Ukrainian heartbreak in Champions League as Celtic lose again, City advance

A last-gasp header by Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger rescued a 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk after the Ukrainian side had taken the lead in the Champions League on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).

Ange Postecoglou and Celtic’s hopes of progression are all but over after a 2-0 home loss to RB Leipzig. Celtic remain anchored to the bottom of Group F with one point, four behind third-placed Shakhtar and nine goals worse off on goal difference. Elsewhere, Chelsea beat 10-man AC Milan to remain top of Group E, while Paris Saint-Germain are three games without a win in all competitions after being held to a 1-1 home draw by Benfica.

Shakhtar went ahead one minute into the second half in Warsaw when Bogdan Mykhaylichenko found Oleksandr Zubkov unmarked in Real’s box and the midfielder nodded home into the bottom right corner.

However, Rudiger levelled five minutes into stoppage time by taking advantage of a neat pass from midfielder Toni Kroos to deny Shakhtar a famous victory. The late flurry saw German Rudiger bloodied after appearing to cop an elbow from Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, who was also injured as the match was delayed further after the equalising goal.

The draw did at least stop Real from immediately advancing to the knockout stage, although Carlo Ancelotti’s men can secure their spot in their next group game at Leipzig on October 25.

Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham came to the rescue to earn a 1-1 draw against visitors Sevilla that sent Manchester City through to the next round and made the Germans wait longer to qualify.

Champions League matchday 4 results

Wednesday (AEDT):

• Maccabi Haifa 2 Juventus 0
• Copenhagen 0 Manchester City 0
• PSG 1 Benfica 1
• Dinamo Zagreb 1 RB Salzburg 1
• Borussia Dortmund 1 Sevilla 1
• AC Milan 0 Chelsea 2
• Celtic 0 RB Leipzig 2
• Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Real Madrid 1

Thursday fixtures:

• 3.45am: Napoli v Ajax, Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge.
• 6am: Bayer Leverkusen v Porto, Rangers v Liverpool, Barcelona v Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen v Bayern Munich, Tottenham v Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting v Marseille.

Sevilla’s Ivan Rakitic fired over the bar in the 12th minute but he turned provider and delivered a perfect assist six minutes later, floating a free kick into the box for Tanguy Nianzou to power in a header.

The hosts, needing a win to secure their spot in the next round, took the fight to Sevilla, under new coach Jorge Sampaoli, and levelled in the 35th through in-form Bellingham.

The England international, who has now scored in each of Dortmund’s four group matches, volleyed home from a well-executed move down the right wing.

The result means City, top on 10 points after their draw at FC Copenhagen, are certain of a top-two finish with two rounds of matches remaining.

Dortmund, second on seven points, will look to seal their spot in the knockout stage when they host City. Sevilla, in third spot on two points, still have a slim chance of reaching the last 16.

Copenhagen, a team languishing in the bottom half of the Danish league, became the first team to stop City from scoring this season as a match overshadowed by early video review decisions ended in a 0-0 draw.

One of those VAR calls resulted in a red card for City left back Sergio Gomez in the 30th minute for pulling back Hakon Arnar Haraldsson as the last man, harming the visitors attacking ambitions at the atmospheric Parken Stadium.

Earlier, City midfielder Rodri had a brilliant long-range strike disallowed after VAR spotted a handball by Riyad Mahrez in the build-up.

Erling Haaland watches on from the sideline.Credit: Getty

Then, following another review, City were awarded a penalty after a free kick swung into the area struck the outstretched arm of Copenhagen defender Nicolai Boilesen. Mahrez, who has been increasingly reliable from the spot, saw his effort palmed away by Kamil Grabara.

Prolific striker Erling Haaland started the game on the bench — perhaps with an eye on Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverpool — and didn’t come on.

City manager Pep Guardiola said Haaland, who has scored 20 goals in 12 competitive games in his first season with the English champions, wasn’t in good enough shape to start after playing against Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.

“Yesterday was not good, today a little better but not perfect, so we decide not to take the risk,” Guardiola said of Haaland.

In Wednesday’s other early kick-off, Juventus’ 2-0 loss at Maccabi Haifa marked a new low for the Serie A side but coach Massimiliano Allegri remained steadfast and ruled out stepping down despite the Italian club’s poor run of form.

The defeat, which came courtesy of an Omer Atzili double, not only leaves third-placed Juve’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages hanging by a thread but also threatens their chances of qualifying for the Europa League if they do not finish third in Group H.

Juve had never lost three of their first four Champions League group games and although club president Andrea Agnelli said he was ‘ashamed’ by their performance, he added that Allegri would remain in the job.

“He’s right (to feel ashamed), it was the worst first half,” Allegri told Sky Sport.

When asked if he would resign, he added: “No, I’m not going to step down, absolutely. Because it’s a challenge now. When it gets harder, it’s even more beautiful. We must come out of it with courage and desire.”

In Paris, Kylian Mbappe shrugged off speculation about his future to put PSG ahead with a first-half penalty before Joao Mario equalised for Benfica, also from the spot. Mbappe also found the net with a bicycle kick four minutes from full-time, but his effort was ruled out for an obvious offside.

Reports emerged on Wednesday that the French World Cup winner is unhappy at PSG and wants to leave the club in January.

London’s Daily Telegraph said club sources regard Mbappe as a “€300-350 million ($465-$540m) player”. A world record fee exceeding the €222 million PSG paid to release Neymar from his Barcelona contract in 2017 would be needed for Mbappe to be sold.

AP, Reuters

Watch every match of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League on Stan Sport. Matchday 4 continues this week with  Barcelona v Inter (Thursday 5.35am AEDT).