Barcelona and Inter on Wednesday won again in the UEFA Champions League, although both former title holders are looking up in the standings toward upstart newcomer Stade Brestois 29.
Aston Villa started the week atop the 36-team table, but their winning run ended after a bizarre penalty was awarded when defender Tyrone Mings picked up the ball in the area during their game against Club Brugge, resulting in a 1-0 loss that sent the Premier League club plummeting to eighth place.
Barcelona’s blistering scoring form continued in a 5-2 win against Red Star Belgrade — a seventh straight win since the start of last month at a rate of four goals per game.
Photo: Reuters
Robert Lewandowski scored twice and has 21 this season.
Inter stifled Arsenal in a 1-0 win at San Siro sealed by Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty in first-half stoppage-time.
Inter are unbeaten on 10 points and in fifth place, one below Brest, who won 2-1 against Sparta Prague.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The French debutants look sure to advance to the knockout phase starting in February next year.
Atalanta BC won 2-0 against VfB Stuttgart to stay unbeaten on eight points, while Salzburg got their first goals and points in a 3-1 win against Feyenoord.
Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov had a fine assist and an even better goal in a 2-1 win for the Ukrainian champions against Young Boys.
Photo: AFP
Shakhtar’s No. 10 showed why he is expected to be the club’s next big-money sale.
Liverpool, who on Tuesday routed Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4-0, lead the standings at the midway point of the eight-round program.
Liverpool are the only team with four straight wins, while five teams have four losses. They are Leipzig, Sturm Graz, Young Boys, Red Star and Slovan Bratislava.
Two Italian teams — Inter and Atalanta — have yet to concede a goal in four games. Another Italian side, Bologna, are the only team with no goals scored.
Villa had led the standings in the new league-phase format after three straight wins without conceding a goal — and it took a bizarre incident before goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was eventually beaten.
Mings was punished for picking up the ball when Martinez seemed to restart play with a goal-kick passed forward to his teammate.
Mings walked a couple steps to gather the ball with his left hand and returned to place it in the box.
“It’s the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career,” Villa coach Unai Emery said. “It has only happened one time in all my life. Today.”
Brugge captain Hans Vanaken placed the 52nd-minute spot-kick to Martinez’s left as the FIFA World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper dived to his right.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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