Champions League: Barcelona edge past Dortmund, Manchester City beaten again
In a thrilling UEFA Champions League match on Wednesday, December 11, FC Barcelona secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund. The win was largely thanks to substitute Ferran Torres, who scored twice, including the decisive 85th-minute winner. The match saw a dramatic five-goal second half, with Torres making a significant impact after coming on in the 71st minute.
His goals helped Barcelona move to 15 points, placing them in second place with two games remaining in the league phase. Borussia Dortmund, despite their efforts, were unable to overcome the deficit for a third time. Serhou Guirassy scored both of Dortmund’s goals, but Torres’s second goal, set up by a pass from Lamine Yamal, sealed the victory for Barcelona.
This result dropped Dortmund to ninth place in the standings with 12 points, while the top eight teams will qualify automatically for the round of 16.
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Manchester City’s woes continue
In other Champions League matches, Juventus dealt a significant blow to Manchester City’s hopes by winning 2-0. Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie scored the goals for Juventus, with Vlahovic’s header in the 53rd minute and McKennie’s volley in the 75th minute securing the victory.
The breakthrough for Juventus came when Vlahovic scored with a close-range header. Kenan Yildiz delivered the ball to the back post, and Vlahovic’s header barely crossed the line, confirmed by goal-line technology.
Despite City’s increased pressure and attempts to equalise, Juventus capitalised on the counter-attack. In the 75th minute, McKennie scored with a spectacular volley from Timothy Weah’s cross, doubling Juventus’ lead against the run of play.
Manchester City had several scoring opportunities, most notably a missed chance by Erling Haaland in the first half. Another chance saw Ilkay Gundogan unleash a powerful long-range strike that Di Gregorio managed to push wide.
With this result, Juventus moved to 11 points in the Champions League group phase, levelling them with Atalanta and just two points shy of the top eight position. Meanwhile, Manchester City plummeted to 22nd place, just one point above the bottom 12 places, which would result in elimination from the competition. City face daunting matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge in their remaining group stage fixtures.
Meanwhile, Arsenal took a significant step towards the Champions League knockout stage with a 3-0 win over AS Monaco. Bukayo Saka scored twice, with his first goal coming in the 34th minute from a Gabriel Jesus cross, and his second in the 78th minute. Substitute Kai Havertz added a third goal to seal the victory for Arsenal, moving them up to third place in the standings.
AC Milan and Atlético Madrid also secured wins over Red Star Belgrade and Slovan Bratislava respectively.
