•Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Achraf Hakimi (left), Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol (center) and Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva (right) fight for the ball during the UEFA Champions League
Paris Saint-Germain pushed Manchester City to the brink of Champions League elimination after coming from two goals down to win 4-2 yesterday, while Arsenal all but secured their place in the last 16.
Holders Real Madrid remain in contention for a top-eight spot after sweeping aside Red Bull Salzburg 5-1, but Bayern Munich’s hopes of automatic qualification took a hit with a 3-0 defeat by Feyenoord, reports AFP.
Pep Guardiola’s City were left stunned as they blew a two-goal lead after Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland struck early in the second half in pouring rain at the Parc des Princes.
Substitute Ousmane Dembele soon halved the deficit for PSG and Bradley Barcola equalised on the hour after Desire Doue’s effort came back off the crossbar.
Joao Neves’ diving header put PSG on top before Goncalo Ramos added a late fourth as the French champions climbed from 26th in the table to 22nd and bumped City out of the qualifying spots for the knockout phase.
“I don’t know how we did it, to be honest,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told Canal Plus.
“We started the second half in the worst way possible by conceding two goals. It was tricky at that point, but at the same time this team believes in itself.”
City, the European champions in 2023, are down in 25th having failed to win any of their last four games in the competition and must beat Club Brugge at home next week to salvage their campaign.
“I accept the defeat because the best team won,” said Guardiola.
“It’s in our hands, we have to win the last game,” he added. “Hopefully we can qualify. If it doesn’t happen, we don’t deserve it.”
Arsenal are on the verge of the last 16 as goals from Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard sealed a 3-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb — their fifth victory in seven games in Europe.
“It’s a massive step. We’re very close to achieving the goal we had before the group stage started,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.
The Gunners, who go to Girona in their final game in the league phase, are third in the 36-team table and three points clear of ninth-placed Aston Villa with a far superior goal difference.
– Madrid canter as Bayern falter –
Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Junior both struck twice, with Kylian Mbappe also on target as Madrid thumped Salzburg to move up to 16th, but just a point back from eighth-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
“We’ve been through difficult moments we didn’t want to,” said Rodrygo.
“But this victory in the Champions League, that we needed, will give us a lot of confidence to keep going now with the big challenges ahead of us.”
The record 15-time European champions are just behind Bayern Munich after the German giants came unstuck in Rotterdam.
Santiago Gimenez scored two goals, including a penalty, in the first half before Ayase Ueda’s late goal completed a superb display from Feyenoord, who could also still finish in the top eight.
Inter Milan look guaranteed to reach the last 16 after their 1-0 win away to Sparta Prague courtesy of Lautaro Martinez’s volley.
The Italian champions are fourth on 16 points, level with Arsenal, and one above city rivals AC Milan.
Rafael Leao’s first-half strike was enough to earn Milan a 1-0 win that also eliminated Girona.
Celtic advanced to the Champions League knockout stage for the first time in 12 years after inflicting a seventh successive defeat on Young Boys, with Loris Benito’s 86th-minute own goal handing the Hoops a 1-0 win in Glasgow.
“It’s a little bit of history created, we haven’t been in the knockout stages for a long time. For the supporters it’s an amazing night,” said Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.
French club Brest saw their bid for an automatic spot in the last 16 dented by a 2-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in Germany.
Sporting Lisbon suffered a third straight defeat as previously pointless RB Leipzig won 2-1 with goals from Benjamin Sesko and Yussuf Poulsen.
