Despite winning, Real Madrid miss out on last 16
This year’s Champions League is very different from other years. This time, the Champions League is being held with 36 teams. Each team will play 8 games. 24 teams will go to the knockout stage. Of these, the first 8 teams in the points table will play directly in the last 16. And the ninth to 24th teams will play in the play-offs if they can make it to the top eight. Since they could not make it to the top eight in the league stage, the most champion of the competition, Real Madrid, will have to play in the play-offs.
There were 18 matches in the final round of the preliminary stage last Wednesday night. Each match had a different equation. Some had the equation of ensuring the top eight, some had the equation of playing the play-offs from among the top 24 teams.
Real’s game was against Brest. Real, who had ensured the play-offs in the previous round, needed a big win to stay in the last 16 directly. At the same time, the other teams had bad results. However, even though they got big wins themselves, the other teams did not give Real a chance by losing. Rodrigo scored twice to give Real a 3-0 win at Brest.
Apart from Rodrigo’s double, Jude Bellingham scored the other goal for Real. In the 27th minute, Rodrigo quickly entered the D-box after receiving a pass from Luka Modric and passing someone, and shot into the net. Carlo Ancelotti’s team got the second goal in the 55th minute of the match. English midfielder Bellingham scored with a first-touch shot from Lucas Vazquez’s pass. Rodrigo increased the gap further in the 78th minute.
Real, who have won 5 out of 8 matches in the group stage, are 11th with 15 points. Brest, who are 18th with 13 points, also confirmed their play-off place in the last round.
Meanwhile, Barcelona confirmed their place in the top eight in the last round. Therefore, Hansi Flick’s team played against Atalanta yesterday with a lot of confidence. However, they could not leave the field with a victory against their Italian opponents. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
First, Lamine Yamal gave Barcelona the lead with a goal. Later, Ederson equalized for Atalanta. Then, Ronald Araujo gave the Catalans the lead. Later, Mario Pasalic equalized for Atalanta again. Barcelona finished the league stage in second place with 19 points from 6 wins and a draw.
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