The sixth and final Match Day of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League group stage kicked off on Tuesday with six matches across the continent and just four spots in the knockout stage still to play for before the action began.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Tuesday’s games:
Manchester United can’t help itself, loses to Bayern Munich
It was no secret that Man United needed a win and some help Tuesday to have any chance of reaching the second round. In the end, the Red Devils couldn’t even help themselves.
In front of 75,000 of their own fans at Old Trafford, Man United failed to do even the bare minimum and beat a Bayern team with nothing to play to at least give their supporters hope that other results could go their way, losing — deservedly so — on to the German titan on Kingsley Coman’s second half goal:
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The hosts hardly threatened Manuel Neuer’s goal on Tuesday, but porous defending was the main reason the three-time European champs didn’t advance; United set a record this fall by becoming the first team to score three goals in three group stage games and lost them all.
Even worse, the defeat to Bayern combined with FC Copenhagen’s win over Galatasaray ensures that Erik ten Hag’s team won’t have a soft landing in the Europa League, either.
It also capped a miserable few months for United. Sitting sixth in England’s Premier League, there’s work to be done even to get back to the Champions League next season. That work will probably be done under someone other than Ten Hag. Calls for the Dutchman’s head were already deafening after last weekend’s 3-0 home loss to lowly Bournemouth. His imminent dismissal now feels assured.
Real Madrid finishes perfect, but barely
For much of Tuesday’s game against already-eliminated Union Berlin in the German capital, Real Madrid’s perfect group stage record was in serious jeopardy. Kevin Holland had given the hosts a 1-0 in first half stoppage time before two quick Joselu goals in the second put Carlo Ancelotti’s team on top. But Alex Král put Union made it 2-2 with five minutes to go, and with only three points enough to give the Champions League debutant any hope of continuing their European journey in the Europa League, the home side pressed forward for the victory.
But as they always seem to in a competition it’s won a record 14 times, Real ended the day triumphant instead, thanks to Dani Ceballos’s 89th-minute game winner:
The Spaniards finished Group C with six wins from six games. The only other team still with a perfect record is defending champ Manchester City, which will go for its sixth consecutive first round win Wednesday in Belgrade against Red Star.
USMNT’s Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman help PSV tie Arsenal
The Gunners sealed the top spot in Group B last month by beating Lens of France — a result that, combined with Ricardo Pepi’s game-winning goal for PSV Eindhoven at Sevilla, ensured that PSV would advance and eliminated the Spaniards — rendering Tuesday’s contest in the Netherlands largely inconsequential.
It meant something for Pepi, though, the 20-year-old U.S. striker who made his first career start not just in the world’s most prestigious club competition but also for PSV. Pepi went all 90 minutes for the hosts. And he helped them finish the first round with a well-earned point against an Arsenal team that is a genuine contender for both the European and English titles this season.
Eddie Nketiah gave the Gunners the lead just before halftime. But PSV pulled level again soon after the break through Belgian winger Yorbe Vertessen. The USMNT’s Malik Tillman started the sequence will a surging run out of midfield. Tillman sprung Pepi into space with a long pass, and the rangy Texan put the ball on a platter for Vertessen to finish with a slick no-look dish:
A third U.S. player, attacking fullback Sergiño Dest, came on later as PSV manger Peter Bosz went for the win. He didn’t get it, but his squad will still go into the knockout phase afraid of no opponent.
Napoli breezes past Braga to advance
The Scudetto holders knew ahead of Tuesday’s contest in Naples that even a one-goal defeat to the Portuguese would be enough to see them through to the business end of the tournament for the second year running.
But Napoli clearly had no intention of backing into the do-or-die portion of the competition, dispatching the visitors with ease at Diego Maradona Stadium on an early own goal by Braga defender Serdar Saatçı and a strike by Victor Osimhen, who on Monday was named African Footballer of the year ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain.
It was a clinical finish by Osimhen, but Brazilian fullback Natan did most of the work in setting it up:
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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