The challenges awaiting the five British teams in the Champions League this week

By Sports Desk November 27, 2023

The Champions League’s penultimate round of fixtures take place this week with 10 round-of-16 places still up for grabs.

Holders Manchester City are already through and Arsenal can seal their place in the knockout stages, but Manchester United and Newcastle have plenty to do, while Celtic are bidding for their first group win.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at each of the British clubs’ matchday five opponents.

Lazio v Celtic (Tuesday)

Lazio will qualify for the knockout phase as Group E runners-up with victory against Celtic at the Olympic Stadium in Rome if Feyenoord lose at home to leaders Atletico Madrid.

Maurizio Sarri’s side will be looking to bounce back from last Saturday’s shock Serie A defeat to bottom club Salernitana by reaching the knockout stages for the second time in three seasons, having lost to Bayern Munich 6-2 on aggregate in the last 16 in 2020-21.

Pedro’s stoppage-time goal at Celtic Park in October snatched Lazio a 2-1 win on matchday two, while their only group defeat this season was a 3-1 loss at Feyenoord last month.

Lazio qualified for the Champions League by finishing runners-up to Napoli in Serie A last season, but have struggled to maintain their domestic form in this campaign, losing six of their 13 games to sit 11th in the table.

Paris St Germain v Newcastle (Tuesday)

Paris St Germain can secure their place in the last 16 for a 12th successive season if results go their way in Group F on matchday five.

Should the French champions avenge their humbling 4-1 defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park in October with victory in the return at the Parc des Princes and Borussia Dortmund beat AC Milan in Italy, the Parisiens will go through.

But with all four group rivals still harbouring hopes of reaching the knockout stage with two games to play, it could all go down to the final round of matches.

Luis Enrique’s side have recovered from an indifferent start to their domestic season, winning seven of their last eight matches and last Friday’s 5-2 home win against Monaco kept them top of Ligue 1.

Manchester City v Leipzig (Tuesday)

Leipzig joined City as one of the first two sides to reach the knockout phase this season after winning 2-1 on the road against Red Star Belgrade in their previous Group G match.

The Germans’ only group defeat this season came last month against City, who won 3-1 at the Red Bull Arena, while victories over Red Star (twice) and Young Boys have left them a comfortable second in the table.

Leipzig secured Champions League football for a fifth straight year by finishing third in the Bundesliga last season behind champions Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

Marco Rose’s side have lost two of their last three domestic league games and currently sit fifth, while they have lost heavily on their last two visits to the Etihad Stadium, 6-3 in 2021 and 7-0 in March when Erling Haaland scored five goals.

Galatasaray v Manchester United (Wednesday)

Galatasaray will give their hopes of reaching the last 16 for the first time in 10 years a major boost if they can beat United for a second time in Group A this season.

The Turkish champions twice fought back to win 3-2 at Old Trafford in October thanks to Mauro Icardi’s late winner and currently sit third behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich, level on points with Copenhagen and a point better off than United.

Galatasaray won five and drew one of their six qualifying round matches before being drawn into Group A and while they have lost both group games to Bayern, they have also drawn with Copenhagen.

Okan Buruk led Galatasaray to a 23rd Super Lig title last season and his side currently sit second behind arch-rivals Fenerbahce on goal difference after losing only one of their first 13 domestic league matches.

Arsenal v Lens (Wednesday)

Lens, playing Champions League football for the third time, are still in the hunt to secure their first-ever slot in the round of 16.

Their 2-1 home win against Arsenal in October was sandwiched by 1-1 draws against both Sevilla and PSV Eindhoven and although the Gunners are four points clear at the top of Group B, any one of four teams can still qualify.

Lens, who were playing in Ligue 2 only three years ago, secured their place in this year’s Champions League with an impressive second-placed finish in Ligue 1, just a point behind PSG.

Franck Haise’s side failed to win any of their first five Ligue 1 games this season, losing four of them, but have since remained unbeaten and back-to-back wins in their last two domestic matches have lifted them up to sixth spot.

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    Real Madrid striker Joselu was in dreamland after he came on in the dying moments of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday and turned the game on its head with two goals to snatch a stunning victory.

    Joselu, whose journeyman career has included spells at clubs such as Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 96, Stoke City and Newcastle United, only touched the ball a few times in their 2-1 second-leg win, but it was a night he is likely to remember for a long time.

    He pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, stabbing the ball into the net to equalise for Madrid in the 88th minute, and just under three minutes later, he volleyed them into the lead from a cross by Antonio Rudiger.

    "I don't know anything about being a hero, but I'm very happy... You can imagine," he said. "It was incredible, something spectacular. This team never gives up, it's in its blood to fight to the end and that's what we've done.

    "You always dream of this kind of performance, but not even my most beautiful dreams are as big as what happened today."

    On loan from second-division side Espanyol, Joselu's journey to becoming the semi-final hero has been long and winding in a career involving a dozen clubs across Europe.

