The Brest vs PSG match got off to a blistering start with Marco Bizot pulling off a stunning save to direct Soler's top corner-bound shot onto the crossbar.
Marco Verratti then saw a shot deflect wide for a corner but Brest gave as good as they got in the first half and Sergio Ramos had to be on his toes to stop Romain Del Castillo's cross from finding its intended target in Franck Honorat.
Mbappé came close to making it 2-0 at the other end soon after, but his volley from a tight angle went the wrong side of the far post. When Mbappé did find the target 10 minutes later, Bizot punched and Soler was on hand to crash home the rebound.
Brest had the final say of the half, though, when Honorat raced onto Del Castillo's through-ball and thumped an unstoppable shot beyond Gigio Donnarumma in the visiting goal.
Brest vs PSG: Second Half
Having had a relatively quiet first half, Lionel Messi was inches away from his 14th goal of the season early in the second, his shot from the edge of the box drifting wide.
Honorat then nearly went from taker to maker with a fine cross for Lilian Brassier, but the young centre-back headed into the outside side-netting. Mbappé should have given PSG the lead just past the hour, but after dancing into the Brest box he scooped his effort high and wide.
Lionel Messi with an added assist for Mbappe (Image- PSG/Twitter)
Bizot then stopped Messi and Nuno Mendes from close range before Mbappé tried his luck with a left-footed curler, but again Bizot was equal to it.
Mbappé had the final say, breaking free on the counter and rounding Bizot to slot home at added time and it ended 2-1.
Soler was the best player on park on Saturday - quite a feat when sharing a playing field with Mbappé and Messi - dictating the pace for PSG and scoring his third goal of the season in the process.
The former Valencia man has fierce competition for his place in the Paris midfield, but did his case for further inclusion no harm at all here.
Paulo Fonseca suspended for 9 months following a heated clash with referee in a Ligue 1 game
Olympique Lyonnais manager Paulo Fonseca has been suspended by the LFP for 9 months, following a clash with the referee during a heated Ligue 1 match against Brest on Sunday.
Olympique Lyonnais manager Paulo Fonseca has been suspended with a nine-month ban from football after his furious argument with match referee Benoit Millot, during Lyon's 2-1 victory against Brest on Sunday, March 2nd.
Fonseca's side was winning that match with a 2-1 lead over Brest on Sunday. Despite Lyon being the winner of the match,Paulo Fonseca left fuming with the match official in the last stages of the game and was sent off for his shocking outburst on the officials.
As a result of his action, Fonseca has been slammed with a nine-month ban and will be prohibited from accessing the bench, the dressing rooms, the officials, and participating in any official event before, during, or after matchesuntil November 30th.
The French Professional Football League (LFP) declared an official statement on Wednesday, stating, "Fonseca will be barred from accessing the bench, the officials' dressing rooms, and participating in any official functions before, during, or after matches until November 30."
This unprecedented and shocking punishment will see the club forced to play without their manager on the touchline for the rest of this season and until several months into the 2025-26 campaign as well.
24th day of Ligue 1 McDonald's: Olympique Lyonnais – Stade Brestois 29 of Sunday March 2, 2025 Behavior of Mr. Paulo FONSECA, coach of Olympique Lyonnais.
Firm suspension before, during and after the match of access to the bench, the officials' locker rooms and all official functions, until November 30, 2025 inclusive.
In addition, until September 15, 2025 inclusive, this suspension will be accompanied before, during and after the match, by a ban on access to the players' locker rooms, the pitch, the tunnel and all corridors leading to the aforementioned areas.
The sanction takes effect immediately.
What happened?
(Image Credit: Express Co. Uk)
After coming from 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead, it looked like Lyon would surrender a share of points when Millot awarded a penalty to Brest in the last minutes of the game due to a handball.
After a VAR check, the decision was overturned, but that did not stop Paulo Fonseca, who had furiously confronted the referee and received a red card for his troubles.
He did not stop fuming after the card and appeared to push his head into that of the Millot's and he was dragged away by some of his players.
After only 5 games in charge, Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca has been served a 9-month ban.
Millot found Fonseca's behaviour "intimidating", as told French sports daily L'Equipe:
I didn’t even have time to announce the final decision, which turned out to be not awarding a penalty,
"There seemed to be a slight contact of the nose, to be precise.
"It was a particularly intimidating, aggressive attitude, which one can hardly imagine from a professional coach.
