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PARIS – Manchester United were eliminated from the Champions League following a 3-2 loss to RB Leipzig on Tuesday, while Paris Saint-Germain’s qualification for the round of 16 was overshadowed by a racism dispute involving to a referee of the match that triggered his match against Istanbul Basaksehir. to be suspended for 24 hours.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties and Juventus beat Lionel Messi, who fought with Barcelona, 3-0 to snatch the top spot in Group G from the Spanish giants.
Lazio also secured a place in the knockout rounds for the first time in two decades after a tense 2-2 draw at home to Club Brugge in torrential rain in Rome.
Needing only one point to advance, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side fell behind with an Angelino goal in the second minute in Germany. Amadou Haidara soon added a second and United and they were trailing 3-0 heading into the fourth quarter after a goal from Justin Kluivert.
A Bruno Fernandes penalty and a deflected header by Paul Pogba gave United a lifeline, but Leipzig, which reached the semi-finals last season, remained ahead of Group H with 12 points.
“We started too late. We showed great spirit to come back again, but you can’t give a team a 3-0 lead and hope to come back,” Solskjaer said.
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Leipzig must wait until Wednesday to see if they finish first or second in the section, after last season’s runner-up PSG and Turkish champion Basaksehir broke off with the score 0-0 in the 14th minute.
The players left in Paris amid accusations of racism by the fourth official, in an incident unprecedented in the elite club competition of European football.
The fight broke out after Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, the former Cameroonian international, received a red card during a fierce fight on the touchline with Turkish club staff who appeared to accuse the referee of using a racist term.
Television microphones caught an irate Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he “strongly” condemned the incident, while UEFA announced that it would open a “full investigation”.
In a statement, UEFA confirmed that the game, “exceptionally”, will restart from where it left off on Wednesday at 17.55 GMT, “with a new team of referees.”
PSG, which advanced after United’s defeat, will claim first place with the victory.
– Moukoko enters the record books –
Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus avenged a 2-0 home loss to Barcelona in October when Ronaldo was sidelined by COVID-19, beating his opponents on the head-to-head record and piling on more pressure on Ronald Koeman.
“We are very happy. We knew it was almost an impossible mission (to reach the top),” Ronaldo told Movistar. “It was a difficult task but we played well. The key was to start the game well and from there we saw that it was possible.”
Weston McKennie scored between Ronaldo’s two pitches at Camp Nou when Barca, who had had their worst start in La Liga in 33 years, were denied a sixth win of six in Europe.
“Frankly, I was surprised at how we started, like we didn’t really want to win the game,” Koeman said.
Denys Popov’s header earned Dynamo Kiev a 1-0 win over former star Serhiy Rebrov and Ferencvaros in the other group game, offering them a place in the Europa League.
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Borussia Dortmund forward Youssoufa Moukoko, aged 16 years and 18 days, became the youngest player in Champions League history as he came off the bench in a 2-1 win over Zenit St. Petersburg.
Cameroon-born Moukoko, who made his European debut as a substitute in the 58th minute in Russia, broke the previous record held by Celestine Babayaro, who was 16 years and 87 days old when she played for Anderlecht in November 1994.
Dortmund, who had already qualified for the round of 16, tied minutes after Moukoko’s introduction, with Lukasz Piszczek disallowing Sebastian Driussi’s goal in the first half before Axel Witsel scored the winning goal.
Jorginho avoided Chelsea’s blush when his penalty rescued a 1-1 draw against Krasnodar in Group E after Remy Cabella’s opener in London.
Frank Lampard’s team were already assured of finishing on top, while goals from Jules Kounde and two from Youssef En-Nesyri helped Sevilla 3-1 win in Rennes.
