Champions League football group.

In the 3rd round of the Champions League, all Spanish teams lost points, except for Barcelona. But despite the losses, none of the Spanish teams lost their chances to leave the group.

Spartak Moscow - Sevilla 5-1

No one expected such a defeat, even probably the most ardent fans of Moscow Spartak. Especially after a home draw with outsider Maribor in the first round. But whatever you say, the Spartacists tuned in to Seville in full, which gave a simply stunning result.

The beginning of the match did not portend trouble for the Sevillas. Everything went according to plan and even a missed goal in the 18th minute did not really confuse the cards of the Andalusian team. Moreover, already at minute 30, the Spaniards restored the balance in the score by scoring the return goal. By the end of the half, Sevilla was simply obliged to take the lead, but striker Ben Yedder could not get past the defender into an empty net at a time when the goalkeeper was already played back. With a score of 1-1, the teams went to rest, but the clouds were already gathering over the cloudless sky of Seville.

The second half just turned everything upside down. Spartak was somehow replaced and the Brazilian national team came out instead. Each attack of the Spartans ended with an accurate blow to the opponent's goal, and these blows carried a serious danger. At the 58th minute, the second goal flies into the gates of the guests and Spartak could no longer be held. 67 minutes 3-1, 74 - 4-1 and under the very curtain on 90 minutes the fifth goal fluttered in the net of the discouraged Andalusians.

Even despite such an offensive and serious defeat, Sevilla has a good chance of getting out of the group, another thing is that it is very difficult to recover psychologically.

Video of the match Spartak Moscow - Sevilla 5-1:

Goals: Promes, 18, 90, Melgarejo, 58, Glushakov, 67, Luis Adriano, 74 - Chiar, 30.

Spartacus: Selikhov - Yeshchenko, Taski, Jikia, Kombarov - Fernando, Glushakov - Samedov (Melgarejo, 25), Popov (Pashalych, 57), Promes - Luis Adriano.

Rico - Mercado, Chiar, Lengle, Escudero - Kron Daly (Vasquez, 68), Pizarro, Banega - Sarabia, Ben Yedder (Muriel, 82), Nolito (Jesus Navas, 76).

Warnings: Jikia, Fernando - Escudero, Pizarro.

Real Madrid - Tottenham 1-1

We can say that it was a game for getting out of the group, because the victory of any of the teams practically ensured it to that very team. But given the game in a parallel match, where Borussia failed to defeat the modest APOEL, a draw also practically brings both counterparts to the playoffs.

The match itself turned out to be a success, despite the modest score. Really two great teams played, which cost each other both in terms of the game and in terms of names. The first goal was scored by the guests on 18 minutes, after Varane cut into his own net. Further, Tottenham had more than one great opportunity to increase the score, but the goalkeeper of Madrid Navas played reliably or the English attackers did not hit the target. In one of the episodes, the referee was supposed to appoint a penalty kick against Madrid, but there was no whistle. But the referee whistled for a similar violation in the Spurs penalty area and Cristiano Ronaldo realizes an eleven-meter free kick with a clear blow in the 43rd minute. It was the 110 goal of the Portuguese in the Champions League. The first half ended with a draw.

In the second half there was a lot of struggle and moments both at one and the other gates, but no more goals were scored. By and large, a draw would be the most fair result of this football action, because none of the teams deserved to be defeated, demonstrating an excellent and spectacular game.

Goals: Ronaldo, 43 (from the penalty spot) - Varane, 28 (own goal)

Real: Navas - Hakimi, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo - Modric, Casemiro, Kroos - Isco (Vazquez 87), Benzema (Asensio 76), Ronaldo

Lloris - Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Sanchez - Sissoko (Son Heung Min, 89), Dier, Winks - Eriksen - Kane, F. Llorente (Rose, 80)

Warnings: Ronaldo - Aurier

Karabakh - Atletico Madrid 0-0

Azerbaijan's Karabakh won a point in the Champions League for the first time in its history. Yes, not with anyone, but with the formidable Atletico Madrid itself, which has been to the final of the tournament twice over the past 3 years.

The game itself certainly did not look attractive. It all boiled down to the fact that the hosts defended themselves with the whole team and occasionally made sharp attacks towards the Madrid team. And the Mattresses, in turn, attacked widely and sweepingly without embarrassing anyone. There were opportunities to take away 3 points from both Griezmann and Saul, but their shots either hit the goalkeeper or missed the target of the Karabakh goal. And if we take into account that the Azerbaijanis played half the second half in the minority, then we can safely write them down as heroes.

