FCK is 3rd (2 points). In Group H, Juventus (3 points) lost 2-0 at Maccabi Haifa and there is only a thread of hope left to get ahead of PSG and Benfica (7 points), who face each other in evening. Pep Guardiola left for the first time this season, Erling Haaland, author of 20 goals in 13 matches in all competitions, on the bench. Phil Foden was also preserved unlike Kevin De Bruyne, replaced in the 77th. In their Telia Parken Stadium, the Lions bet on the counter and a shot on target from Lukas Lerager was hardly pushed back for a corner by Ederson (19th). The Citizens then received via the VAR a penalty for a hand fault by Nicolai Bollesen which Riyad Mahrez missed (25th). It was also on the intervention of the video that the ex-Anderlechtois Sergio Gomez was excluded for a foul on Elias Jelert that the referee had not whistled (30th).
Omnipresent in the first period, De Bruyne was on the restart but his shot from distance was released by Kamil Grabara (50th). The Mancunians multiplied the strikes but Grabara remained impassable. The Citizens go to Dortmund on October 25 before receiving Sevilla on November 2, which they beat 0-4 in the first leg.
At Maccabi, Barak Bakhar trusted his trident made up of Frantzdy Pierrot (ex-Mouscron), Dean David and Omer Atzili, who quickly cracked the four-man defense lined up by Massimiliano Allegri (7th, 1-0). Well into their game, the Greens saw a free kick from Tjarron Chery crashing into the crossbar (12th) and a shot from Atzili being repelled by Wojciech Szczesny (16th). The solid Turin goalkeeper, however, might not prevent the Israeli striker from signing a double with a curled shot (44th, 2-0).
After the break, the Turinese were the first to take action and Daniele Rugani placed a header that Josh Cohen diverted with a tap (55th). With an attack down, the Old Lady didn’t turn things around and they retained third place over Haifa with their 3-1 first leg win.
