Champions League round-up: Benfica and Lyon in 4-3 thriller
The pick of last night’s Champions League ties took place at the Estádio da Luz between Group B rivals Benfica and Lyon, who produced a seven-goal thriller in Lisbon.
Goals from Alan Kardec, Javi Garcia and a brace from Fabio Coentrao gave the hosts a 4-0 lead, before Lyon began the fight back. Yoann Gourcuff, Bafetimbi Gomis and Dejan Lovren all struck for the visitors in the final 16 minutes of the match to make it 4-3, but Benfica just about held on for a precious three points.
The other match in the group saw Schalke travel to Hapoel Tel Aviv, with the Bundesliga side looking to edge closer to qualification. However, an uneventful goalless draw leaves them on seven points, just a point above Benfica. As for Hapoel, 0-0 was a relatively decent result, but their elimination has now been confirmed.
Meanwhile, Barcelona also missed an opportunity to secure qualification to the next round after drawing with Copenhagen in Denmark. That man again, Lionel Messi, scored for the Spaniards midway through the first-half, but Claudemir fired in a volley less than a minute later to bring the scores level. No further goals were scored, but the game was marred at full time when Pep Guardiola and Stale Solbakken became involved in a heated exchange of words.
The other match in Group D was a drab affair between Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos. Neither side looked capable of scoring and, subsequently, both now face elimination from this year’s competition.
In Group A, FC Twente gave themselves hope of reaching the knockout stages with a stunning 2-0 away victory against Werder Bremen. Nacer Chadli and Luuk De Jong struck in the final 10 minutes to leave the Eredivisie side two points behind Tottenham and Inter Milan.
And Rangers are left with a mountain to climb after losing 3-0 to Valencia in the Mestalla. The Scottish side aren’t out of the reckoning just yet – far from it – but they will need to pick up points against Manchester United in Glasgow, before taking on bottom side Bursaspor in Turkey.
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