Video of the match Qarabag - Atletico Madrid 0-0:

: Sekhich - Medvedev (Rzhezhnichak, 71), Huseynov, Sadykov, Agolli - Almeida, Karaev - Enrique (Guerrier, 69), Michel (Elyunussi, 85), Madatov - Ndlovu.

: Oblak - Vrsalko, Jimenez, Godin, Filipe Luis - Gaitan (Thomas, 64), Gaby, Saul, Carrasco (Correa, 72) - Gameiro (Torres, 72), Griezmann.

Warnings: Michel, Ndlovu

Removal : Ndlovu (second yellow, 75)

Barcelona - Olympiacos 3-1

Barcelona turned out to be the only Spanish team that confidently outplayed their opponent, while doing so in the minority.

Heavy rain met the few people who came to the Camp Nou to support their favorites. But despite the bad weather, football was given by the Catalans as always excellent and flawless.

In the first half, the score was opened with the help of the Olympiacos defender, who cut the ball into his own net on 18 minutes. No more goals were scored in the first half, but Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué was sent off in the 42nd minute and the Catalans played ten men for the entire second half.

But even despite the absence of the main defender of the team, the blue garnet sat on the gates of the Greeks for the entire second half of the match. In the 61st minute, Lionel Messi comes through a dangerous free-kick and of course scores from his favorite spot. And after 3 minutes, the first goal in the Champions League for Barcelona is scored by French defender Luca Digne. The game is done and the teams calmly finished the match. At the end, a couple of minutes before the end, the guests' defender Nicolau, who scored an own goal in the first half, corrects his mistake and scores a prestige goal. 3-1 and Barcelona scores 9 points out of 9 possible after 3 rounds.

Video of the match Barcelona - Olympiacos 3-1:

Goals: Nicolau 18 (own goal), Messi 61, Digne 64 - Nicolau 89

Barcelona: ter Stegen - Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Digne - Paulinho, Busquets (Gomes, 80), Iniesta (Rakitic, 67) - Messi, L. Suarez, Deulofeu (Mascherano, 46)

When will it start?

Everything has already begun! The new season started on June 27 with the matches of the first of four qualifying rounds. The last qualifying stage - the playoff round - will take place at the end of August. The group stage, consisting of six rounds, will begin on September 12 and end on December 6. After a two-month winter break, it's time for the playoffs. This stage starts on February 13th.

How is the qualification?

Of the 32 participants in the group stage, 22 are currently known. The remaining ten tickets will be played in the playoff round. There are two qualification paths:

• Path of Champions- this path is only for the holders of the championship title in the domestic arena, the best teams of the ten countries with the lowest rating start from the first qualifying round. The five winners advance to the second qualifying round, from which representatives of 29 national associations start. Three more teams start from the third qualifying round, the ten winners of which form five pairs of the playoff round.

• The Path of the League Representatives- it is followed by teams from the countries with the highest rating, who took places in their championships from the second to the fourth. There are only two stages on this path. Ten teams start from the third qualifying round, while five clubs start from the play-off round.

Which 22 teams will start the tournament from the group stage?

ESP: Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atlético Madrid
GER: Bayern, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund
ENG: Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United
ITA: Juventus, Roma
POR: Benfica, Porto
FRA: Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain
ENG: "Spartacus"
UKR: Shakhtar
BEL: "Anderlecht"
NED: Feyenoord
TUR: "Besiktas"
SUI: Basel

When will the draw take place?

Is the seeding at the group stage draw known?*

Pot 1 includes the current trophy winner and the champions of the top seven countries in the UEFA rankings. The remaining three baskets are based on the end of the 2016/17 season.

Basket 1: Real Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea, Juventus, Benfica, Monaco, Spartak, Shakhtar
Basket 2: Barcelona, ​​Atlético Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Porto, Manchester United, 1 BOP
Basket 3:"Basel", "Anderlecht", 6 BOP
Basket 4: 8 BOP

Depending on the results of the qualification, Tottenham will be in the second or third pot, Roma, Besiktas, Feyenoord and RB Leipzig in the third or fourth.

BOP - to be determined

Where will the final take place?

The final will take place at Kiev's Olimpiyskiy stadium, which hosted the EURO 2012 final. The match is scheduled for Saturday 28 May starting at 20:45CET.

