Malik Tillman bagged a pair of goals for Bayer Leverkusen in their shutout of Villarreal, while Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun faced off in a goalless affair between Monaco and Juventus.
Bayer Leverkusen 3 – 0 Villarreal
It was a good night for the German side and their American midfielder, Malik Tillman, as they welcomed the Spanish side to the BayArena on Wednesday night and soundly beat them, with the midfielder scoring a brace and playing the full 90 minutes. His teammate, Montrell Culbreath, was an unused substitute on the bench.
The opening goal came after just 12 minutes when Tillman closed down the Villarreal keeper and blocked his clearance, which ricocheted into the Spaniard’s goal. Ten minutes before the intermission, he was at it again, this time firing in from inside the box.
Alejandro Grimaldo killed off the game with the third goal just a dozen minutes into the second half, leaving the Spaniards down and out, as they finished at the bottom of the Champions League table, along with Kairat Almaty.
Monaco 0 – 0 Juventus
It was a “Battle of the Yanks” as Weston McKennie and Juventus travelled across the Italian border into the Principality to take on Folarin Balogun and the Red & Whites of Monaco. Both guys put in the full 90 minutes in the stalemate.
Before kick-off, the Italian giants had a slim chance of making it into the round of 16 by avoiding the playoffs, but just a solitary point was not good enough, so both sides will be thrown into the play-off picture and hope to advance.
Although it produced no goals, the game was entertaining, at least in the first half, and in the first minute,e a horrible clearance by Mattia Perin saw the ball land at Maghnes Akliouche’s feet for what should have been a very early lead for the hosts, but even with the keeper out of position, the French midfielder completely missed the target.
In the 15th minute, Balogun had a chance and did not miss, but a foul in the build-up gave Juventus a free kick instead. Vanderson had another good chance at the half-hour mark, but an alert Juve keeper tipped it over the crossbar to keep his clean sheet intact.
The second half started with both sides not really looking interested in putting the ball into the back of their opponents’ net, with just one unconvincing shot on target in the first 25 minutes.
Club Brugge 3 – 0 Marseille
Tim Weah started and went the distance for Marseille, who needed just a point in order to qualify for the next round of the playoffs, but found goals were hard to come by north of the border in Brugge. They probably even felt their chances were very good going up against a team that hasn’t tasted victory in their last five games, but conceding three goals put them just outside the playoff spots on goal difference, finishing behind Benfica and Bodo-Glimt, with all three teams on nine points.
Croatian midfielder Aleksandar Stankovic was the man of the match, setting up the first two Club goals inside the first 11 minutes of play. First was a crisp through ball for Mamadou Diakhon, who easily slotted the ball inside the corner of the net, followed by Romeo Vermant.
Halftime changes by the French coach had little effect on the score line, and to make matters worse, Stankovic got in on the action himself and scored the third goal in the 79th minute.
PSV 1 – 2 Bayern Munich
The Dutch side was in desperate need of three points, or at least a point and some luck, but although they kept things even for most of the game, it was a Harry Kane goal that killed their European dream.
Sergino Dest played the duration for the Farmers at the Phillips Stadium.
PSV’s Ivan Perisic could have gotten the home side off to a great start, but the 36-year-old Croatian’s volley from a corner three minutes in just missed the target. Dest got off a hard, low shot later on and was a bit unlucky to see the keeper make a fine save, followed by another Perisic effort.
After a scoreless half, the goals came after the intermission. First, Jamal Musiala struck in the 58th minute with his shot at the top of the near post. Twenty minutes later, Jamal Musiala tied things up with an assist from Guus Til. It all fell apart for the Dutch boys, however, when, with just a half dozen minutes left on the clock, Harry Kane was set up and side-footed into the back of the net to knock Dest and Co. out of the competition.
Notes
Johnny Cardoso came off the bench to play 26 minutes as Atletico Madrid was beaten in a 2-1 defeat to Bodo-Glimt. The Spanish head to the playoff phase as a seeded team.
Tim Chandler never got off the bench as Frankfurt lost two-nil to Tottenham Hotspur as the German side exited the competition.
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