Thursday 19 August 2021
Defeat at Benfica Lisbon
Gotze must shiver for the Champions League
Mario Gotze has settled in since moving to Eindhoven last summer. He is on the verge of returning to the Champions League with the runners-up of Dutch football. But in the first playoff in Lisbon, there was a defeat.
Former world champion Mario Gotze should worry about entering the Champions League with PSV Eindhoven. The Dutch soccer runners-up lost the first leg in Benfica Lisbon 1:2 (0:2) on Wednesday night. Rafa Silva gave the hosts the lead in front of about 21,000 spectators (min. 11), Götze’s former team-mate at Dortmund Julian Weigl scored 2-0 (40) before the break. Cody Jackbo’s goal (51.) gave PSV Eindhoven coached Roger Schmidt new hope to move to the first-class group stage. Gotze & Co. gave the best chances for a tie after the first half.
Former Schalke coach David Wagner created a favorable starting position for Young Boys Bern with a 3-2 (2-1) win over Ferencvaros Budapest. Michak Elia (16th), Vincent Ciero (40th) and Ulysses Garcia (65th) scored goals for the Swiss Series champions. After the red card of Sylvain Hefty (25), the hosts had to be content with nine field players for about 70 minutes. Frank Polly scored both goals at the Vankdorf Stadium (14/82) for the Hungarian champions, who were coached by former Bundesliga coach Peter Stoger.
Malmo FF beat Bulgarian champion Ludogoriz Rasgrad 2-0 (1-0). The return match will be played on August 24. The winners of the play-offs advance to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League; The losers compete in the European League.