..::Football IV::..

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Hoffenheim 1 Manchester City 2: Silva settles it late on

Manchester City recovered from an abysmal start to end a run of four consecutive Champions League defeats with a 2-1 victory at Hoffenheim.Pep Guardiola's side, who suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Lyon in their Group F opener, fell behind inside 44 seconds on Tuesday.

But the Premier League champions bounced back to end the longest losing streak of an English side in the competition's history.


City, who were beaten in their last-16 second-leg clash with Basel before losing twice to Liverpool in the quarter-finals last season, quickly levelled through Sergio Aguero.And the turnaround was completed late on courtesy of David Silva's opportunistic strike just three minutes from time.

In the first meeting between the sides, the Bundesliga outfit wasted no time in forging ahead, Ishak Belfodil coolly converting following Kerem Demirbay's throughball.

But that stung the visitors into life and when Silva deftly picked out Leroy Sane, the former Schalke star squared for Aguero – who overcame a foot injury to retain his place – to tap home.

Raheem Sterling was denied by Oliver Baumann at the end of a strong run and Aguero volleyed over on the stretch after excellent trickery from Sane, with City piling on the pressure.Baumann produced a stunning one-handed stop to thwart Aguero again before the break, but the hosts regained a foothold in the second half.

For the opening 25 minutes, Julian Nagelsmann's side contained City without managing to create much for themselves.Sane had a strong shout for a penalty waved away when he took a tumble in the box after Baumann rushed out to meet him.

But City finally got the winner after Stefan Posch was caught dallying inside the area, allowing Silva to find the bottom-right corner with typical assuredness.

 

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Juventus 3 Young Boys 0: Dybala hits hat-trick as Ronaldo watches on

Paulo Dybala stepped up in the absence of the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League as his hat-trick helped Juventus coast to a 3-0 win over 10-man Young Boys.

With Ronaldo watching on at the Allianz Stadium as he served out a one-game ban following his red card against Valencia, Dybala was the star turn in helping the Serie A champions make it two wins from two in Group H.

His first goal was the pick of the bunch, a wonderfully timed volley from Leonardo Bonucci long pass as the centre-back's inch-perfect delivery dropped over the head of Mohamed Ali Camara, allowing his team-mate to steer the ball in with his left foot.


The second was more about attacking instincts than technical ability, the forward tapping home the rebound after Young Boys goalkeeper David Von Ballmoos failed to steer Blaise Matuidi's powerful drive from the edge of the penalty area away from danger.Dybala could have completed a first-half treble had he made better contact with a first-time effort from Federico Bernardeschi’s cut-back cross, while a right-footed finish when through on goal soon after the break was kept out by a post.

However, his third eventually arrived in the 69th minute when he stretched out to poke home into an unguarded net, converting Juan Cuadrado's square pass from the right.

As well as conceding three goals for a second successive outing in the competition, Young Boys had to play out the closing stages a man down after defender Camara picked up two yellow cards in the space of three minutes, the second for a foul on Dybala.

 

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'Maybe everything was a bit too easy' – Kovac stunned by Bayern slump


Niko Kovac said "maybe everything was a bit too easy" for Bayern Munich previously after the German giants' winless streak continued against Ajax in the Champions League.

Mats Hummels' early opener was cancelled out by Noussair Mazraoui as Bayern were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by the Dutch visitors on Tuesday.Bundesliga holders Bayern have now gone three games without victory in all competitions, having started the season with seven successive wins.

"Nobody expected that. But that's football. When you fall, you always have the opportunity to get up," head coach Kovac told Sky Germany about Bayern's slump.

"Maybe everything was a bit too easy. Now we have to roll up our sleeves. I know what struck the clock, that we did not win three games and we need to focus on the essentials again. That's not what I imagined personally.

"Now we have to quickly show the face that made us so good in the first seven games."Bayern were shocked by Hertha Berlin last week but the Bavarians made a flying start in the Group E clash – Hummels breaking the deadlock in just the fourth minute.

Ajax, however, responded midway through the first half via Mazraoui's fine strike and it proved to be enough to frustrate Bayern.

"That was certainly not a good game from us," Kovac said. "We did that very well in the first 15 minutes. Then we played negligently, won too few duels, every second ball was at the opponent.
"We simply played too many bad passes. We wanted too much, too fast. As a result, you build up the opponent and lose confidence. That was a winning point for us in the end. You have to see it that way."Bayern star Thomas Muller added: "We certainly had a better phase this season. Our way of playing is in need of improvement.

