Gameweek 6 of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL) had in store some mouthwatering clashes between Europe’s elite clubs. Cagey draws, high-scoring entertainers, and feisty encounters that enthralled football fans were the order of the day.
While Liverpool maintained their 100% record in the UCL first phase, PSG and Real Madrid secured all-important wins. Inter suffered their first defeat of the campaign against Bayer Leverkusen, while the Villans came out on top in an almighty tussle.
Let’s take a look at the happenings of Gameweek 6.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Girona FC 0-1 Liverpool FC
Liverpool became the first side to secure Round of 16 qualification with a win here, albeit with a far-from-convincing display.
The visitors started the game positively and controlled most of the possession in the first 15 minutes. The Reds came close with a Joe Gomez header which forced a save from Paulo Gazzaniga from close range. Liverpool didn’t see many chances after that in the first half, with the home team taking the initiative and making their backline toil and sweat. Arnaut Danjuma was a particular threat, as both he and Bryan Gil forced saves from Liverpool’s returning goalkeeper, Alisson Becker. Liverpool forward Darwin Núñez missed a few big chances as it remained goalless at the break.
The away side got slightly better and started to attack with intensity as the second half began. The increased possession in the opposition half reaped rewards when Luis Díaz was fouled by Donny van de Beek in the box. After a lengthy VAR review, the on-field decision was overturned and a penalty was awarded to Liverpool at the hour mark, which Mohamed Salah converted. Liverpool managed to keep control of the game from there on and didn’t allow Girona any clear-cut chances to equalise.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | GNK Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Celtic FC
Dinamo Zagreb and Celtic played out a goalless draw as neither side could really force the issue.
Celtic were the better side, but they were restricted to shots from outside the box. Their most clear-cut chance arrived just before the break when Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn was denied by Danijel Zagorac.
The hosts showed more intent after the break, with Celtic goalie Kasper Schmeichel denying Martin Baturina and Marko Pjaca. Late in the game, Adam Idah looked certain to score from an Arne Engles pass only for a last-ditch intervention by Zagreb defender Kévin Théophile-Catherine to deny the Celtic striker.
Even though Celtic could be on their way to playoff qualification with a decent point away, their wait for an away win in the Champions League still continues, which they last managed in 2017.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Stade Brestois 29 1-0 PSV Eindhoven
Brest’s inaugural Champions League campaign continues going beyond their wildest dreams so far as they edged PSV at home with a crucial win.
PSV would be ruing their missed chances as they dominated proceedings in the first half. Brest have now won four of their first six UCL matches, but this could have gone the other way had their goalkeeper Marco Bizot not been in top form. The Dutchman made a string of impressive saves to keep his countrymen at bay. Two minutes before half-time, the hosts delivered the telling blow against the run of play as a header from Mama Baldé deflected off a defender and landed perfectly for Julien Le Cardinal to tap in his first Brest goal.
PSV came buzzing in the second half but were unlucky as a couple of their shots hit the post. On the other side, Brest had a glorious opportunity to double their lead, but opposition goalkeeper Walter Benítez made a low, diving save to keep PSV in the game. The Dutch outfit couldn’t find an equaliser, though, and went home with a loss despite dominating the game.
PSV had an incredible 18 attempts on goal but failed to score from any of them as Benítez pulled off a Man of the Match performance.
Also read: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Sponsors
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Club Brugge KV 2-1 Sporting CP
Sporting’s winless run continued as they continue struggling with life after Ruben Amorim, with Club Brugge boosting their chances of qualification with a home win.
Sporting had a dream start when they opened the scoring inside three minutes. Geny Catamo pounced on a rebound to give his side the lead. Club Brugge levelled in the 24th minute, when Eduardo Quaresma diverted Christos Tzolis’s shot into his own net. Moments later, Sporting had a penalty awarded for a foul on Maximiliano Araújo, but VAR replays showed the tackle was made outside the box. Viktor Gyökeres blasted the ensuing free-kick over the crossbar.
The game remained in the balance until the 84th minute, when substitute Casper Nielsen blasted his side to victory from captain Hans Vanaken’s pass.
With this defeat, Sporting are now winless in four straight games in all competitions.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1-0 FC Internazionale Milano
Leverkusen left it late at home to grab all three points, ending Inter’s unbeaten run in the competition.
The German Bundesliga champions almost made a perfect start as Nathan Tella’s shot hit the crossbar inside three minutes. Granit Xhaka had another decent opportunity, but his curling shot from outside the box was saved by Jan Sommer. Leverkusen dominated the proceedings, with the Nerrazzuri having no sight on goal in the first half.
