Monaco also stunned their counterparts Barcelona by beating them 2-1 in the Champions league match on Thursday with Barcelona playing with 10 men. Yes, Barcelona began La Liga brilliantly, but in Europe, they stumbled when Eric Garcia was sent off in the 11th minute for a foul on Takumi Minamino. Then five minutes later able to exploit Maghnes Akliouche making the score 1 to 0 for Monaco.
Six minutes to the break, the young shining star of Barcelona, Lamine Yamal, equalized for 1-1 from a left-side boot after cutting across the box. But with a goal scored in the last twenty minutes, George Ilenikhena ensured the Monaco team won the match.
Speaking after the match, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick admitted that playing with ten men was a problem but found some consolation. “The red card was a turning point, but we had to work as a team all the same,” Flick said, adding, «Monaco was deserving the victory today, and we have to admit this…
On the other hand, Arsenal by some means played out a 0-0 stalemate away against Atalanta, thanks to David Raya’s last-gasp double save. 51 minutes saw Raya saving a penalty from Mateo Retegui after Thomas Partey’s challenge while a shot retake saw Retegui shoot at goal with Raya pulling off a goal line save on the second attempt after diving back.
This is where Raya could say it after the match: “It was just a penalty save and there was nothing more to it; I was even fortunate to make a quick reaction,” Raya said.
In another match, Atletico Madrid struggled past with a 2-1 score against RB Leipzig courtesy to a late header by Jose Maria Gimenez which made the coach Diego Simeone to have a moment of joy. Benjamin Sesko put Leipzig in front but Antoine Griezmann pulled parity for Atletico and for the second goal, Griezmann assisted Diego Gimenez in the last minutes.
The German side of Bayer Leverkusen had a great 4-0 victory over Feyenoord. The young, talented player Florian Wirtz contributed two goals. The Bundesliga champions also got a goal from an Alex Grimaldo free-kick and Feyenoord’s goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther’s own goal. Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso called his team’s performance “serious and efficient. ”
In other matches, French Brest the European debut with a victory over Sturm Graz with a score of 2-1, and in Serbia Benfica won in the match with Red Star Belgrade with a score of 2-1, with the first-half goals from Kerem Akturkoglu and Orkun Kokcu.
The next Champions League matches will be on the 1st and 2nd of October, with Arsenal at home to PSG, Bayern at Villa Park, and the reigning champions Real Madrid at the Allianz Riviera against Lille.
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