"We have to stay tuned, something else does not help us. We have to sort the bones and fix everything on Saturday. In football you have to look forward."

 

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'Keep fighting' - Pogba issues Man United rallying cry after disappointing stalemate


Paul Pogba issued a rallying cry to his team-mates after Manchester United's winless streak extended to four matches against Valencia in the Champions League.It was another limp and uninspiring display from United, who were held to a goalless draw by Valencia at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Not since opening their Champions League Group H campaign with a 3-0 win at Young Boys have United tasted victory – defeats to Derby County and West Ham, and draws against Wolves and Valencia increasing the pressure on under-fire manager Jose Mourinho amid reports of dressing-room unrest and issues with Pogba.

The stalemate also set a new unwanted record for Mourinho , who has failed to win any of his last four home games for the first time in his managerial career.But Pogba turned to social media to ask him team-mates to "keep fighting" even as they struggle to find their form.

Star midfielder Pogba – at the centre of a reported falling out with Mourinho – used social media to issue a rallying cry, writing: "Let's keep fighting United #mufc."
Already nine points off the pace in the Premier League, United host lowly Newcastle United in a must-win fixture on Saturday.

 

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Modric: Real Madrid are not in crisis


Luka Modric denied Real Madrid are in crisis following their shock 1-0 loss to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.Madrid succumbed to a second-minute goal from Nikola Vlasic on Tuesday as the holders crashed to a second defeat in three games.

Casemiro, Karim Benzema and Mariano Diaz all hit the woodwork for Madrid, who failed to score for the third successive match in all competitions for the first time since January 2007.

In total the side have won just twice in their last six games, drawing twice in La Liga while going down to Sevilla and CSKA during that disappointing run of form.

With rivals Barcelona also dropping points, however, they remain tied with the Catalans at the league summit with 14 points from their first seven outings.Pressure is mounting on head coach Julen Lopetegui but Modric, who started off the bench on Tuesday, is adamant Madrid will arrest their slump.

"It's not a crisis but we haven't been performing the way we should," said Modric, who started on the bench. "No doubt, we'll get back to winning ways.

"As for tonight, CSKA showed they are very well organised and have really good players."They used their chance, we didn't use ours."Madrid, who drew 0-0 against city rivals Atletico in LaLiga last time out having been outclassed by Sevilla 3-0, travel to Deportivo Alaves on Saturday.

 

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Another dig at Woodward? Mourinho claims Man Utd defenders lack technical quality


Jose Mourinho questioned the "technical quality" in his Manchester United team following Tuesday's goalless draw with Valencia at Old Trafford.United made it four games without a win in all competitions after another limp performance in their second Champions League match of the season.

There was some improvement on last Saturday's display in their 3-1 loss to West Ham, but Valencia were not unduly troubled by the United attack and could have taken all three points had they made the most of opportunities on the break.

Speaking afterwards, Mourinho seemed to warn United fans not to expect much success from 2018-19 and claimed he could not be honest in his assessment for fear of further criticism of his methods.

"I think there are things that is difficult for me to say and if I say something funny, I'm leaving myself... it would be another reason to criticise me and I think you have enough," he told a news conference."So, I prefer just to say that when last season we finished second and we finished runners-up in the FA Cup, we won our group in the Champions League. I thought it was a fantastic season. I knew why."

Earlier, Mourinho appeared to suggest it would be difficult for United to improve upon their achievements of last season, when they finished second in the Premier League to Manchester City but failed to win a trophy.

He told BT Sport : "I told in pre-season that last season was phenomenal. To finish second, reach the FA Cup final, win the group in the Champions League... I said it was a very, very good season and I don't say more than that."

Mourinho felt the draw was a fair result but again seemed to question his players' quality by claiming his side lack defenders capable of building attacks. "Frustrating, because it's not the result we want," he continued. "There were some improvements in our performance. [We knew] if we don't perform at least at an acceptable level, we would lose and defeat would leave us in a difficult situation.

"In such a difficult group, if you cannot win, you don't lose. We were the team that tried more, that had probably a couple of big chances to win, but I accept the result as a fair result.

