Real and City lose, Liverpool too strong for Leverkusen

Spanish defending champions Real lost 3-1 at home to AC Milan in the fourth round of the league phase, while English champions City were beaten 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon and Liverpool won the reunion with their former midfielder and current Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso 4-0 at home.

Colombian treble scorer Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo scored four times in the final half-hour for Liverpool. In Madrid, Malick Thiaw and former Real striker Alvaro Morata scored in the first half and Tijani Reijnders in the second for the Italian visitors. Vinicus Junior, who was not named Footballer of the Year last week much to the displeasure of the Whites, equalized from the penalty spot to make it 1-1. After four games, Real are now outside the top eight who will go straight through to the round of 16.

Gyökeres 3, Haaland 0

Manchester City have just one point more. The 2023 Champions League winners, who fielded Manuel Akanji but were not at their best, lost in Lisbon for the third time in a row. Sporting's irresistible goalscorer Viktor Gyökeres outshone City's star striker Erling Haaland with his goals 21, 22 and 23 in the 15th competitive game of the season with the Portuguese side.

The 26-year-old Swede equalized at 1-1 in the first half after poor defensive work by City's Champions League debutant Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and added to his tally in the second half with two converted penalties. Haaland, for his part, scored a penalty against the crossbar with the score at 1-3 after just over an hour.

BVB thanks to Malen, Monaco also thanks to Embolo

While RB Leipzig suffered their fourth defeat at Celtic Glasgow (1:3), wild card Donyell Malen helped Borussia Dortmund to a late 1:0 win at home against Rapid Vienna, who are still without points. Gregor Kobel was missing for BVB due to injury, as was Grégory Wüthrich for the Austrian champions.

A late goal also decided the duel between Bologna and Monaco. In the 87th minute, Breel Embolo crossed a corner to Monaco's scorer Thilo Kehrer. Dan Ndoye and Remo Freuler played through for the hosts, while Embolo was the only one of the three Swiss players to play for the visitors, who won for the third time and are still unbeaten.

Brief telegrams and rankings:

Liverpool - Bayer Leverkusen 4:0 (0:0). - SR Makkelie. - Goals: 61st Diaz 1:0. 63rd Gakpo 2:0. 83rd Diaz 3:0. 92nd Diaz 4:0: Bayer Leverkusen with Xhaka.

Sporting Lisbon - Manchester City 4-1 (1-1). - SR Siebert. - Goals: 4. Foden 0:1. 38. Gyökeres 1:1. 46. Araujo 2:1. 49. Gyökeres (penalty) 3:1. 80. Gyökeres (penalty) 4:1. - Comments: Manchester City with Akanji. 69. Haaland misses penalty.

Real Madrid - AC Milan 1:3 (1:2). - Referee Vincic. - Goals: 12. Thiaw 0:1. 23. Vinicius Junior (penalty) 1:1. 39. Morata 1:2. 73. Reijnders 1:3. - Comments: AC Milan with Okafor (from 78).

Bologna - Monaco 0:1 (0:0). - SR Aghajew. - Goal: 86. Kehrer 0:1. - Remarks: Bologna with Freuler and Ndoye, without Aebischer (injured). Monaco with Embolo, without Köhn (substitute) and Zakaria (injured).

Borussia Dortmund - Sturm Graz 1:0 (0:0). - SR Lambrechts. - Goal: 85. Malen 1:0 - Remarks: Borussia Dortmund without Kobel, Sturm Graz without Wüthrich (both injured).

Celtic Glasgow - Leipzig 3:1 (2:1). - SR Bastien. - Goals: 23 Baumgartner 0:1. 35 Kühn 1:1. 45 Kühn 2:1. 72 Hatate 3:1.

Lille - Juventus Turin 1:1 (1:0). - SR Peljto. - Goals: 27. David 1:0. 60. Vlahovic (penalty) 1:1.

PSV Eindhoven - Girona 4:0 (2:0). - SR Oliver. - Goals: 16. Flamingo 1:0. 33. Tillman 2:0. 83. Bakayoko 3:0. 88. Krejci (own goal) 4:0. - Remarks: 55th yellow card against Martínez (Girona).

Slovan Bratislava - Dinamo Zagreb 1:4 (1:2). - SR Taylor. - Goals: 5 Strelec 1:0. 10 Spikic 1:1. 30 Sucic 1:2. 54 Kulenovic 1:3. 72 Kulenovic 1:4.

Ranking: 1. Liverpool 4/12 (10:1). 2. Sporting Lisbon 4/10 (9-2). 3. Monaco 4/10 (10/4). 4. Aston Villa 3/9 (6-0). 5. Borussia Dortmund 4/9 (13:6). 6. Brest 3/7 (7-2). 7. Inter Milan 3/7 (5-0). 8. Arsenal 3/7 (3-0). 9. Juventus Turin 4/7 (7-5). 10. Lille 4/7 (5-4). 11. Manchester City 4/7 (10-4). 12. Bayer Leverkusen 4/7 (6-5). 13. Celtic Glasgow 4/7 (9:9). 14. Dinamo Zagreb 4/7 (10:12). 15. Feyenoord Rotterdam 3/6 (6/7). 16. FC Barcelona 3/6 (10:3). 17. Benfica Lisbon 3/6 (7/4). 18. AC Milan 4/6 (7/6). 19. Real Madrid 4/6 (9-7). 20. Atalanta Bergamo 3/5 (3-0). 21. PSV Eindhoven 4/5 (7-5). 22nd VfB Stuttgart 3/4 (3-4). 23 Sparta Prague 3/4 (4:6). 24. Paris Saint-Germain 3/4 (2:3). 25. Bayern Munich 3/3 (10:7). 26 FC Brugge 3/3 (2:6). 27 Atlético Madrid 3/3 (3:8). 28 Girona 4/3 (4:8). 29. Shakhtar Donetsk 3/1 (0/4). 30. Bologna 4/1 (0-5). 31. Red Star Belgrade 3/0 (2:11). 32nd Salzburg 3/0 (0:9). 32nd Young Boys 3/0 (0:9). 34. RB Leipzig 4/0 (4:9). 35 Sturm Graz 4/0 (1:6). 36. Slovan Bratislava 4/0 (2:15).