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Champions League: Liverpool rolls, Actual Madrid and Manchester Metropolis undergo ugly defeats

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Whereas Liverpool took care of enterprise at residence with a complete 4-0 win over Xabi Alonso-coached Bayer Leverkusen, Tuesday shall be remembered principally as a day of upsets within the UEFA Champions League.

Actual Madrid misplaced 3-1 at residence towards AC Milan, Manchester Metropolis squandered an early lead and suffered an eye-popping 4-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon (and future Manchester United supervisor Rúben Amorim) whereas Scottish membership Celtic got here from behind to prime German Bundesliga rep RB Leipzig 5-1 in Glasgow.

Listed below are three fast takeaways from Tuesday’s video games as Matchday 4 kicked off.

AC Milan stuns Actual Madrid on the Bernabéu

With 22 European titles between them, Tuesday’s contest within the Spanish capital was a gathering between the competitors’s two most profitable groups.

The hosts and present trophy holders nonetheless got here in because the clear favorites regardless of their struggles in La Liga, together with a 4-0 residence loss to rival Barcelona final weekend. Meantime, AC Milan has had an up and down season of their very own, each within the Champions League and in Italy’s Serie A.

That is not the way it performed out at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. The Rossoneri had been the livelier workforce from the beginning, and certain sufficient the guests took the lead after simply 12 minutes. U.S. males’s nationwide workforce star Christin Pulisic helped arrange the opener with an inch-perfect nook kick for Malick Thiaw to nod residence from shut vary:

Madrid quickly equalized from the penalty spot through Vini Jr. However Milan went forward once more earlier than the half was over. Pulisic was closely concerned once more. The American discovered Rafael Leão with a slick cutback cross within the buildup earlier than former Actual Madrid striker Álvaro Morata cleaned up the rebound from Leão’s shot.

Tijjani Reijnders added an insurance coverage aim for AC Milan within the second half. The loss dropped Actual Madrid to 2-2 on the season, leaving the 15-time trophy winners seventeenth within the Thirty sixth-team league stage standings.

In Lisbon, Manchester Metropolis takes a uncommon drubbing

When Phil Foden put the English Premier League champs up 1-0 in Portugal a bit greater than three minutes into Tuesday’s affair, it felt just like the Sky Blues would roll. With 9 targets scored by three video games, Pep Guardiola’s squad often does. As a substitute, issues went sideways for the visitors in brief order after Viktor Gyökeres leveled issues with a beautiful end later within the second half.

Maximiliano Araújo put Sporting up simply after the intermission, and Gyökeres made it 3-1 from the penalty spot moments later. And whereas Metropolis had loads of time to reply, they failed to make use of it. Gyökeres accomplished his hat trick from the spot to seal a well-known win for his membership with about 10 minutes of normal time remaining.

The defeat is Man Metropolis’s third in a row throughout all competitions — its first three-game shedding streak since 2018.

Whereas the American midfielder has had a tough time getting begins for the nationwide workforce since making his debut two years in the past, Tillman’s profession season with Dutch champs PSV Eindhoven continued on Tuesday with a Man of the Match efficiency in a 4-0 drubbing of Spain’s Girona.

The 22-year-old had a hand in three of the hosts’ 4 tallies. After aiding on the opener, Tillman scored an unbelievable solo aim following a 40-yard-run out of midfield:

Tillman and Pulisic had been two of 9 People who appeared in Tuesday’s matches. Yunus Musah additionally began for Milan. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty partnered in central protection for Celtic. Ricardo Pepi was a late sub for PSV, whereas Juventus pair Weston McKennie and Tim Weah additionally got here off the bench in a 1-1 tie with Lille, Weah’s former membership.

Lastly, 18-year-old Cole Campbell made his Champions League debut when he performed the ultimate 13 minutes of Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 victory over Austria’s Strum Graz.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports activities. A workers author with ESPN and Yahoo Sports activities earlier than becoming a member of FOX Sports activities in 2021, he has lined United States males’s and ladies’s nationwide groups at FIFA World Cups on 5 continents. Comply with him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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