Barcelona defeats Dortmund in an exciting match

The first stage of the Champions League is drawing to a close, but there is still plenty to play for across the continent.

England’s top two teams were in action on Wednesday and both are looking for three big points to cement their place in the top eight.

Arsenal defeated Monaco by defeating its host, the Emirates, 1-0, while Manchester City lost again, this time at the hands of Juventus.

The other main event of the night was in Germany, where Borussia Dortmund took on Barcelona.

Both teams are in the top eight having lost just one match, but it was all for the sake of playing in front of Borussia Dortmund’s famous yellow wall.

Read on to see how these European giants have developed, as well as the other teams involved.

Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Barcelona

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Full time! ⭐️⭐️⭐️#BVPBarça | @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/Exn2JGwRw5

– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 11, 2024

Dortmund and Barcelona played an exciting match, where the visitors excelled.

Barcelona took the lead through Rafinha at the start of the second half, before Serho Guirassi responded a few minutes later.

Ferran Torres’ goal was disallowed by Geraci again but the Spaniard scored an 85th-minute winner for Hansi Flick’s men.

Atletico Madrid 3-1 Slovan Bratislava

Atletico Madrid continued its march towards the top eight with victory over Slovan Bratislava.

The Spanish team took the lead with two goals through Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann, before David Strelic reduced the gap from a penalty kick.

But Griezmann’s second goal ensured that coach Diego Simeone’s team got the three points.

Lille 3-2 Sturm Graz

Lille followed in Atletico’s footsteps by scoring three goals and winning his match.

The French team beat Sturm Graz 3-2 thanks to goals from Oussami Sahraoui, Michel Bakker and Haakon Arnar Haraldsson.

Otar Ketishvili and Mika Perez scored for the visitors but it was not enough to come away with any points.

Milan 2-1 Red Star Belgrade

Late winner, late winner and we’ll get all three points! 🤩#ACMFKCZ #UCL #Sempre Milan pic.twitter.com/LRxKkOJYDS

– AC Milan (@acmilan) December 11, 2024

AC Milan moved within touching distance of the top eight in the Champions League with victory over Red Star Belgrade.

Rafael Leao opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, before the Italian team equalized through Nemanja Radonjic.

But Tammy Abraham came to the rescue in the 87th minute to get the three points for the Rossoneri.

Benfica 0-0 Bologna

Benfica and Bologna tied 0-0 in Portugal.

The hosts had 15 shots but created only two big chances.

Bologna had an xG of 0.24, while Benfica had 1.23.

Feyenoord 4-2 Sparta Prague

Enjoyed the trip. 🙂‍↕#feyacs • #UCL pic.twitter.com/GLu6MiG6qM

– Feyenoord Rotterdam (@Feyenoord) December 11, 2024

Feyenoord scored four goals to defeat Sparta Prague at home.

There were four different scorers for the Dutch national team, three of them coming in the first half.

Sparta Prague tried to regain its balance and scored in each half, but that was not enough to defeat the thirsty Feyenoord team.

Stuttgart 5-1 Young Boys

German team Stuttgart made it easy for the Young Boys.

Five goals from five different goals ended the game early in the second half, although the home side trailed 1-0 after six minutes.

A 25th-minute equalizer followed by four goals in the second half marked a dominant performance from the Bundesliga club.