The second half saw the hosts trying to break the deadlock, but stout defending from the highly-rated Alessandro Bastoni denied them the opener. However, the home side’s efforts paid rich dividends in the closing stages of the game when Alejandro Grimaldo’s dangerous cross into the box was latched onto by Nordi Mukiele and slotted calmly into goal to the delight of the fans inside BayArena.
This was a much-deserved victory for Die Werkself, who kept Inter on the back foot the entire game. Even though the result doesn’t affect either team much in terms of their respective qualification chances, it will certainly be a huge confidence booster for Xabi Alonso’s side.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | RB Leipzig 2-3 Aston Villa FC
A five-goal thriller at the Red Bull Arena saw Leipzig’s dismal campaign continue, as they remain winless in the competition.
Aston Villa had a perfect start as John McGinn provided the opener in the third minute: Matty Cash chipped in the ball to Ollie Watkins, who headed it down in the box for McGinn for an easy finish. However, a defensive mix-up between Ezri Konsa and Emiliano Martínez gifted Leipzig the equaliser in the 26th minute as Loïs Openda cashed in on the mistake. The first half ended 1-1.
Seven minutes into the second half, the Villans regained the lead with a Jhon Durán swerving strike from outside the box, which beat Leipzig keeper Péter Gulácsi. Durán scored again off a Cash assist, but the fullback was found marginally offside in the build-up. The Villa dominance was short-lived, however, as Christoph Baumgartner restored parity with a looping finish five minutes later from an Openda pass into the box. Both sides continued missing chances, with a Lucas Digne shot forcing a save from Gulácsi and Openda failing to capitalise on a Pau Torres error. The home crowd were left heartbroken five minutes from full-time, however, when Ross Barkley’s shot was deflected off a Leipzig defender to hand Villa all three points.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | FC Shakhtar Donetsk 1-5 FC Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich put in a five-star performance against Shakhtar Donetsk in Gelsenkirchen despite going down a goal early in the game.
Shakhtar’s solitary goal came in the fifth minute when Oleksandr Zubkov’s through ball found Kevin, who cut inside Kim Min-jae before sending his shot into the far corner. However, the German side levelled just six minutes later when Michael Olise lost possession in the area but the ball fell kindly to Konrad Laimer, who smashed it into the roof of the net. Shakhtar had the chance to go back in front, but Georgiy Sudakov put his shot wide after an excellent pass from Kevin in the box. On the stroke of half-time, Thomas Müller made no mistake when Musiala took the ball into the box and laid it for him.
Shakhtar put pressure on Bayern at the start of the second half but were unable to find an equaliser, while the Bavarians put their foot on the pedal. They thought they had extended their lead when Musiala volleyed home from a corner, but the goal was chalked off for a foul on the opposition keeper. However, minutes later the referee pointed to the spot for a foul by Alaa Ghram on substitute Sacha Boey. Olise stepped up in the 70th minute to convert the penalty, putting daylight between the two sides. He then capped off an excellent performance in the 87th minute by collecting a loose ball in the box and firing past Dmytro Riznyk. Olise then got his brace with a magical goal, weaving through the Shakhtar defenders and firing into the bottom corner to complete a five-star performance for the Bavarians.
With this win, Bayern Munich have risen up to eighth in the UCL table, while Shakhtar have work to do if they are to avoid getting knocked out of the competition in the first stage.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Atalanta BC 2-3 Real Madrid CF
Real Madrid narrowly beat a gritty Atalanta away in Bergamo, thus grabbing a crucial three points to ensure they have a shot at direct qualifying into the Round of 16.
Boosted by the return of their talismanic winger Vinícius Júnior, Real Madrid started on the front foot and opened the scoring in the tenth minute courtesy of Kylian Mbappé, who took a brilliant touch past the defender and struck the ball low into the far corner. However, he had to leave the match in the first half due to injury and was replaced by Rodrygo, who himself was returning after an injury lay-off. To make matters worse, Atalanta equalised just before the break from Charles De Ketelaere, who converted the resulting penalty after Aurélien Tchouaméni had fouled Sead Kolašinac in the box.
However, the late setback didn’t deter the Galácticos and they regained the lead in the 56th minute through Vinícius, who scored from a rebound. Three minutes later, Jude Bellingham scored from a blistering counter attack, giving Los Blancos a 3-1 lead. The Serie A leaders weren’t the ones to give up, though, and reduced the deficit through their in-form marksman Ademola Lookman in the 65th minute before Thibaut Courtois showcased his importance with a string of saves in the Real Madrid goal to secure a hard-fought win for his side.