"The players, they tried, they raised the level of their effort, they raised the level of their intensity. We tried to play but in some crucial phases we didn't have the technical quality to build from the back.

"We knew we would not create 20 chances. Our attacking players are not in their best moment of confidence and individual performance level, so we thought with three or four chances we would score and win the game, which we didn't.

"It's not a bad result but it's not a good result. We have Newcastle before the league stops [for the international break] and after that we have Chelsea and Juventus in three days. It would be really good for the team if we can beat Newcastle."

 

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UEFA Champions League Group Stage Fixtures 2018.10.03

UEFA Champions League Group Stage Fixtures 2018.10.03

Lokomotiv Moscow Vs Schalke

PSG Vs Crvena

Atletico Madrid Vs Club Brugge

Dortmund Vs Monaco

Porto Vs Galatasaray

Napoli Vs Liverpool

PSV Vs Inter

Tottenham Vs Barcelona

​

 

[Michael]

Patta chater HOME matches wath dinanna bane lol

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Patta chater HOME matches wath dinanna bane lol

Eka thamai Mike.Next Newcastle.Ekawath win karai kiyala hithenawa.​

 

[Heisenberg]

Eka thamai Mike.Next Newcastle.Ekawath win karai kiyala hithenawa.​

mehema gihilla relegate weida ban.ekath kiyanna baa

 

[Wolverine GTR]

mehema gihilla relegate weida ban.ekath kiyanna baa

Apo naha bro.Relegate nam wenne naha kohomatath.Top 4 hopes thamai thiyaganna amaru
​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Napoli 1 Liverpool 0: Insigne secures deserved win at the end

Lorenzo Insigne struck in the 90th minute as Napoli claimed a deserved 1-0 win over Liverpool to leave Champions League Group C wide open.

The Reds struggled to make much of an impression on the match as their blunt attack were kept quiet and Napoli finally made their superiority count at the end, moving themselves top of the early table with four points.The first half was sadly lacking in quality, with neither goalkeeper remotely busy, but Napoli controlled proceedings and at least threatened to trouble the Reds.

They stepped things up a notch in the second period and looked as though they were going to be frustrated when Dries Mertens hit the crossbar late on, but Insigne finished Liverpool off in the final minute of normal time.
Liverpool never really got going in the first half and had a lucky escape 11 minutes in when Insigne saw a left-footed strike go agonisingly wide of the bottom-right corner.

The Reds lost Naby Keita to an apparent back injury soon after and that did little to improve their fortunes in attack.Napoli eventually forced Alisson into action just past the half-hour mark, but Arkadiusz Milik's effort from the centre of the box was swatted away by the Brazil international.


The hosts upped the intensity a little after the break and quickly went close, Milik's 25-yard drive forcing Alisson to save down to his left.Milik then threaded Fabian Ruiz into the box a few moments later, but Trent Alexander-Arnold produced a vital last-ditch tackle to stop him.

Liverpool looked destined to take a point when Mertens' close-range effort hit the frame of the goal, but Insigne stunned them in the 90th minute, sliding on to Jose Callejon's low cross and prodding the ball past the helpless Alisson.

 

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Paris Saint-Germain 6 Red Star Belgrade 1: Neymar inspires Parc des Princes rout

Neymar scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Red Star Belgrade 6-1 in their second Champions League match of the season.The Ligue 1 champions responded to their opening 3-2 loss to Liverpool with a commanding victory over the Serbian visitors at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Neymar's brilliant treble, which saw him draw level with Kaka as the top-scoring Brazilian in the competition's history on 30 goals, was added to by Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe.


Marko Marin got a consolation for the visitors, but it counted for little as they suffered a comprehensive defeat to Thomas Tuchel's side.

Goalkeeper Milan Borjan thwarted Mbappe at his near post as PSG started strongly, but he could do nothing to stop Neymar's superbly flighted free-kick from nestling in the bottom-left corner 20 minutes in.Mbappe turned provider for Neymar's second barely 90 seconds later, collecting the Brazilian's throughball before squaring a low pass that was prodded high into the net by PSG's number 10.

Red Star appeared resigned to their fate and any lingering hope of a comeback seemed to be extinguished after 37 minutes, when Cavani turned into space in the box and sent a deflected strike past Borjan.

