European heavyweights Real Madrid and Manchester City both suffered big defeats in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Defending champion Madrid was humbled 3-1 at home by AC Milan, while Erling Haaland missed a penalty and City squandered a fourth-minute lead as it lost 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon, whose coach will soon take charge of its crosstown rival.
It was a much better evening for Liverpool, as Luis Diaz scored a hat trick and Cody Gakpo grabbed another goal in a 4-0 win over German champion Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield that marred Xabi Alonso’s return to his old home.
The Leverkusen coach was given a warm welcome on his return to the club where he became a fan favorite as a player over five seasons between 2004-09. Alonso won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005.
Before their game, Sporting fans displayed a huge tifo thanking Rúben Amorim in his last home game before he takes over Manchester United.
Phil Foden then got City off to a flying start in the fourth minute, only the second goal Sporting has conceded in four games of the competition.
But Swedish forward Viktor Gyökeres scored a hat trick as Sporting came roaring back. Gyökeres first equalized in the 38th after a perfect through ball from Geovany Quenda, before Maximiliano Araújo made it 2-1 right after the break. made it 3-1 in the 49th from the penalty spot after Joško Gvardiol was penalized for a shove on Francisco Trincão in the area.
Haaland’s penalty hit the crossbar, before Gyökeres showed the Norwegian how it’s done with another spot kick at the other end to complete the scoring.
In Madrid, Christian Pulisic sent in a corner for Malick Thiaw to head Milan into a 12th-minute lead, ensuring Madrid trailed in a third straight game in the Champions League this season.
Vinícius Júnior equalized from the penalty spot in the 23rd after he’d been tripped, but Álvaro Morata pounced on the rebound after Andriy Lunin saved Rafael Leão’s shot to restore the visitors’ lead against his former club.
Morata had already been given a hostile reception from the home fans, who evidently remember the goal he scored to take Juventus through to the 2015 final at their team’s expense.
Tijjani Reijnders scored Milan’s third goal as the home fans made their frustrations known at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Also, German forward Nicolas Kühn scored twice as Celtic defeated Leipzig 3-1 at home, and Juventus drew 1-1 at Lille.
Lille midfielder Edon Zhegrova eluded two defenders before playing a perfect pass for Jonathan David, who fired inside the far post, but Dušan Vlahović equalized with a penalty for the Italian club.
Donyell Malen scored late for Borussia Dortmund to beat Sturm Graz 1-0 at home, and Thilo Kehrer did likewise for Monaco to win at Bologna 1-0.
United States midfielder Malik Tillman scored one goal and set up another as PSV Eindhoven beat Spanish team Girona 4-0.
Dinamo Zagreb dealt Slovan Bratislava its fourth straight defeat in the competition as the visitors came from behind to win 4-1 in Bratislava.
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