! He plays a one-two with Costa and he’s into the box, brought down around the penalty spot just before he takes a shot
63 min: Felix wins a free kick for his side
Yellow card – Lodi
61 min: Lodi knocks the ball past his man in the box and he goes down!
No contact whatsoever, and he’s given a yellow card for diving
58 mins
SUBSTITUTION
RB Leipzig 1-0 Atletico Madrid
Diego Simeone twists after just 13 minutes of the second half played.
Hector Herrera is off and £113m Joao Felix joins the attack.
58 mins
SUBSTITUTION
RB Leipzig 1-0 Atletico Madrid
Diego Simeone twists after just 13 minutes of the second half played.
Hector Herrera is off and £113m Joao Felix joins the attack.
Gooooal!
Olmo (Leipzig) scores!
GOAL! RB Leipzig 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Olmo)
51 min: Finally! They work it well, and Olmo finds some space in the box to guide a header straight past Oblak, who can’t get near it with his outstretched hand
2nd Half KICK-OFF
RB Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
We are back under way in Lisbon.
Post update
45+2 mins
Half Time
Post update
RB Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
RB free-kick though.
41 mins: RB Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Marcos Llorente rolls his way towards the advertising hoardings after an excellent tackle by Dayot Upamecano. He’s OK despite giving the appearance his career was over.
Atletico have a corner but it’s cleared.
39 mins
Post update
RB Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
As if by magic, the blood has disappeared from the head of Marcel Halstenberg while Stefan Savic has a big bandage wrapped around his head.
We continue.
39 mins
RB Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
As if by magic, the blood has disappeared from the head of Marcel Halstenberg while Stefan Savic has a big bandage wrapped around his head.
We continue.
Ouch! That looked like it hurt and Savić is bleeding heavily. That kind of full-blooded commitment is exactly what Simeone demands from his players.
35mins: Medical attention:
Savic and Halstenberg are down after they come together at speed, their heads knocking together. The ref stops the match so they can be checked out
Savic looks the worst out of the two, and Felipe is warming up just in case
28 min: Diego Simeone is waving his imaginary yellow card as one of his men is once again brought down unfairly. The referee has kept his cards in his pocket so far though
26 min: RB Leipzig are able to swing a cross in though, and it’s a very good one, aimed at the tall defenders who had come forward right into that corridor of uncertainty, but Atleti get it clear
MATCH SO FAR RB LEIPZIG 0-0 ATLETICO MADRID
· Atlético face Leipzig in #UCL quarter-final
· Simeone’s side force 2 saves from Gulácsi
· Bright opening from Nagelsmann’s men
· Winners face Paris in semi-finals
21 mins ;RB Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Crucial clearance by German defender Marcel Halstenberg from Yannick Carrasco’s free-kick to the far post – Marcos Llorente was lurking behind the RB man.
Atletico are right back in this match after RB’s earlier good spell.
19 min: Another free kick for Atletico Madrid in a decent position. Their players have been getting free in the box so far thanks to zonal marking.
Carrasco teases one in, and Saul is waiting for it before Halstenberg gets it clear
19 min: Another free kick for Atletico Madrid in a decent position.
15 min: The VAR check is taking a while, and in the meantime Leipzig are on the attack down the middle. It’s switched out to the left side, but the cross is headed away by Savic.
No penalty, by the way, after a three minute check
12 min: Lovely work from Carrasco and Lodi down the left, and the shot fizzes in towards Gulacsi’s near post, who parries it away for a corner.
Saul Niguez gets in a little tangle with the keeper and goes down in the box looking for a penalty, VAR are checking
4mins: Halstenberg (Leipzig) misses the target.
Giménez heads the corner clear and, from a second cross from the left, the ball falls to Halstenberg, who volleys a decent opportunity well over the far angle of Oblak’s goal from inside the penalty area on the right. This has been a positive start from Leipzig, looking confident and energetic.