Mbappe missed an excellent chance for a fourth but Di Maria made no mistake shortly before half-time, flicking home after escaping the whole of the Red Star defence to meet Thomas Meunier's cross.Borjan made four good saves to deny Mbappe and Neymar early in the second half and keep the scoreline reasonably respectable, and Red Star at last managed to test Alphonse Areola through Marin and Milan Rodic.

Mbappe finally got on the scoresheet, tapping in from point-blank range after Juan Bernat's cross deflected into his path, before Neymar capped a spectacular display with a stunning second free-kick to seal his hat-trick after Marin had blasted home a sliver of consolation.

 

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Tottenham 2 Barcelona 4: Rakitic rocket helps Valverde's men bounce back

Ivan Rakitic scored a wonderful volley and Lionel Messi struck twice to inspire Barcelona to a thrilling 4-2 win at Tottenham in the Champions League.Philippe Coutinho took only 92 seconds to give Barca the lead at Wembley on Wednesday, with Rakitic's unstoppable 25-yarder doubling the Catalan side's first-half advantage.Harry Kane's 10th Champions League goal gave Spurs hope and, although Messi soon put Barca 3-1 up, Erik Lamela struck to set up a grandstand finish.

Ernesto Valverde's men had failed to win their last three games and looked nervy in the closing stages, but Messi capitalised on poor defending in the last minute to ensure his team join Inter on maximum points after two games in Group B.

Hugo Lloris was playing for the first time since August after recovering from a thigh injury but the Tottenham captain's mistake contributed to Barca's second-minute opener.Messi produced a gorgeous ball to send Jordi Alba scampering clear down the left channel and, with Lloris having raced out and left his goal unmarked, the left-back squared for Coutinho to tuck away his first Barca goal in the Champions League.

The visitors, returning to Wembley for the first time since lifting the Champions League there in 2011, extended their lead in stunning fashion soon after Kane had Spurs' first shot.

Coutinho performed a minor miracle to keep the ball in play on the byline with Rakitic launching himself into a sensational 20-yard volley that clipped the post on its way into Lloris' net.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a great save to keep out a Son Heung-min cross that sharply deflected off Gerard Pique, who was making his 100th Champions League appearance, and Messi hit the post twice in five minutes after the restart before Kane gave Spurs a lifeline.A long throw from Lloris set up a counter, with Lamela feeding Kane to turn Nelson Semedo and bend a fine finish into Ter Stegen's bottom-left corner.

Messi would not miss again, though, sending Alba clear down the left with a trademark curling pass and timing his run into the box perfectly to slot a first-time finish past Lloris to restore Barca's two-goal lead four minutes later.

Lamela's deflected strike wrongfooted Ter Stegen and ensured a fantastic finale but, with Spurs committing men forward, Alba seized on a loose pass to set up Messi to sweep home his second.

 

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Atletico Madrid 3 Club Brugge 1: Griezmann the double

Antoine Griezmann scored in either half to help Atletico Madrid to a 3-1 Champions League win over Club Brugge at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday.

After an opening win against Monaco two weeks ago, Griezmann's double – and Koke's late strike – has given Diego Simeone's side a perfect platform to progress from Group A.The World Cup winner put his side ahead with a typically assured strike before Arnaut Groeneveld gave the Belgian champions an unlikely leveller with a stunning effort.

Griezmann then proved exactly why he is Atletico's talisman in the 67th minute, producing another clinical finish to set Los Rojiblancos on their way to three more points, which were sealed by Koke.
Atletico rarely threatened during a tepid opening, with Saul Niguez's wayward volley from close range their one clear sight of goal in the first 25 minutes.

Only a superb last-ditch tackle from Stefano Denswil prevented Thomas Lemar from finishing a flowing move before Griezmann broke the deadlock in the 28th minute, sliding coolly past Karlo Letica from eight yards after Lemar's cross had found him at the back post.The visitors bounced back in style six minutes before the interval, though, Groeneveld unleashing a fierce effort from 25 yards that fizzed past Jan Oblak to pull them level.

Saul flashed a header narrowly over shortly after the restart, while Letica smothered Griezmann's effort just after the hour mark.The Frenchman did net his second of the night soon after, stroking into Letica's bottom-left corner from Diego Costa's selfless pull-back.

Substitute Angel Correa blazed over with just Letica to beat late on and Atletico grabbed a third deep into stoppage time when Koke clipped home after Griezmann's surging run down the left.