    He began his career at Celta Vigo before being bought in 2009 by Madrid, where he excelled in their B team but rarely made it to the first team.

    He was sold to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in 2012 and then loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt before joining Hannover 96 in 2014.

    In 2015, he moved to Premier League side Stoke City, playing 27 times and scoring four goals, before spending two seasons at Newcastle United. He returned to Spain with Alaves, where he scored 36 times in three seasons.

    He signed as a free agent with Espanyol in the summer of 2022, and a year later was loaned to Madrid and has scored nine goals in 32 appearances this season in LaLiga.

    Joselu, born in Stuttgart, Germany, made his debut for Spain aged 33, coming off the bench against Norway to score twice in two minutes in March 2023.

    "I don’t think Joselu will be sleeping much tonight, he’ll be useless in training tomorrow!" team-mate Jude Bellingham said. "He deserves it all, he’s been an amazing member of the squad all season, and it’s his night."

  • Tuchel: Champions League semi-final defeat 'tough to accept' Tuchel: Champions League semi-final defeat 'tough to accept'

    Thomas Tuchel reflects on "tough to accept" defeat after Real Madrid came from behind to win 2-1 and knock Bayern Munich out of the Champions League on Wednesday.

    After a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the semi-final at the Allianz Arena, Bayern took the lead in the 68th minute through Alphonso Davies.

    However, Joselu came off the bench to score twice in three minutes to send the LaLiga champions to the Champions League final with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern.

    "It hurts. It’ll take a while to recover, but on the one hand, it’s a loss where we left it all out on the pitch,” Tuchel told DAZN after the game.

    "Of course, it’s tough to accept. It’s part of reality. No regrets. But on the other, there were too many injuries, a few too many substitutions, too many cramps.

    "We started with a front four and by the end they were all off the pitch. And then Manu, who had been exceptional in saving us all night, made a mistake he wouldn’t make in another 100 years."

    In stoppage time, Matthijs de Ligt had the ball in the back of the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle after the linesman raised his flag, so VAR could not intervene.

    The replays showed that the original decision was closer than first thought, and Tuchel was frustrated with how the situation was handled.

    Speaking to TNT Sports, Tuchel said: "We are almost through, it's almost there and there was a very unusual mistake from our best player for the equaliser, then we conceded the second one in stoppage time.

    "Then we scored one and there was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end. There was a huge fight, we left everything on the pitch, and we were almost there. Now we say congratulations to Real Madrid.

    "The linesman says sorry, but that does not help. To raise the flag in a moment like this... The referee sees we get the second ball, and we get the shot - it's a very, very bad decision. It's against the rules. It's a disaster. It's hard to swallow, but that's the way it is."

    Manuel Neuer made five saves in the game and looked equal to Madrid’s threat until he spilled the ball in the build-up to Joselu’s first goal.

    "Anyone who’s ever played football knows how I’m feeling right now," he told DAZN.

    "That we’ve been knocked out in the closing stages, having led 1-0 until the 88th minute, it’s extremely bitter.

    "We’d taken one step to London; we saw ourselves in the final, and now I’m lost for words."

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    Joselu was the hero for Real Madrid as he scored twice off the bench to send them through to the Champions League final.

    The Spaniard’s late brace secured Madrid’s comeback after Alphonso Davies had given the German side the lead, securing a 2-1 victory on the night, and a 4-3 win on aggregate to set up a meeting with Borussia Dortmund on June 1. 

    With only 10 minutes plus stoppage time to make an impact, Joselu made his time on the pitch count.

    He scored with both his shots, becoming the oldest substitute to score a brace in a knockout game in the Champions League.

    The forward is Madrid’s highest scorer in the competition this season with five goals, netting three of those after coming off the bench.  

    It is also the second time he has scored a double against a German team in the Champions League this campaign, getting his other against Union Berlin in the group stages.

    Bayern were left to rue a late lapse in concentration that saw them concede twice in the space of two minutes and 44 seconds.

    After Davies, who has been heavily linked with Los Blancos, became the first Canadian player to score in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with what was his maiden goal in the competition, it was a mistake that led to Madrid's equaliser.

    It is the first time since April 2021 against Paris Saint-Germain that Manuel Neuer made an error leading to an opposition goal in the competition.

    Bayern have now lost 11 Champions League matches against Madrid, the most one side has lost against another in the competition’s history.

    It was always going to be a tough game for Thomas Tuchel’s side even after taking the lead – Madrid have won four matches despite conceding first in the Champions League this season, the most by a side in a single campaign since they won the trophy in 2016-17 (five).

    Los Blancos have reached an 18th final in the European Cup/Champions League, but this is the first time they will play the showcase game at Wembley or in England altogether.

    Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti has reached his sixth Champions League final, two more than any other coach in the history of the competition. 

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