*Seeding information is not official, it's just UEFA.com experts' calculations

Hello dear readers! I begin the review of the 3rd round of the Champions League 2017-2018.
Group A. CSKA Moscow hosted the Swiss Basel. In the first minutes there was an equal game. Yes, Basel seems to have started more actively. But the "soldiers" withstood the first
onslaught, and even tried to create some dangerous moments at the gates of Basel.
However, on 29 minutes, Taulant Xhaka struck from a long distance and opened the scoring.
0-1. “CSKA” tried to create chances to attack, but Basel's attacks looked much sharper and more powerful. On 52 minutes, Basel scored the second goal, but the referee canceled this goal due to offside. After that, CSKA had several approaches,
a few chances to level the score, but they missed them. And on
90 minute striker Basel Oberlin went 1 on 1 with Akinfeev and set the final score - 0-2 - victory for Basel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnoOVit6uqI
As for the other match of this group, where Lisbon Benfica hosted
Manchester United, then in this match there was a total advantage of Manchester United. Mancuneans
constantly attacked, constantly created chances. But the Mancuneans in this match
not enough to complete the attacks. Some pass, some literacy. And the goal turned out to be just curious: in the 64th minute, a free kick was awarded to Benfica. After a cross from Marcus Rashford, Benfica goalkeeper Svilar caught the ball and then put the ball into the net. So the score became 0-1. After that, there were no particularly interesting moments in this game. 0-1 - Manchester United win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otRWkZA4FWk
Thus, in group A, Manchester United has 9 points, Basel - 6, CSKA - 3, Benfica - 0. On October 31, Basel will host CSKA, Manchester United-Benfica.
Group B is pretty boring. With the favorites of the group, everything was clear, if after
drawing lots, when Baaaria and PSG got into this group together, getting the Scottish Celtic and the Belgian Anderlecht to boot. In this group there is
only 2 questions: which of the couple Bayern - PSG will take first place, and which of the couple Celtic - Anderlht will go to the Europa League. Bayern hosted Celtic in the third round. Munich went forward from the first minutes and already
on 17 minutes, Bayern opened the scoring: it was Lewandowski who kept the ball at the very edge, made a pass to Muller and he opened the scoring. 1-0. Worked at 29 minutes
a bunch of Comman-Kimmich: the first one almost reached the front line, then he gave the ball to the center, the second famously hit his head, so the score became 2-0. Third goal Bayern
scored after a corner: Robben served accurately, right on Hummels, who
issued the final score - 3-0 - victory for Bayern.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfa0F_mxun0
The Belgian Anderlecht, even at home, could not oppose anything to PSG.
Already at 3 minutes Killian Mpabe opened the scoring. 0-1. True, after this, Anderlecht
there were some very good chances to equalize, but they
they were not used. At 44 minutes, the Neymar-Mbape-Cavani triangle worked, and
Cavani scored the second goal. 0-2. The second half again took place with the advantage of PSG.
On 58 minutes, Cavani scored the third goal, but the line judge called offside. The Parisians did not despair. We continued to go forward: on 66 minutes Neymar
free-kick made the score 0-3. After that, Anderdlecht had several chances to at least score a prestige goal, but in the end they conceded
fourth goal. On 88 minutes, Angel di Maria set the final score of the match -
0-4 - PSG win.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKhlIumK3nA
After 3 rounds, PSG has 9 points, Bayern - 6, Celtic - 3, Anderlecht - 0. 31
October Celtic host Bayern, PSG - Anderlecht.
In group C, both matches of the 3rd round ended in a draw. No goals were scored in the match between Azerbaijani Karabakh and Madrid Atletico. 0-0. In short
describe this match, Atlético had the full advantage. At 53 minutes Dino
Nduveldu still scored the ball against Karabakh, but it was canceled due to offside.
By the way, the goal was scored by Griezmann, but it was cancelled. After that, Karabakh moved the game a little from their goal, and had several dangerous moments in order to
score a goal, In the 76th minute, Karabakh striker Dino Ndbovu wanted to beg for a penalty against Atlético, but in the end he received a second yellow card and was sent off. After that, Atlético had several more dangerous moments, but in the end the score was never opened. Draw 0-0.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfBfVFdPc4M
There were a lot of goals in the other match of this group. Chelsea London hosted
Italian Roma. This match had it all. Chelsea started very actively, they went straight away
forward. On 11 minutes, David Luiz opened the scoring with a long-range shot. 1-0. In principle, after that it was equal, Roma was in no way inferior to Chelsea in terms of the game. I would even
said the Romans outplayed Chelsea. However, in the 37th minute, the Romans made a mistake in defense. Morato made a cool pass, gave a pass to Hazard, so the score became 2-0.
But then something incredible happened. At the 40th minute Roma striker Alexander
Kolarov reduced the backlog with a classy blow. 2-1. The second half has begun
in principle on an equal footing. Both teams created chances. And on 64 minutes, Roma striker Edin Dzeko received the ball just 3 meters from the goal and equalized the score. 2-2.
After another 6 minutes, a free kick was awarded to the Chelsea goal, and the same Dzeko after
drawing the Romans ahead. 2-3. But literally 5 minutes later, Eden Hazard, having received
a pass from Pedro equalized. 3-3. After that, the Roma players had several chances to snatch the victory. However, the score has not changed. Draw
3-3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIBNPS36VZk
Thus, after 3 rounds in Group C, Chelsea have 7 points, Roma - 5,
Atlético - 2, Karabakh -1. On October 31, Atlético will host Karabakh, Roma-Chelsea.
In Group D, Juventus Turin hosted Lisbon Sportieg. The match has started
rather curiously: in the 12th minute, Sporting striker Gelton Martins came out
1 on 1 with Buffon, Buffon came out of the net trying to intercept the ball, the ball after
Martins shot hit Buffon in the chest, then flew off to Juventus defender Alex
Sandra, and hit the gate with a rikgochette from him. 0-1. After that, the Juventus players seemed to remember that they were the favorites of this match and intercepted
initiative, began to create dangerous moments. At the 29th minute against Sporting
a free kick was awarded and Pjanic converted it 1-1. Before the Juventus break
there were a few more moments in order to develop their success, but at the end
the first half the score was 1-1. The second half went by already with a full advantage
Juventus. They created chances both from the game and from set pieces. But in the end
only took the lead in the 85th minuteA: Douglas Costa did a great job with the Sporting defender and passed to Mandzukic, who sent the ball into the goal. In extra time, both teams could change the score, but he remained the same. 2-1 - Juventus win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMPMY3jYu7g
Barcelona hosted Olympiacos. Everything was easier in this match. Barcelona from the first
minutes went ahead. And began to create moments. On 18 minutes Deulofeu crossed
into the penalty area, in the direction of Messi, but the ball hit Olympiacos defender Nicolau and ricocheted into the goal. 1-0. After scoring a goal, Barcelona continued
go ahead, create moments. On 42, Barcelona scored the second goal, but instead of joy, they were upset: the fact is that, according to the referee, Piqué, who touched the ball last, played with his hand, and he already had a yellow card before that.
The referee canceled this goal, showed Pique the second yellow, which turned into red. Piqué was sent off and the goal cancelled. Barcelona remained in the minority. However, the nature of the game has not changed much. Barcelona continued to take the initiative, and they played the second half as well as the first. At the 61st minute, the rules against Messi were violated near the Olympiacos penalty area, and Messi himself converted it.
2-0. And after 3 minutes, Messi inflicted on the defenders of Olympiacos in the penalty area, made
pass to its center. None of the defenders of Olympiacos got to the ball. Ball hit
to Luc Digne and he made the score 3-0. Barcelona could have scored more but ended up conceding on their own; 89 minutes after the corner kick, Nicolau scored, passing
owe his team for an own goal in the first half. 3-1 - Barcelona win.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG1n8rdjtKw
Thus, in group D after 3 rounds the situation is as follows: Barcelona - 9, Juventus - 6, Sporting - 3, Olympiacos - 0. On October 31, Sporting will host Juventus, Olympiacos - Barcelona.

On June 27 and 28, the first matches of the Champions League of the 2017/18 season will be played. Read more about the qualification of the most prestigious and profitable club tournament in Europe in our material.

1st qualifying round

Members

Alashkert (Armenia) - Santa Coloma (Andorra)

Vikingur (Faroe Islands) - Trepca'89 (Kosovo)

Hibernians (Malta) – Tallinn (Estonia)

New Saints (Wales) - Europe (Gibraltar)

Linfield (Northern Ireland) – La Fiorita (San Marino)

This stage is unlikely to interest anyone, since its private players with a 99.9 percent probability will not even get to the 3rd qualifying round, not to mention the group stage. So if you are not a fan of San Marino or Gibraltar club football, then there is no point in following the upcoming matches. It can only be noted that the most successful club in Europe among the participants is the Welsh New Saints. In the 2010/11 season, he managed to reach the 3rd qualifying round, where, as expected, he lost to Anderlecht without a chance (1:3, 0:3). It is also worth saying that Vikingur, Trepca'89, Tallinn and Europe will play in the Champions League for the first time in their history.

2nd qualifying round

Members

Here, clubs that are much more well-known to the general public will come into play, many of which we will probably see in the fall, and perhaps in the spring. The same APOEL played three times in the group stage of the Champions League, and in the 2011/12 season sensationally reached the quarterfinals, losing to Real Madrid (0:3, 2:5). That European campaign of the champion of Cyprus is well remembered by Zenit, which caught it in the group stage (1:2, 0:0). APOEL is capable of overcoming the qualifications of the main European Cup for the fourth time, even if no one expects a repetition of the feat.