 

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Borussia Dortmund 3 Monaco 0: Alcacer makes amends for penalty miss in convincing win

Borussia Dortmund's outstanding form continued with a 3-0 win over Monaco on Wednesday, as Paco Alcacer spared his personal blushes by recovering from a penalty miss to score his first Champions League goal for the club.

Jacob Bruun Larsen came on as a half-time substitute to score his third goal in as many appearances for Dortmund, who did not have it all their own way against a Monaco side fighting to regain form after a torrid few weeks.

Leonardo Jardim's men are without a win in nine games and have nothing to show for their European efforts so far, having lost to Atletico Madrid in their opening Group A fixture.

In contrast, Dortmund are top of the Bundesliga and growing in confidence in Europe, their victory effectively clinched by Paco Alcacer's strike after the Spaniard missed a penalty moments earlier, and Marco Reus added a third in second-half stoppage time.

Youri Tielemans curled a superb 20-yard effort towards goal as Monaco probed for an early strike, forcing an acrobatic save from Roman Burki.Alcacer bent one around the post from just outside the box at the other end, before Marius Wolf's shot on the turn from inside the box almost gave Dortmund the lead seven minutes before half-time, but Diego Benaglio made a good reaction save.An injury sustained while making that stop left Benaglio unable to continue, and he was replaced by Danijel Subasic.

Lucien Favre sent on Larsen for Wolf after half-time and the Dane broke the deadlock within five minutes, pouncing on Jadon Sancho's throughball and bearing down on Subasic before unleashing a low drive into the net.Alcacer's best chance to score looked to have arrived when Kamil Glik felledReus in the box but his spot-kick hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced clear.

He made no mistake when given another opportunity moments later, gathering a pass from Reus and rounding Subasic before firing into the empty goal, and captain Reus made the result certain when he drilled Larsen's low cross into the far corner of the net.

 

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PSV 1 Inter 2: Nainggolan, Icardi complete another comeback

Inter kept pace with Barcelona at the top of Group B in the Champions League after coming from behind to secure a 2-1 away win over PSV on Wednesday.Radja Nainggolan's first European goal for his new club and a cool Mauro Icardi finish on the hour gave the Nerazurri their second comeback victory of the campaign, having dramatically beaten Tottenham 2-1 a fortnight ago.

No late fireworks were required on this occasion, although Inter were still made to work for their fifth straight victory in all competitions after falling behind to a Pablo Rosario stunner.


Nainggolan restored parity on the stroke of half-time before Icardi, one of the heroes of the Spurs success, took Luciano Spalletti's side level on points with leaders Barca after two encouraging outings.

An entertaining first half promised goals from the outset and Rosario emphatically delivered in the 27th minute, whipping a sensational effort from right to left and past a flat-footed Samir Handanovic.

Two chances for Icardi suggested a response was forthcoming, although Inter received a let-off when the onrushing Handanovic escaped with a yellow card for handling the ball outside the area.

Mark van Bommel felt the goalkeeper's impeding of Steven Bergwijn deserved red and his mood was not helped a minute before the break, Nainggolan rifling in the equaliser from the edge of the box.Gaston Pereiro curled a shot against the upright soon after the restart but, for all PSV's promise, they struggled to ever get to grips with Icardi.

The 25-year-old's 60th-minute winner owed as much to Jeroen Zoet's error as individual brilliance, the goalkeeper colliding with Daniel Schwaab and leaving Icardi to roll the ball into an empty net.

Handanovic was required to make one final save from an inventive Donyell Malen overhead kick 10 minutes from the end that maintained his team's perfect start in Group B.

 

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Pochettino: Lloris error, not Messi performance, led to Spurs loss


Mauricio Pochettino dismissed the notion that two-goal hero Lionel Messi dismantled Tottenham, the Spurs boss instead lamenting Hugo Lloris' early mistake against Barcelona in their Champions League defeat.Messi earned the plaudits with a brace as La Liga holders Barcelona overcame a depleted Tottenham side 4-2 at Wembley in London on Wednesday.

Spurs were always on the back foot after a Lloris error helped gift Barca the lead just 92 seconds into the game, before a stunning Ivan Rakitic volley doubled the advantage in the first half.

