'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Four absolutely amazing matches were lined up for all the football fans out there on Wednesday night. Juventus took on Young Boys and Manchester United took on Valencia in group H. in Group E, Bayern Munich took the field against Ajax and as far as group F is concerned, it was the Premier League champions Manchester City who took on Hoffenheim.
Among these matches, the winners were not very hard to predict on the basis of form and history, but there were major upsets, in different part of Europe. Young Boys surprised the world, winning against the Italian champs 2 goals to 1.
Valencia, a team placed in the lower half of the LaLiga table, defeated Manchester United with the same scoreline. As for Manchester City, they recovered from a 0-1 deficit to pip Hoffenheim 2-1. Ajax, the team from the Netherlands gave Bayern a tough time, ending the match at 3 goals all.
Here are the results one after another:
#4 Young Boys vs Juventus
The match between the team from Turin and the Swiss champions Young Boys was not something every football fan would have looked forward to. It was almost quite obvious and natural to predict that it was going to be a cake-walk for Juventus. But it was not the night they would have liked.
After having it easy in the first outing against the Young Boys, it was a completely different Swiss team that welcomed Juventus to Switzerland. It was a forgettable day for Juventus, but more so for their star forward, Cristiano Ronaldo. He missed at least half a dozen chances throughout the course of the match, most of them coming in the first 25 minutes itself.
If these missed chances weren’t enough to ruin the day for the Portuguese striker, Dybala was disallowed a goal because of Ronaldo's interference. This tragedy hit Juventus in the closing minutes of the game when Dybala took a long shot at the goal, and scored, only to find Ronaldo standing in front of the Young Boys goalkeeper, and that resulting in the goal being disallowed with Ronaldo being flagged offside.
Young Boys had secured a one-goal lead going into half-time before doubling it in the 68th minute. It was due to Dybala’s superb shot in the 80th minute that Juventus was saved from a two-goal defeat at the hands of the underdogs in their group.
#3 Valencia vs Manchester United
Manchester United, another English team in action tonight, faced a shock defeat from Spanish team Valencia. This is only going to pile up the questions already being asked to the team and the manager. Manchester United have not been in great touch this season, losing 2 matches in the UCL, and still 6th in the points table in the Premier League.
For Manchester United, it was a must-win game, if they wanted to top their group, Group H. But they failed and now, they finish second, behind Juventus. Though United dominated the possession of the ball and also had more shots on target than Valencia, the scoreline, in the end, did not say the same story.
Valencia, after having a 1-0 lead, going into the half-time, were given a gift as Phil Jones of Manchester United scored an own goal in the 47th minute. By the time United recovered and scored, it was the 87th minute, which proved to be too late, as Valencia won their second match in the UCL at home.
This win for Valencia, though won’t do any good to their chances in the Champions League, but it would have definitely put a dent on United’s confidence.
#2 Manchester City vs Hoffenheim
For the fixture of Manchester City where they took on the German team Hoffenheim, Manchester City were firm favourites to win this one. But Manchester City also, much like Juventus were given a wake-up call, when Manchester City also had conceded a 1 goal deficit to Hoffenheim, in the 16th minute itself, but recovered in the extra minute of the first half.
The second half, however, belonged to City as Leroy Sane, who had scored the first goal, netted another in the 61st minute. After a loose start in the first quarter of the game, Man City played like they are known for, dominating the German team in all departments.
City returned possessing the ball 67% of the time, which brought them 22 attempts to score. With this win, Manchester City topped their group, making them the only English team to top the group. As it stands at the end of the group stages, the Etihad outfit have topped the group F while their counterparts for today’s match, Hoffenheim finished at the bottom.
#1 Ajax vs Bayern Munich
The last fixture of the night was that where Bayern Munich took on Ajax. It was the only real competition Bayern had in an otherwise pretty easy group. And Ajax proved it just right, drawing the match 3-3 against the German team. Bayern took the initial lead in the 13th minute itself when Lewandowski scored 12 yards away from the goal.
Ajax could not score against a tight Bayern defence till the 61st minute, when Tadic scored, before netting another as a penalty in the 82nd minute. Soon after that Lewandowski scored his second, again as a penalty in the 87th minute. Now the score was 2 all. However, in the last minute of normal time, Coman scored another and took a crucial lead.
It was almost impossible for Ajax to make a comeback but they did. In the 5th minute of added time, Ajax scored another goal and the match ended as a draw. It was a late comeback from Ajax but thrilling nonetheless.
Ajax actually dominated the possession with 54% of the same, and also got more chances on the goal, with 17 shots against Bayern’s 14. However, if Ajax had scored another, they could have topped the group. But, this was the most thrilling match of the night without any doubts as 4 out of the 6 goals came after the 80th minute.
