On Wednesday, the third round of group stage matches in the UEFA Champions League came to an end, with eight matches played in Groups A-D.
The first match took place at 19:00 Lithuania time - Agdam's "Qarabag" hosted Madrid's "Atletico". The Azerbaijan club unpleasantly surprised Diego Simeone's team - they did not concede a goal and fought to a draw.
For "Atletico", this was a very poor result, as they had only managed to secure a single point so far.
The opponents of "Rojiblancos" were pressuring them with their own style - the visitors from Spain constantly tried to break through the opponent's defense, but were unable to do so.
In the other C group matches, football fans witnessed a much more exciting and goal-filled match. At home in London, "Chelsea" drew 3-3 with "Roma" after a fierce battle.
The beginning of the match was promising for "Chelsea" - David Luiz scored a masterful goal in the 11th minute from a defensive position, and Eden Hazard increased Chelsea's lead with a precise shot in the 37th minute.
However, "Roma" did not give up without a fight - Aleksandar Kolarov brought back the intrigue in the 40th minute, breaking through and scoring with a shot following a ricochet off Thibaut Courtois.
In the second half, "Roma" continued to push forward - Edin Dzeko scored a true masterpiece in the 64th minute. The Bosnian scored an impressive goal into the opponent's net after a brilliant pass from Federico Fazio.
The visitors from Italy were not willing to stop there - in the 70th minute, the score changed from 0-2 to 3-2: the same E. Dzeko scored a header goal after a set piece, bringing "Roma" in front.
However, "Roma" was unable to maintain the winning result, and in the 75th minute, Eden Hazard equalized the score with a precise header, extending the draw for the hosts.
"Chelsea" continues to lead the group with 7 points. "Roma" has two points less, and "Atletico" has only managed to secure two points after three rounds.
In Group A, "Manchester United" narrowly beat Lisbon's "Benfica" after a tough battle, while Moscow's CSKA suffered a defeat at home against "Basel."
Both favorites in Group B celebrated easy victories - Munich's "Bayern" had no trouble against Glasgow's "Celtic", and Paris's "Saint-Germain" defeated Brussels' "Anderlecht".
In Group D, Turin's "Juventus" faced serious difficulties against Lisbon's "Sporting". The latter scored first, but goals from Miralem Pjanic and Mario Mandzukic brought victory to the home team.
In the final match where "Barcelona" clashed with Piraeus' "Olympiakos", the Catalans secured a 3-1 victory, despite Gerard Pique being sent off since the end of the first half.
It is worth mentioning that Lionel Messi, who scored the second goal for "Barca" in the match, surpassed his 100-goal mark in the Champions League tournament.
Results:
Group A
"Benfica" 0 - 1 "Man Utd" 64' [0 - 1] M. Rashford 90' Luisao (Benfica) sent off
CSKA 0 - 2 "Basel" 29' [0 - 1] T. Xhaka 90' [0 - 2] D. Oberlin
Group B
"Anderlecht" 0 - 4 PSG 3' [0 - 1] K. Mbappe 44' [0 - 2] E. Cavani 66' [0 - 3] Neymar 88' [0 - 4] A. Di Maria
"Bayern" 3 - 0 "Celtic" 17' [1 - 0] T. Muller 29' [2 - 0] J. Kimmich 51' [3 - 0] M. Hummels
Group C
"Qarabag" 0 - 0 "Atletico" 75' D. N'dlovu (Qarabag) sent off
"Chelsea" 3 - 3 "Roma" 11' [1 - 0] D. Luiz 37' [2 - 0] E. Hazard 40' [2 - 1] A. Kolarov 64' [2 - 2] E. Dzeko 70' [2 - 3] E. Dzeko 75' [3 - 3] E. Hazard
Group D
"Barcelona" 3 - 1 "Olympiakos" 18' [1 - 0] D. Nikolaou (own goal) 61' [2 - 0] L. Messi 64' [3 - 0] L. Digne 90' [3 - 1] D. Nikolaou 42' G. Pique (Barcelona) sent off
"Juventus" 2 - 1 "Sporting" 12' [0 - 1] A. Sandro (own goal) 29' [1 - 1] M. Pjanic 84' [2 - 1] M. Mandzukic
Tournament group standings:
