Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool have all booked their place in the UEFA Champions League’s knockout round. This means that all the English clubs that participated in the group stage of the Champions League this season scaled through to the next round.
Tottenham seals a dramatic comeback over Marseille to book their place in the round of 16 of the 2022/2023 Champions League campaign. Meanwhile, Liverpool secures a lost-time victory over Napoli as Jurgen Klopp’s men also progress to the knockouts stage.
Tottenham;
In Marseille, Tottenham overcame the frantic atmosphere at the Velodrome to defeat their opponents 2-1 while Antonio Conte was absent from the coaching booth.
Chancel Mbemba’s thunderous header gave Marseille the lead after 45 minutes, eliminating Tottenham from the Champions League.
However, Clement Lenglet’s first Tottenham goal and Pierre Hojbjerg’s 95th-minute winner meant that Antonio Conte’s team won Group D.
Liverpool;
The 13-game winning streak for Napoli is over. The Serie A leaders suffered their first loss of the 2022–23 football season on Tuesday night at Anfield when they were defeated 2-0 by Liverpool.
Victor Osimhen and his Napoli colleagues were doomed to defeat by two late goals from Mohamed Salah and replacement Darwin Nunez.
Napoli defeated Liverpool 4-1 in the first leg, finishing first in Group A despite the loss, and should receive a more favorable round of 16 draws on Monday.
Leo Ostigard’s header in the 53rd minute appeared to give Luciano Spalletti’s team the lead, but after nearly four minutes of VAR review, they determined the Napoli defender was just slightly offside.
Goals in the 85th and 98th minutes ensure that Jurgen Klopp and his players will enter their EPL match against Tottenham at the weekend in a more positive frame of mind following their home loss to Leeds on Saturday.
Manchester City;
When they host Sevilla at the Etihad Stadium for their last group match on Wednesday, Manchester City will want to keep their undefeated record in Group G of the Champions League.
As group winners, the Citizens have already advanced to the round of 16, while the visitors, who finished third, will advance to the Europa League knockout stages.
With victory in their first three games and subsequent goalless draws against Copenhagen and Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City is one of just five teams in this season’s Champions League who have yet to lose in the group stage.
Pep Guardiola’s team finished first in Group G and helped their German opponents qualify as runners-up thanks to a 0-0 draw away at Dortmund last week in which Riyad Mahrez missed another penalty kick. Both teams will find out their fate in the round of 16 when the draw is made on November 7.
Guardiola and company will be motivated to leave with a win and gather momentum before three more crucial domestic matches before the World Cup break, even though City’s forthcoming match against Sevilla is virtually a dead rubber.
Chelsea;
On Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, which was already certain of winning Group E of the Champions League, played host to Dinamo Zagreb to complete the section.
While their Croatian opponents are unable to advance to the round of 16, they still have a chance to win the Europa League as a consolation.
Graham Potter has adapted to the Champions League like a duck to water, and last week’s 2-1 victory over Red Bull Salzburg secured Chelsea’s position in the knockout stages courtesy of two incredible goals from Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz, one either side of the half.
Given their superior head-to-head record over the Italian champions, Chelsea is now three points clear of AC Milan at the top of the section, and Potter will welcome the chance to put next weekend’s Premier League match against Arsenal before anything else after his miserable return to the Amex Stadium.