2mins: Diego Costa (Atlético) is flagged for offside.
Atletico kicked off.
Leipzig make seven changes from last outing. Atlético bring in four from last match. German side make quarter-finals debut. Winners face Paris in semi-finals
KICK-OFF: The match is under way.
A minute’s silence will be observed before kick-off to honour all victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
TEAMS ARRIVE ON THE PITCH
RB Leipzig are out onto the pitch first, followed by Atletico Madrid separately making their way onto the pitch to promote social distancing
COVID -19 PROTOCOLS
There are a lot of rules in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus during the Champions League knockout stages.
Portugal is playing host to the rest of the competition, and two-legged ties are a thing of the past.
Each squad has been allocated a hotel and training area that is separate from the rest of the teams, and you need permission to leave.
There’s rigorous testing in place, and if you can’t field a squad of 13 healthy players, you automatically lose 3-0.
Each club has been allocated 210 bottles of water to use per day, and warm-ups cannot be done inside penalty areas in order to protect the pitch.
Action continues tonight in the UEFA Champions League as german side, RB Leipzig face La Liga side, Atletico Madrid.
It is the third match of the quarterfinal series. Both teams coincidentally overcame Premiership sides, Tottenham and Liverpool.
Diego Simeone ‘s Atletico Madrid will be hoping to make another final having seen Real Madrid exit in the last round, as their rivals caused them heartache in the 2014 and 2016 finals.
RB Leipzig finished third in the Bundesliga will be hoping to continue their impressive form without Timo Werner who helped them to this stage, now that he has signed for Chelsea.
RB LEIPZIG
Starting XI: Gulacsi, Angelino, Upamecano, Sabitzer, Poulsen, Klostermann, Nkunku, Halsternberg, Olmo, Laimer, Kampl
Subs: Mvogo, Tschauner, Orban, Haigara, Forsberg, Adams, Lookman, Schick, Mukiele, Novoa, Borkowski, Wosz
ATLETICO MADRID
Starting XI: Oblak, Lodi, Gimenez, Savic, Trippier, Carrasco, Saul, Koke, Herrera, Llorente, Costa
Subs: Adan, Arias, Felipe, Hermoso, Sanchez, Thomas, Lemar, Vitolo, Toni Moya, Joao Felix, Morata, Saponjic
UEFA Champions League
Osimhen and Aubameyang: Africa’s First Men of the Match in 2025/26 Champions League
The Champions League has barely started and already African fans have something to be proud of.
Two of the continent’s biggest names, Victor Osimhen from Nigeria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon, have become the first African players this season to be named Man of the Match.
For Osimhen, it was a night to remember in Istanbul. Galatasaray were up against Liverpool, a team with a European pedigree and needed someone to step up. Osimhen did just that.
His goal gave Galatasaray a 1-0 win but it was more than just the goal. His energy and how he kept Liverpool’s defenders on their toes all night made him the best player on the pitch.
So his winning of the UEFA Man of the Match award. Galatasaray fans had proof they have a striker who can change games at the highest level.
Meanwhile, on the same night in Marseille, Aubameyang was showing why he has been Africa’s most reliable goal scorer for over a decade.
At 36, some wondered if he still had it on nights like this. His answer was a thunderous “YES.”
Marseille tore Ajax apart in a 4–0 demolition that saw Aubameyang seal his stature as the orchestrator and heartbeat of the French club’s attack.
His movement, his composure and his leadership stood out. So much so that he too was rightfully awarded the Man of the Match.
The fact that these two happened on the same night made it even more special for African football fans.
Osimhen represents the new generation: quick, hungry and with still a few years ahead to make history.
Aubameyang is the veteran still out there to prove – even though he really has nothing to prove anymore – that experience and class don’t fade easily.
Together, they gave African football fans a double reason to smile.
For Nigeria and Gabon, these awards are more than individual trophies. They are ultimately a reminder of how much African players contribute to the Champions League season in, season out.
