Champions League LIVE: Result and final score from City-Sevilla, Chelsea-Dinamo, Juve-PSG and more
Goal updates from the Champions League as the group stages come to a close
Chelsea midfielder Denis Zakaria scored on his debut as his side finished their Champions League Group E campaign with a 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, topping the group and ending the European campaign for the Croatians.
Manchester City teenager Rico Lewis marked his first senior start with his maiden goal for the club as City came from behind to complete their commanding Champions League group stage with a 3-1 defeat of Sevilla.
FC Copenhagen scored their first goal in this season’s Champions League campaign, drawing 1-1 with already qualified Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in their last Group G game.
Celtic, meanwhile, failed to earn a first victory in the Champions League this year as they succumbed to a 5-1 defeat by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Follow all the action, goal updates, and major incidents from across the Champions League tonight:
Kick off: Real Madrid 0-0 Celtic
Here we go then. Eight Champions League matches take place tonight with the first two getting underway at 5.45pm.
We’ll be primarily following the action from Real Madrid vs Celtic but there is also the crucial clash between Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig getting started at the same time. The winner of that game is guaranteed a spot in the last-16 and we’ll bring you all the goals as they go in.
Los Blancos get the ball rolling in Spain.
Real Madrid vs Celtic
The players head out onto the pitch at the Santiago Bernbeu. Real Madrid are determined to win this one and finish top of the group but Celtic will create chances for themselves.
Fingers crossed that there are plenty of goals. Kick off is next...
‘We’re motivated to finish top'
Real Madrid midfielder, Toni Kroos, says that his team want to scure their spot at the top of Group F and to do so they need to defeat Celtic at the Bernabeu tonight.
"We’re very motivated to finish top of the group. That’s always our aim. That’s normal here.” said Kroos, “We have the team to do it.
“We’re motivated to win tomorrow. We need to play well, as is always the case in the Champions League, but I’m very positive that we can do it."
Real’s star striker?
Since the start of last season, no player has been involved in more open play sequences that have ended in a shot (121) or a goal (20) in the Champions League than Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior.
He’s starting against Celtic tonight so expect more carnage from the young striker.
Wasted opportunities
Celtic have scored just three goals from 69 shots in the Champions League this season, with a shot conversion rate of 4.4%. Based on the quality of their chances, they would have been expected to have scored seven goals (7.2 xG).
The epitome of that is Matt O’Riley as no player has had more shots without scoring in the Champions League this season (14).
Indeed, the midfielder has had more attempts than any other player for the Scottish side this term.
Rangers end dismal Champions League campaign with unwanted record after Ajax defeat
Rangers were left with an unwanted Champions League group stage record after a 3-1 defeat to Ajax at Ibrox.
On another damaging Euro night for the Light Blues, Steven Berghuis put the Dutch visitors head in the fourth minute before Mohammed Kudus added a second in the 29th minute with the home side, admittedly stricken by injury and suspension, again looking well short at the elite level.
Gers skipper James Tavernier scored a late penalty but substitute Francisco Conceicao soon restored the visitors’ two-goal lead.
It meant that – after six Group A defeats out of six – the Govan side have a goal difference of -20, the worst-ever performance in a group stage, beating Dinamo Zagreb who lost all six games and finished on -19 in 2011-12.
Rangers end dismal Champions League campaign with unwanted record after Ajax defeat
Rangers 1-3 Ajax: The Gers’ record of six defeats from six and a goal difference of -20 in the worst in Champions League history
‘We’ve had our moments'
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou doesn’t seem to regret the way his team’s Champions League campaign has gone but he understands that improvements need to be made to get the Hoops up to a level where they can compete with the best teams in Europe.
"The whole Champions League campaign has been a great process for us.” he said, “Understanding what we can bring to these games and where we need to keep improving.
"Every game we’ve had our moments and when we’ve had our moments we haven’t taken them. Mostly they’ve come when we’ve played our football, but we also know when the opposition have their moments they can punish you.
“Everyone at our clubs is really proud to be here playing against one of the world’s greatest teams. Hopefully the game will be memorable for everyone, including our supporters.”
Fortress Bernabeu
Real Madrid have only failed to win one of their 11 home games in the Champions League group stage under Carlo Ancelotti (1-2 vs Sheriff Tiraspol in September 2021), with the other 10 all ending in victory.
They have scored 29 goals across these 11 matches, at an average of 2.6 per game
Chelsea will not ease off in Champions League, Graham Potter insists
Graham Potter insisted Chelsea will not field a team of youngsters “for the sake of it” but will focus on being competitive when they take on Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Chelsea secured their place in the competition’s knockout stages with a 2-1 away victory at Red Bull Salzburg on October 25.
The Blues recovered after a poor start in Group E after an initial return of just one point in their first two games, with Potter appointed just three days following the club’s 1-0 away defeat in Zagreb on September 6 which triggered the sacking of previous manager Thomas Tuchel.
However, despite Chelsea’s group qualification being confirmed, Potter insisted they will remain competitive for the fixture at Stamford Bridge – where a win for Dinamo could earn them third place and qualification for the Europa League knock-out stages.
Chelsea will not ease off in Champions League, Graham Potter insists
The Blues have already qualified from Group E
Can Celtic win tonight?
Celtic are winless in this season’s Champions League, drawing two and losing three of their five matches. Only once have they failed to win a single game during a campaign (D3 L3), doing so in 2016/17 under Brendan Rodgers.
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