Tottenham refused to surrender as Harry Kane pulled a goal back but Messi took centre stage in the second half, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner finding the bottom corner of the net – having hit the post twice – before the superstar swept home a second during the closing stages after Erik Lamela struck for Spurs.

While acknowledging Messi's quality, manager Pochettino felt his goalkeeper's error led to Tottenham's second consecutive loss in Group B."If you watch football and understand it, you will know how hard is to come out of the dressing room and find yourself 1-0 down so early," Pochettino said.

"It's so difficult after this for the team to feel confident to play. It's so tough. When you play at this level you can't concede these type of chances."When you concede in less than two minutes, it changes completely everything. The emotion becomes tough when you are playing against Barcelona and players like Messi and [Luis] Suarez."

"We didn't concede one chance to Messi in the first half. In the second half, he had more space and that is difficult to stop," added Pochettino. "If you watch the first half again, how many chances did he have? Not one. In the second half, with a lot of space, it is unbelievable how he runs."Come on, move on, because in the first half we concede in the first minutes. We played with the handicap of conceding after one minute.

"Our players were heroes because they were chasing the game against Messi, Suarez, Coutinho and Co. Lucas Moura could have equalised. Then you would have said 'we are heroes and the manager is the best in the world.'"Tottenham have collected zero points from their opening two Champions League fixtures this season, with Barca and Inter both on six.

"We still need to play four games and we have in our hands to be or not in the next stage," Pochettino said. "It will be tough because we've got to win games. Still thinking the same though that all is possible."

 

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Griezmann the best player in the world - Simeone


Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone described Antoine Griezmann as "the best player in the world" after his role in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League.The France forward was at his talismanic, scoring twice and setting up Koke's late third as Simeone's side won their second consecutive Group A game.

He was heavily linked with a move to La Liga rivals Barcelona during the close-season, but pledged his future to Los Rojiblancos shortly before the World Cup kicked off and has started the season brightly.

His brace against the Belgian champions took him to four goals for the campaign and Simeone was quick to lavish praise on the 27-year-old."I said it last season and I'll say it again - for me Griezmann is the best player in the world," he said.

"He won the Europa League, the World Cup, the [UEFA] Super Cup and finished second in a league in which both Barcelona and Real Madrid are in."He is in the place he wants to be. He chose to stay at Atletico and these are the consequences. He is enjoying a very important moment in his career."

Atleti failed to progress from the Champions League group stage last season after picking up just one win from their six games. Victory over Brugge, however, sees them sitting pretty with Borussia Dortmund on six points – the perfect platform from which to progress this time around.Griezmann takes partial responsibility for last season's failure, but thinks he is in the kind of form that will help avoid a repeat.

"Last year I wasn't at my best and I think our poor Champions League campaign was partly my fault," he told UEFA.com."We couldn't have the kind of season in this competition that we wanted but now I'm feeling good and enjoying my football.

"Scoring twice is always nice, it gives you confidence and hopefully I can continue in that vein."

 

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Messi is the best ever - Coutinho hails Barcelona star


Lionel Messi's masterclass in the 4-2 Champions League win at Tottenham prompted Barcelona team-mate Philippe Coutinho to describe him as the "best ever".

Coutinho gave Barca a second-minute lead at Wembley on Wednesday but it was Messi's brace in the second half that ensured Ernesto Valverde's men ended a run of three games without a win.Messi was also involved in Barca's opener before taking his Champions League tally to 64 goals from 65 appearances in the group stage, while Jordi Alba recorded a trio of assists.

Former Barca striker Gary Lineker described Messi as the best player in history on social media and Coutinho was quick to agree with that assessment after scoring his first Champions League goal for the club.
"Messi is the best ever," Coutinho said to beIN SPORTS. "He always does new things on the field, I'm glad he scored two goals."All Champions League matches are like that. We have to be at 100 per cent. Today we deserved the victory."

Tottenham defender Kieran Trippier accepted Barca earned their victory but said his team, without star men Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen due to injury, can be satisfied with a second-half fightback that saw goals from Harry Kane and Erik Lamela. "These are the games you want to be involved in, that you dream of playing in," Trippier said to BT Sport.

"[Messi] was unbelievable. When he's in that form he's magic to watch."Barcelona were the better team on the night but we'll take plenty of positives out of it.

"We've got another game around the corner, so we'll recover and see where we went wrong."