Following this incident, Fonseca apologized for his actions and acknowledged that he was wrong to react in the manner which he did. Speaking to DAZN, with quotes shared via ESPN, he said:
I just want to say that I am sorry for what I did. I should not do it. Maybe we do things that are not right. I am Sorry,
Fonseca also wrote a letter to match officials to express his remorse. Lyon owner John Textor also praised Fonseca for his acknowledgment of his own mistake. He posted on his social media:
“I stand with you today, and always. You made a mistake…Your apology was sincere…and your punishment is clearly too severe. You are the right man for OL and we shall persevere.”
However, Lyon published an official press release regarding his incident, denouncing the 'severity'of the sanction. The official statement said:
Olympique Lyonnais acknowledges the extreme severity of the unprecedented sanction, and the unusual speed, of the disciplinary committee concerning Paulo Fonseca.
The club deplores that its coach was not judged on his actions alone, an emotional reaction, without any clear intention of physically attacking the referee. In light of a sanction that seems to be dictated by a deleterious context affecting French refereeing, OL announces from now on that it is studying all possible solutions for appeal. More than ever, the club is united and focused on its sporting objectives.
With Lyon currently sitting sixth in Ligue 1, they have an outside chance of landing the UEFA Champions League football this season. The French will be forced to do so without their manager now.
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Round of 16 First Leg Round Up: Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid snatch narrow wins; Bayern, Arsenal are halfway into the Quarters
Liverpool, Barcelona, and Real Madrid snatch narrow wins, whereas Bayern and Arsenal are halfway into the quarter-finals after the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Round of 16 First Leg.
Following the conclusion of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25Round of 16 First Leg, we can presume the potential entrants into the UCL quarter-finals, whereas the fate of some match-ups will be decided in the second leg.
Liverpool, the league phase leaders, managed a hard-fought 1-0 win against PSG; whereas ten-men Barcelona snatched a narrow 1-0 victory over Benfica. Real Madrid emerged victorious by 2-1 in the Madrid Derby against Atletico Madrid.
On the contrary, Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 and Arsenal ran riot over PSV, winning 7-1 to practically secure their advancement to the next round of the competition.
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Round of 16 First Leg Round Up
Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa
(Image Source | X)
Aston Villa salvaged two late goals to triumph 3-1 over Club Brugge in the first leg of the RO16 tie at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges, Belgium.
Leon Bailey opened the account for Aston Villa in only three minutes into the game. Club Brugge quickly answered with Maxim De Cuyper scoring in the 12th minute.
However, Bruges defender Brandon Mechele scored a cheeky own goal to hand Villa the lead in the 82nd minute. Following that, Marco Asensio scored from the spot in the 88th minute, securing a two-goal lead for Aston Villa in the first leg.
Real Madrid impressively managed a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 'Madrid Derby' against Atletico Madrid, in one of the biggest fixtures of UCL 2024-25 RO16 this season.
Rodrygo scored a spectacular goal from Los Blancos in the fourth minute of the game, with Julian Alvarez canceling it out with another world-class strike in the 32nd minute.
However, Brahim Diaz scored the winner for Real Madrid in the 55th minute to hand Atletico a one-goal deficit ahead of the second leg.
Arsenal ran demolition over PSV, crushing the Dutch side 7-1 in the first leg at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands, practically securing their quarter-final tickets.
Jurrien Timber opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 18th minute, as Ethan Nwaneri doubled the lead in the 21st minute. Mikel Merino extended the lead in the 31st minutes, but PSV pulled off a goal from Noa Lang's spotkick in the 43rd minute.
Arsenal's scoring spree continued in the second half, with Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard scoring consecutively in the 47th and the 48th minute. Odegaard completed his brace in the 73rd minute, and Ricardo Calafiori put the final coffin on the nail in the 85th minute.
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 LOSC
(Image Source | BVB)
Borussia Dortmund and Lille OSC shared an exciting 1-1 stalemate in the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, with everything to play for in the second leg.
Karim Adeyemi netted an absolute banger in the 22nd minute of the match. Following that, Borussia found the equalizer in the 68th minute with Haraldsson tapping the ball home.
Feyenoord 0-2 Inter Milan
(Image Source | X)
Inter Milan earned a dominant first-leg lead over Feyenoord, winning 2-0 in Rotterdam to manage a two-goal cushion ahead of the reverse fixture.
Marcus Thuram found the breakthrough for Inter in the 38th minute with a volleyed strike. Shortly after the break, Lautaro Martinez doubled the Nerazzurri's lead with a superb strike, also becoming Inter's all-time leading goalscorer in UCL.
The Italian outfit were close to adding a third goal from the spot, but Piotr Zieliński's penalty was well saved by Feyenoord custodian Timon Wellenreuther.
Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen
(Image Source | X)
Bayern Munich eased past Bayer Leverkusen in the first-ever all-German tie in the UCL, beating the Bundesliga counterparts 3-0 at the Allianz Arena.
Harry Kane opened the account for Bayern only nine minutes into the game, scoring a powerful header. In the 54th minute, Jamal Musiala extended the lead as he slashed it home from a rebound.
Leverkusen defender Nordi Mukiele was shown a second yellow and was sent off in the 62nd minute, resulting in the third goal for Bayern. Harry Kane completed his brace in the 75th minute by scoring from the penalty spot to hand Bayern a comfortable victory.
Keeper Wojciech Szczęsny's trusted gloves resisted the fall of a ten-men FC Barcelona against Benfica in the first leg at Estádio da Luz, leading them to a slender 1-0 victory.
Defender Pau Cubarsi was sent off in the 22nd minute of the game, following a straight red card. Barcelona were down to ten men, but Wojciech Szczęsny became unbreakable beneath the sticks, making a massive eight saves on the way.
The only goal of the match came off Raphinha's magical feet, as the Brazilian found the back of the net with a sublime long-ranger strike that went past Trubin through the left-bottom corner.
PSG 0-1 Liverpool
(Image Source | X)
It was another Champions League classic at Parc des Princes as Liverpool salvaged a narrow 1-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in an electric encounter.
Liverpool custodian Alisson Becker became absolute impregnable against continuous efforts from PSG attackers, especially Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Alisson was only beaten once in the 20th minute, when a marvellous curler from Kvaratskhelia ended up in the net, but was cancelled for offside.
Alisson made nine saves in the whole game, whereas Liverpool earned the winning goal in the 87th minute as Harvey Elliot fired his strike past Donnarumma, only 47 seconds after coming off the bench.
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Knockout phase play-off Round Up: Real Madrid, PSG, PSV go through
Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, PSG, PSV and Real Madrid qualified for the Round of 16 from the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Knockout phase play-offs.
Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, PSG, PSV and Real Madrid qualified for the Round of 16 from the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Knockout phase play-offs.
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Knockout phase play-offs Round-Up
Milan 1-1 Feyenoord (agg: 1-2)
Italian football giants and one of the most successful teams in UEFA Champions League history AC Milan were knocked out of this season's tournament after Dutch club Feyenoord defeated them by 1-2 on aggregate.
Feyenoord were leading by 1-0 after the first leg and then they ensured a 1-1 draw to progress to the round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Santiago Giménez scored early for Milan but against a 10-men Milan side Julián Carranza came off the bench to seal an equaliser with a stunning header.
Benfica 3-3 Monaco (agg: 4-3)
Orkun Kökçü scored a late winner for Benfica to progress to the next round after beating Monaco by 4-3 on aggregate.
Kerem Aktürkoğlu gave Benfica the early edge only to see Takumi Minamino and Eliesse Ben Seghir put Monaco back on level terms.
Vangelis Pavlidis then gave Benfica the lead but George Ilenikhena levelled things again. Kokcu then sealed the winner for Benfica with a later goal.
Atalanta 1-3 Club Brugge (agg: 2-5)
Chemsdine Talbi's brace and Ferran Jutglà's stunning long-range goal took Club Brugge to the round of 16 with ease.
Ademola Lookman scored the lone goal for Atalanta. However, he also saw one penalty saved by Simon Mignolet as well.
Bayern Munich 1-1 Celtic (agg: 3-2)
Bayern Munich narrowly passed the Celtic test with a late goal from Alphonso Davies. Nicolas Kuhn scored the goal for Celtic in the one-hour mark and when they were nearly close to taking Bayern Munich to extra time, Davies took the German Champions home.
B. Dortmund 0-0 Sporting CP (agg: 3-0)
Despite a goalless draw at their home, Borussia Dortmund went past their Portuguese visitors with ease, after a solid 3-0 lead from the first leg.
In the second leg, Rui Silva was the hero for the Portuguese team who made multiple saves to deny the Dortmund players.
Paris 7-0 Brest (agg: 10-0)
PSG thrashed their Ligue 1 opponent Brest via a 7-0 victory in the second leg to manage a 10-0 win on aggregate.
PSG became the first team to have seven different scorers in a single match. Bradley Barcola, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Désiré Doué, Nuno Mendes, Gonçalo Ramos and Senny Mayulu scored for the French giants.
PSV 3-1 Juventus, aet (agg: 4-3)
🚨🇪🇺 GOAL | PSV 3-1 Juventus | Ryan Flamingo
RYAN FLAMINGO MAKES IT THREE FOR PSV IN THE 98TH MINUTE OF OVERTIME !!!!!!!!!!!!! 4-3 ON AGGREGATE !!!!!!!pic.twitter.com/n9Y0TXCmmo
PSV stunned the Italian giants to qualify for the round of 16. This is their first Champions League knockout win since 2007.