With two games left, the defending UCL champions have climbed up to 18th in the 36-team table and are three points off the top eight. Atalanta, meanwhile, are ninth on 11 points.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | FC Red Bull Salzburg 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain FC
PSG finally secured a crucial win against a struggling Salzburg side and moved into the playoff spots.
The French side threatened from the outset, through Lee Kang-in, Achraf Hakimi, and Bradley Barcola, but the Salzburg goalkeeper, Alexander Schlager, managed to keep them at bay in the early period. At the half-hour mark though, Hakimi set up Gonçalo Ramos for a fine finish for the opener. The lacklustre home side had no clear-cut chances and were lucky to go into the break with a 1-0 deficit.
The Parisians looked dangerous in the second half as well, while the hosts struggled to keep up with them. The closest Salzburg came was through Nene Dorgeles in the 63rd minute as he broke into the box on the left and had a shot at goal, but PSG keeper Gigi Donnarumma kept the ball out of his net. The Ligue 1 champions were clearly the better side on the day and soon Nuno Mendes doubled their advantage in the 72nd minute with a powerful left-footed shot from a Désiré Doué pass. Doué then added a third goal in the 85th minute to put the game to bed.
With this defeat, Salzburg’s abysmal UCL campaign continues as they languish 32nd in the first stage table.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | LOSC Lille 3-2 SK Sturm Graz
Lille secured a 3-2 victory over Sturm Graz in a thriller on Wednesday, with substitute Hákon Arnar Haraldsson scoring a late winner.
After a largely uneventful start, the match came to life in the final minutes of the first half as Osame Sahraoui broke the deadlock for Lille in the 37th minute before Mitchel Bakker doubled their lead ten minutes later. Sturm Graz launched an immediate fightback, with Otar Kiteishvili sending a bouncing ball into the roof of the net with the last kick of the first half.
Mika Biereth levelled for the visitors two minutes after the restart, tapping in a low cross from close range. However, the Austrian Bundesliga champions could not stop Haraldsson from securing all three points for Lille with his late strike.
Following the result, Lille sit eighth in the table, level on points with five other sides, while Sturm Graz find themselves in 29th place with just three points.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Atlético Madrid 3-1 ŠK Slovan Bratislava
Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atlético Madrid claimed a comfortable 3-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava. The result sees Atleti extend their winning streak to ten games across all competitions.
Julián Alvarez opened the scoring for Atleti with a well-taken strike, curling his shot into the top-right corner past Dominik Takác after just 16 minutes. Atleti continued to dominate in the first half and got their reward as Griezmann scored for the fifth successive match with a thumping header just before the break.
The visitors briefly got back into the match to pull it back to 2-1 when Davis Strelec earned a penalty and converted from 12 yards, but Griezmann restored the two-goal cushion six minutes later with a simple finish at the near post on the other end.
Atleti are now 11th in the table with 12 points from six matches, while Slovan are one place off the bottom of the table, having lost all six games.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | VfB Stuttgart 5-1 BSC Young Boys
Stuttgart came from a goal down to thump a winless Young Boys side 5-1 and keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive.
Lukasz Lakomy fired Young Boys into the lead in the sixth minute and dedicated his goal to teammate Meschak Elia, who lost his son on Tuesday after a brief illness. However, Stuttgart drew themselves level soon after through Angelo Stiller, who was picked out by Josha Vagnoman, before finishing past David von Ballmoos.
After failing to find a second goal before the break, Enzo Millot put Stuttgart into a 53rd-minute lead following some neat build-up play. The result was sealed just after the hour mark through Vagnoman before Yannik Keitel netted his first goal for the club to add further gloss to an impressive display. Keitel’s 75th-minute strike was set up by the excellent Fabian Rieder, who became the first Swiss and Stuttgart player to notch a hattrick of assists in a Champions League match.
The German Bundesliga outfit find themselves down in 26th but just a point off the playoff places. They face Slovan Bratislava and Paris Saint-Germain in their final two games.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Feyenoord Rotterdam 4-2 AC Sparta Praha
Two quick-fire early goals laid the foundation for Feyenoord to boost their qualification hopes with a comfortable 4-2 home win over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
Gernot Trauner and Igor Paixão scored within 60 seconds as Feyenoord made a dream start to their home tie at De Kuip, with Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Giménez adding goals to keep the Dutch side on course for a spot in the knockouts.
Feyenoord failed to clear a long throw that was flicked onto Amir Rrahmani at the back post to make it 3-1 in the 43rd minute, but Giménez restored the comfortable margin when he took advantage of a defensive slip-up to bundle the ball over from close range. Sparta’s second goal came from a cross in the 79th minute, which was steered home by a sliding Thomas Beelen into his own net.
