Paris Saint-Germain’s quest for a first European title got potentially tougher because they are now unseeded in the round-of-16 draw on Monday despite winning 2-1 at Juventus.
A stoppage-time goal for Benfica in a 6-1 win at Maccabi Haifa knocked the French champions off the top spot in Group H on an obscure seventh-tier tiebreaker rule — overall goals scored away from home.
PSG and their superstar strike force of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar can now land in a blockbuster pairing with group winners like defending champions Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester City.“It’s a problem for them, too. We’re not worried,” said PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who acknowledged being unaware of the situation until after the game.
Mbappe, who turned down a move to Real Madrid last summer, could face the Spanish champions if Monday’s draw at Nyon picks them so.
PSG looked all but certain to finish top of the group after their 2-1 win over Juventus. The only way for them to be runners-up with that scoreline and less than 10 minutes to go was if Benfica somehow managed to beat Maccabi Haifa 6-1 away from home.
And Benfica did exactly that. As late as in the 87th minute of that match, the Portuguese side were ahead 4-1, but then in the 88th and 92nd minutes, Henrique Araujo and Joao Mario scored, leaving PSG stunned and in second place.
What unfolded in Group H has seldom happened. After six matches, each club won four and drew two, with 16 goals for, seven against and a goal difference of +9.
They both finished with 14 points, and in the games between the two clubs, they drew 1-1 in both France and Portugal, meaning the group was decided by the seventh tie-breaking criteria.
Thus, thanks to the nine away goals scored by Benfica in the group stage, to PSG’s six, it is the Portuguese team that finishes top of Group H.
Milan through
It took nine years for seven-time champions AC Milan to finally win their way back into the knockout rounds with a 4-0 victory over Salzburg.
Milan will likely care less about being unseeded as a group runners-up. A smooth win over Salzburg ensured finishing above the Austrians and advancing from Group E.
Mbappe’s record
When Mbappe opened the scoring for PSG it was his 40th career goal in record speed in the Champions League — six for Monaco as an 18-year-old in 2017, and 34 for PSG. At 23 years, 317 days Mbappe is the youngest player to reach the 40-goal mark, almost six months younger than Messi was and nearly four years ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s pace. Still, Ronaldo’s sustained brilliance in his 30s has taken him to a Champions League record 140 career goals.
