There were a miserly 15 goals scored across Wednesday’s Champions League action, and remarkably none in the showdown between tournament heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.
Neither Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Cristiano Ronaldo could produce a moment of magic for their side, with the Portuguese wasting the best chance of the game when he thrashed wide from only a few yards out.
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Real and PSG remain joint top of Group A with seven points from three games, with Malmo in third after getting off the mark with a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to Markus Rosenberg’s strike.
It is also pretty tight at the summit of Group D after Juventus were held 0-0 at home to Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City came from behind to win 2-1 in stoppage time against Sevilla.
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Kevin de Bruyne was the hero for the Citizens as he skilfully found the bottom corner on 92 minutes. Yevhen Konoplyanka’s opener for Sevilla had earlier been cancelled out by an Adil Rami own goal.
This crucial victory takes the Blues to within a point of first-place Juventus, and will give them a massive confidence boost ahead of Sunday’s Premier League showdown with rivals Manchester United.
The Red Devils themselves went behind tonight when Anthony Martial gifted CSKA Moscow a first-half penalty which was superbly saved by David de Gea, only for Seydou Doumbia to convert the rebound.
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But the 19-year-old striker made amends for his needless handball to score his fifth goal in nine appearances for United, and rescue them a 1-1 draw which leaves them joint-second in Group B. Wolfsburg are top of the pile following a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven – Bas Dost with the only goal.
Group C was responsible for most of this evening’s entertainment. Atletico Madrid put four past FC Astana – the pick of them this sublime 63rd-minute chip from 20-year-old Oliver Torres.
Saul Niguez and Jackson Martinez were also on the scoresheet for the 2014 finalists, and a late own goal from Denis Dedechko compounded a rough night for the Kazakhstan champions, who are winless so far.
Atletico are kept off the top of the table by Benfica despite the Portuguese giants being beaten 2-1 by Galatasaray. Former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski netted the winning goal for the Turks.
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