Ryan Flamingo scored an extra-time goal to nullify Timothy Weah's stunning goal.
Ivan Perisic and Ismael Saibari scored the other two goals for the Dutch club.
Real Madrid 3-1 Man City (agg: 6-3)
Real Madrid proved why they are the 15 times Champions League winner as they eased past a struggling Manchester City to reach the Round of 16.
Kylian Mbappe scored a stunning hat-trick to take the defending champions to the next round in front of their home crowd. Nico González scored a late consolation goal for City.
The knockout phase to qualify for the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 round of 16 has been done. 16 teams who had finished from 9 to 24 in the league stage have went against their opponent in a two-legged fixture to determine the 8 teams of the round of 16. Those who had finished in the top 8 in the league stage had already qualified for the round of 16 stage.
Now, from these qualified teams, a draw will take place among potential opponents to determine who will face whom in the round of 16, quarter-final and in the semi-final. Here is everything you need to know about the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw.
When and Where will it take place?
The 2024-25 UEFA Champions League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw will take place at 12:00 CET on Friday 21 February at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
This means that football fans from India will be able to see the draw at 4:30 pm on Friday 21 February.
Which teams have qualified for the UCL 2024-25 Round of 16 draw?
Graphic by UEFA.com
The top 8 teams from the league stage had automatically qualified for the UCL 2024-25 Round of 16 draw. Now, another 8 teams have qualified for the round of 16 stage after playing a two-legged knock-out fixture against their drawn opponents.
Knockout phase play-off winners (unseeded, ordered by league phase position) 10. B. Dortmund (GER) 11.Real Madrid (ESP) 12.Bayern Munich (GER) 14. PSV (NED) 15.PSG (FRA) 16.Benfica (POR) 19. Feyenoord (NED) 24. Club Brugge (BEL)
Which teams are potential opponents of which teams?
So, as per the new theme of the tournament, the top 8 teams have been put into a bracket of four seeded groups i.e. 1 or 2, 3 or 4, 5 or 6, 7 or 8.
In the knockout phase play-off draw, the potential bracket of possible winners from the knockout-phase play-off was already made to determine their possible opponent from the bracket of the seeded groups from the top 8.
Here are the potential opponents who could face each other in the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 round of 16 (in order of match No.)
So, from the above list, you can get that Liverpool's and Barcelona's potential opponents are PSG or Benfica. The draw will be done to determine which team will face whom in the round of 16. For Lille and Aston Villa, the potential opponents are Club Brugge or Borussia Dortmund. Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. Arsenal and Inter Milan could face either PSV or Feyenoord.
How the draw will be done?
Graphic by UEFA.com
One ball is taken from the bowl containing the two relevant ranked teams (i.e. the teams ranked 7 and 8) and is opened to display the team. The first team drawn from this bowl is placed in their reserved spot on the silver side of the bracket (see bracket graphic above). The other seeded team of the pairing is then drawn and displayed, and allocated in the corresponding reserved spot on the blue side of the bracket.
How the quarter-final and semi-final fixtures will be made?
The winner of Round of 16 Match No. 1 will play against the winner of Round of 16 Match No. 2 in the 1st Quarter-final. The rest will continue as per the graphic above. The draw will be done only to determine which team will play the first leg and which will play the second leg of the fixture.
UCL 2024-25 QF Fixture Bracket
QF1: RO16-1 vs RO16-2
QF2: RO16-3 vs RO16-4
QF3: RO16-5 vs RO16-6
QF4: RO16-7 vs RO16-8
UCL 2024-25 Semi-final fixture bracket
SF1: QF1 vs QF2
SF2: QF3 vs QF4
Dates for the Champions League round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Matchday 7 round up: Barcelona and Real win big, Bayern and City face defeats
UEFA Champions League matchday 7: Barcelona and Real Madrid secure big wins, Bayern was shocked by Feyenoord and Manchester City failed to pull off a crucial victory against PSG.
Match week 7 of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 season delivered a mix of thrilling comebacks, dominant victories, and shocking defeats. Spanish heavyweights Barcelona and Real Madrid boasted their strength with decisive victories, while Manchester City and Bayern failed to pull off victories.
The shocking defeats of the Premier League giant and Bundesliga Heavyweight tightened the race for the top eight direct qualification and Knock-out playoffs. Here is a roundup of the key matches and standout performances from the week.
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