With this win, Feyenoord move on to ten points, while Sparta, whose consolations came from Rrahmani and the Beelen own-goal, suffered a fourth defeat in six group games and have a tough task ahead to avoid elimination.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | SL Benfica 0-0 Bologna FC 1909
A wasteful Benfica struggled to a 0-0 home draw against Bologna on Wednesday as visiting keeper Lukasz Skorupski made crucial saves to keep the hosts out.
Benfica thought they had got off to a flying start after two minutes when Vangelis Pavlidis scored, but a VAR check ruled out the effort for offside. Pavlidis was denied from close range by Skorupski with a superb reflex save in the second half. Benfica wasted late chances as the points were shared in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Benfica are 15th in the standings with ten points, while Bologna’s campaign is on the brink of ending with only two points and a six-point gap to the last playoff spot.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | AC Milan 2-1 FK Crvena zvezda
Milan continued their good run in the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over Red Star Belgrade.
The hosts took the lead in the 42nd minute with a goal from Rafael Leão, though the opposition equalised in the 67th minute through Nemanja Radonjic. Milan, however, regained control of the match with Tammy Abraham, who scored the late winner in the 87th minute.
The first half began with a brisk pace from both teams. However, inside the half-hour mark, Milan saw both Rubin Loftus-Cheek and Álvaro Morata exit the field of play due to injuries.
In the second half, Crvena zvezda increased the pressure and found the equaliser in the 67th minute with a precise shot from Radonjic. The Rossoneri remained undeterred, however, and continued to push forward, and their patience paid off with Abraham’s 87th-minute winner.
The result sees Milan climb up to 12th in the UCL table, one point off the direct qualification places, while Red Star sit in 31st, five points off the final playoff place.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Arsenal FC 3-0 AS Monaco
Arsenal closed in on qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League after a dominant 3-0 victory over Monaco at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners should have sealed the game in the first half itself, but Gabriel Jesus, Martin Ødegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli all missed guilt-edge opportunities to put the game to bed. The breakthrough eventually came in the 34th minute, when Jesus teed up Bukayo Saka after good work from Myles Lewis-Skelly, who was making his first Champions League start for the Gunners.
The visitors should have been level midway through the second period when William Saliba uncharacteristically gifted possession to Takumi Minamino, who picked out Breel Embolo in the penalty area, but the Swiss striker fired his shot agonisingly wide.
The game was eventually put to bed after a gift from goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki. Under pressure from Ødegaard, he passed the ball straight to Saka, who made no mistake for his second goal of the night. Substitute Kai Havertz later scored Arsenal’s third goal to put the gloss on what was another dominant night for the Gunners as they climbed to third in the table.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Juventus FC 2-0 Manchester City FC
Dušan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie scored on the night to give Juventus a 2-0 win over Manchester City, dealing a major blow to the Premier League champions’ hopes of clinching a top-eight spot.
City, who lifted the Champions League trophy last year, continue their poor run of form which has brought only one victory in their last ten games across all competitions.
Vlahovic opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when Kenan Yildiz swung the ball in and the Serb’s header from close range sneaked past City keeper Ederson. Pep Guardiola’s side squandered several chances, one of the best being Erling Haaland’s narrow miss late in the first half.
City picked up the tempo in a desperate attempt to equalise and sent numbers forward, but Juve capitalised to double their lead against the run of play when McKennie hooked Timothy Weah’s cross in with a sumptuous volley in the 75th minute.
With two games remaining in the first stage, Juve are 14th in the table, while City have plummeted to 22nd, three places off a first-stage elimination.
UCL 2024/25 Gameweek 6 | Borussia Dortmund 2-3 FC Barcelona
Barcelona climbed to second in the Champions League table after Ferran Torres’ late winner sealed a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund. Torres came off the bench in the 71st minute to score twice at Signal Iduna Park as Hansi Flick’s side closed in on automatic qualification for the knockouts.
The Blaugrana broke through seven minutes after the restart, Raphinha racing onto Dani Olmo’s through ball and firing past Gregor Kobel. Serhou Guirassy equalised on the hour mark from the penalty spot after the Dortmund striker was fouled by Pau Cubarsí in the box.
Torres restored Barça’s lead four minutes after coming on, tucking home a rebound after Kobel initially denied Fermin Lopez, but Guirassy levelled once more in the 78th minute when he slid home Pascal Groß’s square delivery. The visitors snatched all three points five minutes from time when Lamine Yamal found Torres, who steered a low shot into the far corner.
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