In this article, we take a look at all the action from the first leg of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL) Playoff Round.
Stade Brest 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain seized control of their Champions League knockout play-off tie against Stade Brest on Tuesday, with Ousmane Dembélé scoring twice in a 3-0 away win.
PSG broke the deadlock after 21 minutes, with Vitinha converting a penalty after Pierre Lees-Melou was ruled to have handled the ball in front of his goal.
Brest had chances to level the proceeding as Abdallah Sima headed against the post and an Achraf Hakimi mistake went unpunished, before PSG doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time.
Dembélé cut inside from the right flank and beat Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot at his near post with a low strike, scoring in his eighth consecutive match for PSG. Midway through the second half, Dembélé secured his brace and potentially PSG’s place in the last 16, latching onto a loose ball in the box before drilling home.
The result leaves Brest with a mountain to climb ahead of the return leg at the Parc des Princes on February 19.
Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner saw Real Madrid twice come from behind to beat Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.
The game started at a frantic pace with both keepers getting tested early on. Madrid were the better of the two sides and missed some guilt-edged chances before Erling Haaland gave City the lead thanks to an inspired bit of play by full-back Joško Gvardio.
The Norwegian striker would have felt like he had won the game for his team at the Etihad Stadium from the penalty spot late on with his second of the night, restoring the lead after Kylian Mbappé had levelled on the hour mark with a mis-hit volley. But City collapsed in the final moments.
Brahim Díaz netted with a first-time shot on the rebound against his former club before Jude Bellingham had the final say, latching onto the ball with the goalkeeper beaten after Vinícius Júnior had robbed Rico Lewis and lofted the ball over Ederson.
On the balance of play, Madrid will feel they created more than enough to win the leg but the manner of the result was tough on Pep Guardiola’s side and leaves them with much to do against the European champions when they meet at the Santiago Bernabéu for a place in the last 16.
Juventus 2-1 PSV
Samuel Mbangula came off the bench to score with eight minutes left as Juventus edged PSV 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie on Tuesday.
The two sides had met each other in their league phase opener earlier in the season, with the Italians coming out as 3-1 winners.
It was once again Thiago Motta’s side who began brightly as Federico Gatti’s cross created a pinball inside the box before Weston McKennie’s thunderous strike from the edge of the box gave the hosts the opener in the 34th minute.
The visitors, however, found a way back into the game as Ivan Periši? – who turned 36 this month – fired a low drive to beat Michele Di Gregorio at his near post to make it 1-1 only 10 minutes into the second half.
However, Mbangula’s late strike handed the lead to Juventus late on with the tie set for an exciting climax in the Netherlands to decide who among them will progress to the last 16 of the competition.
Sporting CP 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Serhou Guirassy matched Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski as he inspired Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 Champions League win over Sporting CP.
Sporting were the more aggressive of the two sides at the start and hit the woodwork with Maximiliano Araújo’s powerful drive bouncing off the crossbar. The Portuguese club came close to taking the lead in the 35th minute but was palmed wide by Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel with the visitors failing to register a single shot on target in the first half.
That changed in the 55th minute when Karim Adeyemi’s low drive was blocked by Rui Silva. Guinea international Guirassy, however, gave the keeper no chance, wrong-footing him with a looping header from a Julian Brandt cross.
Dortmund kept up the pressure and eight minutes later doubled their lead, as Guirassy whipped in a cross with Pascal Groß volleying it in from close range.
By the time Adeyemi added a third in the 82nd minute, Sporting had seemingly thrown in the towel, unable to break past the Dortmund defence. The result means Dortmund are all but through to the last 16 with this healthy three-goal lead.
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