In Group H of PSG, Benfica Lisbon delivered the only real surprise of this Champions League evening by stealing first place in the group from the Parisian club.
In the rest of the matches, only group E did not yet know the two qualified teams before attacking this last day of the group stage of the Champions League.
AC Milan secured a place in the round of 16 thanks to their big victory (4-0) against Red Bull Salzburg.
In the other pools, Real Madrid ensured its first place by crushing Celtic (5-1), to overtake RB Leipzig.
How Benfica overthrew PSG from a distance
The Lisbon people were on a mission this Wednesday in Haifa.
Forced to do better than PSG and score four more away goals, Roger Schmidt's men kicked off their game perfectly by taking the lead in the 20th minute.
Against the course of the game and on a loose hand on an innocuous cross, Maccabi Haifa picked up on a penalty from Chery, allowing them for a time to believe in a 3rd place synonymous with the Europa League.
[📺 VIDEO SUMMARY] 🏆 #MACSLB
🎇 Huge victory for Benfica against Maccabi Haifa, 6-1!
⚡ Ramos, Musa, Grimaldo, Silva and Araujo scored!
📊 The Portuguese finish first ahead of PSG! https://t.co/YocoOPpstH
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) November 2, 2022
In the second period, Musa, Grimaldo and Rafa Silva allowed Benfica to believe in it while PSG led "only" two goals to one on the side of Juve.
Two more goals and Lisbon regained first place in the group.
And like an old memory of the comeback, in the last five minutes Henrique Araujo scored the 5-1 goal, before the evening turned irrational with a shot from 20m lodged in the small opposing nets of Joao Mario at the 92nd minute.
On an almost perfect equality, Benfica becomes first in the number of goals scored away during the group stage.
“We knew about this possibility.
Congratulations to Benfica who have scored more away goals than us.
In the 92nd minute, we are happy with the work provided and then ... It's like that, "reacted Fabien Galthié at the microphone of Canal +.
Giroud, the double for qualifying
Two weeks from the list of Blues, Olivier Giroud has shown that he was still very efficient in the colors of AC Milan.
Author of a superb performance punctuated by a double and two assists, the second best scorer in the history of the Blues allowed his club to secure second place in group E synonymous with qualification for the round of 16 of Champions League.
🔥🔥🔥 Olivier Giroud is 𝙓𝙓𝙇!
💥 2 𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙩 1 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙚́𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 against Salzburg!
👏 Zlatan Ibrahimovic applauds!
pic.twitter.com/IC4Vp4a92A
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) November 2, 2022
The Rossoneris had to win to avoid being transferred to the Europa League.
Stefano Pioli's men quickly controlled the match to take the lead before the quarter-hour mark thanks to the inevitable Giroud well served by Sandro Tonali.
Dominating the whole game, the Milanese played in the second period first thanks to Krunic on a deviation from the head of the French striker.
Giroud, again him, and Messias in additional time completed the Milan victory.
Benzema returns to the field
Absent in the last three meetings following a discomfort in the thigh, Karim Benzema took part in the Real Madrid recital against Celtic Glasgow (5-1) to secure first place in group F. Entered the game in the 63rd minute in place of Vinicius, "KB9" had "good feelings" according to his coach Carlo Ancelotti who indicated that the French striker would be available on Monday against Rayo Vallecano, just like Aurélien Tchouaméni.
🔁 63' |
4-0 |
Double replacement: @Benzema ↔️ @vinijr @Lucasvazquez91 ↔️ @DaniCarvajal92#UCL pic.twitter.com/k7fGbxKaoN
— Real Madrid CF 🇫🇷 (@realmadridfra) November 2, 2022
In an important game for first place in the group, the first half was played on a history of penalties.
Two for Real Madrid scored by Modric in the 6th minute and Rodrygo in the 21st.
Juranovic had the chance before half-time to restart the game, but Courtois made the difference in Madrid's goals.
The second half was only a formality for Benzema's teammates (5-1).
Note in Group G, Manchester City secured its first place by winning against Seville (3-1).
Borussia Dortmund only brought back the draw from Copenhagen (1-1), enough to keep their 2nd place, already secured before the meeting.