You can remember BATE, current CSKA coach Viktor Goncharenko, who twice drew with Juventus (2:2, 0:0) in the group stage of the 2008/09 season, and four years later beat Bayern itself in Minsk (3:1) . Or Celtic, which won the European Cup in 1966 and has regularly participated in the autumn stages in recent years. Salzburg, Legia, Copenhagen - we are used to seeing all of them at the group stage of the main European Cup, even if they did not achieve serious success there.

Despite the solid line-up of participants, this round is unlikely to arouse increased interest among Russian fans. None of the above will get caught by CSKA in the next stage, so by and large these matches can be ignored. However, if the army team qualify, one of the participants in the 2nd round can still get into their group.

3rd qualifying round

Notable members

Path of Champions:"" (Greece), "Slavia" (Czech Republic), "Viitorul" (Romania)

The path of the representatives of the leagues: Dynamo K (Ukraine), Ajax (Netherlands), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic), CSKA (RUSSIA), "Bruges" (Belgium), "Steaua" (Romania), "Young Boys" (Switzerland), "" (France), "" (Turkey), AEK (Greece)

From this moment on, a branch appears in the qualification, where those who do not become the champions of their countries fall, which means that the level of participants rises noticeably. There will no longer be representatives of Albania or Bosnia and Herzegovina - teams representing the championships of a higher level come into play. There are no grandees yet, but the competition is quite high.

Of course, we are most interested in CSKA, whose possible rivals are well known to everyone. A fairly high rating (39.606 points in the UEFA ranking) allowed the army team to be among the "seeded", which gives a certain advantage. Goncharenko's team has five options - Steaua, Young Boys, Nice, Istanbul Basaksehir and AEK. Choosing the best one seems to be quite simple.

In matches with Romanians and Greeks, CSKA has the right to count on the status of an unconditional favorite, the Swiss seem to be a little higher class, but I would not want to meet with the bronze medalist of the French League 1 or the silver of the Turkish Super League. It is not customary to publicly voice the desire to get a weaker team as rivals, but in this case, no one would blame the army team for this. The fact is that according to the preliminary layout of the schedule for the next season, CSKA will go to Khabarovsk exactly between two matches of the 3rd qualifying round as part of the 3rd round of the Premier League. One can only guess how such a schedule even got the right to life, because it will significantly reduce the chances of the capital club to go further.

It is also worth mentioning the path of the champions, in which Olympiacos, with the highest rating of 64,580, looks like the obvious favorite. According to this indicator, the Greeks are almost twice as superior to the same army men, and among all the participants they close the top 5. They will compete with teams that have the best chances to get through the 2nd round, but in general we will not see anything interesting here either, except that the quality of football will slightly increase.

Playoff round

Notable members

The path of the representatives of the leagues:" " (Spain), " " (Italy), " " (England), " " (Portugal), (Germany)

A flight of about 20 thousand kilometers during the week will be just an appetizer - the main course is waiting for CSKA in the decisive round. Here, representatives of the four leading European leagues, as well as the third team of the Portuguese championship, enter the stage. The level of competition increases so much that the army team is already turning into outsiders, with a high degree of probability being among the “unseeded”. For example, Dynamo Kiev and Ajax, which have a higher rating, can deprive them of sowing.

With the silver medalist of the championship of Ukraine, CSKA will certainly be bred, so the choice of opponents is not so great. Ajax or Victoria Pilsen, as well as Liverpool, Sevilla and Napoli - there will be no other options. It seems that there is no need to explain why the Czechs look the best of them, especially since Muscovites will certainly want to get even for a memorable defeat in December 2013 (1:2). There is no need to talk about the British, Spaniards and Italians - the current army team has little chance with them.

But if two of the three leading clubs in the rating of CSKA do not reach the playoffs, our team will become seeded, and clubs of a slightly different level will face it. It will be easier here, because only Hoffenheim and Sporting look too dangerous - with all the rest, the army team can play on equal terms. And yet, the likelihood of a less pleasant outcome is much higher, although the opportunity to bring Liverpool or Napoli to the VEB Arena is worth a lot. Moreover, a ticket to the group stage of the Europa League in this round is already guaranteed.

On the way of champions, the situation remains the same, since the participants are the same. But quite good posters are quite likely, like Olympiakos - Celtic, even if these confrontations still do not reach the level of representatives of the leagues. But then again, it is necessary to start looking at possible rivals in the group stages of European competitions, since both the winners and the losers will definitely play in the autumn.