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Barca and Atletico assure top eight in Champions League, Real Madrid faces playoff

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, January 30, 2025
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MADRID, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona was held 2-2 at home to Atalanta in an entertaining match on Montjuic in Wednesday's final round of the UEFA Champions League group stage, finishing second in the 36-team group.

Liverpool lost to PSV Eindhoven 3-2 but still topped the group ahead of Barca to qualify automatically for last 16.

Lamine Yamal scored the opening goal of the game in the 47th minute after a swift counter-attack started by Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha crossed for the teenager to turn the ball home.

Ederson leveled for Atalanta in the 67th minute, using his quick feet to dribble past Gavi before hitting an unstoppable shot past Wojciech Szczesny in the Barca goal.

Ronald Araujo put Barca back in front in the 72nd minute with a powerful header from a Raphinha corner, but it was quickly 2-2 when Mario Pasalic poked home from close range.

Atletico Madrid assured their qualification along the fast lane as they raced into a 2-0 lead away to RB Salzburg before cruising to a 4-1 triumph to finish fifth.

Giuliano Simeone calmed nerves in the fifth minute after controlling a Julian Alvarez pass and scored with a diagonal shot.

Simeone then turned provider, breaking the offside trap, finding space on the right of attack and putting a low pass across for Antoine Griezmann to score with a simple finish.

Griezmann netted his second of the game on the stroke of halftime to ensure they will go directly into the last-16, with Marcos Llorente making it 4-0 in the second half, before Adam Daghim netted a consolation after a long clearance from his goalkeeper.

Real Madrid will have to settle for a place in the play-offs after finishing 11th in the group stage, despite finishing with a 3-0 win away to Brest.

Rodrygo scored Real Madrid's opening goal with a smart left-foot shot across the face of goal in the 27th minute.

Brest saw a goal ruled out for a borderline offside decision against Ludovic Ajorque, before Jude Bellingham doubled Real Madrid's lead after a counterattack ended with Lucas Vazquez crossing for the England midfielder to score.

Rodrygo added Real Madrid's third in the 78th minute when he fired in from close range after Kylian Mbappe's shot was only parried into his path.

The result means Carlo Ancelotti's side will meet either Manchester City or Celtic in the play-offs featuring the teams that finish between ninth and 24th in the group.

Girona bowed out of the competition with a 2-1 defeat at home to Arsenal, who finishes third in the group.

Girona took the lead in the 28th minute when Arnaut Danjuma took advantage of a horrible defensive error and goalkeeper Neto's decision to come a long way out of his area, to score from just inside the halfway line.

Arsenal needed to win to ensure a top-eight finish and drew level from Jorginho's penalty, and a stunning free kick from 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri put them ahead three minutes before halftime.

There was no change to the score, although Arsenal had a great chance to make it 3-1 in injury time when Pau Lopez saved Raheem Sterling's penalty.

The other direct qualifiers are Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa. Enditem

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