And the tournament is still in its early stages. So there’s every chance more players from the continent will follow in their footsteps before the Budapest finale in 2026. Only good omens for the 2025 AFCON that starts in a few months.
-Morocco World News
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In his glory days, Jose Mourinho celebrated dramatic goals from his teams by sprinting down the touchline, sometimes sliding on his knees for extra euphoric effect.
On Tuesday, back at his former club Chelsea as the new coach of Benfica, Mourinho’s most eye-catching intervention was down the touchline again, but this time his run was to urge his team’s fans to stop hurling objects onto the pitch.
Benfica under Mourinho, in his fourth game in charge, were defeated 1-0 by an under-strength Chelsea side in the Champions League after a fist-half Richard Rios own goal.
The self-declared “Special One” was lauded by the home fans with a few choruses of “Jose Mou-rin-ho” in recognition of his successes – three Premier League titles and four other trophies – which no other Chelsea manager has come close to matching.
Mourinho, 62, acknowledged the chants with a gentle wave, got a cheer when he ventured onto the pitch to clear a spare ball and quickly vanished down the tunnel at the final whistle after shaking the hand of Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.
It was all a far cry from the fervour of 20 years ago when Mourinho – having led Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph – turned Chelsea into English champions for the first time in 50 years in 2005 and won the title again a year later.
After a collapse of form, Mourinho departed in 2007 but he won the Champions League again, this time with Inter Milan in 2010, knocking out the Londoners on the way to the final.
He went on to manage Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea where he claimed a third English title and then had spells at Manchester United, London side Tottenham Hotspur – an unforgivable move for many Chelsea fans at the time – and Roma.
As the big offers dried up, Mourinho went on to coach Fenerbahce in Turkey where he lasted little more than a year before his return to Portuguese football with Benfica.
Asked after Tuesday’s defeat by Chelsea if he still had the drive of the early days of his career, Mourinho insisted he felt more motivated.
“If I am in a job it’s because I like to put myself on the line every day,” he told reporters. “I am desperate to win the next match.”
Mourinho said he thought Benfica had deserved more from the game. “We started well, we controlled well. I don’t know if I can say big chances but we had chances for sure.”
Chelsea’s Maresca said he was relieved to secure a win – albeit a scrappy one – after two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the his side’s Champions League opener.
“Sometimes you need to learn to win in another way,” he said of Chelsea’s improved defensive performance. “At least we learned how to win a game with a red card.”
Striker Joao Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow card after coming on as a substitute, the third time in four matches that Chelsea have finished with 10 men
-Reuters
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Hosts Eintracht Frankfurt scored four times in 29 minutes to bounce back from a goal down and hammer Galatasaray 5-1 in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
The Turkish sides are without their talismanic striker, Victor Osimhen who was injured while on international duty with Nigeria.
The Turks had hit Frankfurt on the break with Yunus Akgun completing the move from a Leroy Sane assist in the eighth minute. Germany international Sane, who joined from Bayern Munich this season, became the only player in Champions League history to play for four or more clubs and score or assist on his debut for each of them.
Frankfurt, competing for only the second time in the Champions League main round, struggled to break through Galatasaray’s defence until a defensive error from Akgun in the 37th. Ritsu Doan pounced, charged into the box and Davinson Sanchez deflected the Japanese winger’s shot in for an own goal.
The hosts took the lead in first-half stoppage time when 19-year-old Turkey international Can Uzun scored a superb goal on his Champions League debut after fine control and a quick turn in the box. The hosts netted again before halftime with Jonathan Burkardt’s well-timed glancing header putting them 3-1 up.
With the visitors forced to take more risks after the break, Frankfurt found space and Burkardt completed his dream Champions League debut with another header in the 66th for his second goal of the evening. Ansgar Knauff completed the rout in the 75th.
Frankfurt next travel to Atletico Madrid on September 30 when Galatasaray host Liverpool.
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