Champions League: Barcelona, ​​Man City cannot enter Top 8

(NLDO) - Both won the opening matches of the Champions League qualifying round, but Barcelona and Man City could not make it into the top 8 positions.

Man City easily beat Napoli

Napoli lost a man from the 21st minute after captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was sent off, leading to Man City's "old friend" Kevin de Bruyne having to leave the field so that coach Antonio Conte could strengthen the defense.

Former teammates Bernardo Silva and Kevin de Bruyne are now on opposite sides.

Napoli have a very talented goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic but the Serbian star could not stop Man City's strikers from scoring. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 56th minute, setting a record for goals in Champions League history and 9 minutes later, Jeremy Doku doubled the gap for the home team.

Erling Haaland shines with new scoring record

The 2-0 victory was a great start even though Man City could only temporarily stand in 9th place on the rankings after the first round of matches.

Barcelona beat Newcastle

Marcus Rashford scored his first goals for Barcelona, ​​where he is currently on loan from Manchester United. The England international scored twice in just nine minutes to give the Catalans a vital win over Newcastle at St James' Park. Rashford became the first English player to score for Barcelona in the Champions League, 36 years after Gary Lineker.

Marcus Rashford patiently waits for his chance to shine at Barcelona

The 27-year-old English striker scored his seventh goal against Newcastle in 16 games and Rashford now has his 13th and 14th Champions League goals in nearly four years. Barcelona took three points from their opening European campaign and are currently 12th.

Who takes the top spot?

The name that few people thought of was Eintracht Frankfurt won by the biggest margin and the score of 5-1 against Galatasaray brought the Bundesliga representative to the number one position on the rankings after the opening round of the Champions League qualifying round.

Eintracht Frankfurt won 5-1 against Galatasaray

Among the 14 teams that won their first matches, there are quite a few unfamiliar faces to top-level football such as Club Brugge or Union Saint-Gilloise - coincidentally both teams from Belgium - whose names are in the top eight teams of the rankings.

Champions League standings after first round of matches

Of course, this is just the ranking after one round. All 36 teams have a long journey ahead to decide their own fate.

No one has forgotten that most of the teams that went deep into the Champions League last season had to go through two play-off matches because they could not make it into the top 8 positions.

Only the top eight teams after the end of eight matches (4 home, 4 away) of the qualifying round will have direct tickets to the 1/8 stage of the Champions League.

Sixteen teams ranked 9th to 24th are drawn into two-legged play-offs to determine eight more teams for the second stage.

Teams ranked 25th and above will be eliminated immediately and will not be able to participate in the Europa League as before.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/champions-league-barcelona-man-city-khong-vao-noi-top-8-196250919080852646.htm