PSG Stuns Man City, Feyenoord Beats Bayern; Real Madrid Dominates RB Salzburg in Champions League

Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 to edge closer to knockout spot; Milan secure narrow win against Girona

Paris: Paris St Germain clawed back from two goals down to stun Manchester City 4-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday night and leave the English club outside the playoff places and in danger of elimination.

Goals from PSG's Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Joao Neves and Goncalo Ramos turned the match on its head after City had taken a 2-0 lead early in the six-goal second half.

"The team's faith is unshakeable," PSG manager Luis Enrique told reporters. "My team never gives up until the last second and we've often shown that."

Substitute Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland struck in the 50th and 53rd minutes for City, but home fans braving torrential rain at Parc des Princes were treated to a brilliant comeback.

Dembele latched on to a cross from Barcola to sweep home a goal in the 56th minute. Then Barcola levelled four minutes later when he tucked in the rebound after Desire Doue's blistering shot came back off the crossbar.

PSG parked themselves in City's half and took the lead in the 78th minute when the visitors' back line struggled to clear Vitinha's free kick, leaving Neves to head in at the back post.

Ramos put the icing on the cake with a fine strike from just inside the 18-yard box, given after a lengthy VAR check for offside.

PSG climbed to 22nd in the table, while City, who hoisted the Champions League trophy in 2023 but have won just two of their seven group games, dropped to 25th, one spot below the playoff qualification spots.

City's loss sets up a nerve-jangling finale when they host Belgian side Brugge on Jan. 29. The top eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16, while sides finishing ninth to 24th compete in two-legged knockout playoffs to secure their spot in the last 16.

"It could happen. We will see," Guardiola said on City's chances of going out before the knockouts. "If we don't win (v Brugge) we don't deserve it."

Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez scored twice in the first half to steer the hosts to a stunning 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich and boost their chances of a top-eight finish.

The Mexico international fired them into the lead in the 21st minute with a deft shot before adding a second goal with a penalty in the ninth minute of first-half stoppage time.

Substitute Ayase Ueda killed off the game in the 89th after Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow had denied the Bavarians with a string of strong saves.

With one matchday remaining, Feyenoord climbed above Bayern, who had 32 efforts towards goal and also hit the woodwork, into 11th place on 13 points. The Bavarians dropped to 15th on 12 points with their third defeat in seven matches.

Holders Real Madrid hammered RB Salzburg 5-1 in the Spanish capital thanks to doubles from Brazilian forwards Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr either side of a goal by Kylian Mbappe.

Despite the Austrian side dominating early proceedings and creating real trouble with their high press, Real slowly took control of the action with inspiring performances from their Brazilian duo plus England midfielder Jude Bellingham.

The Spaniards opened the scoring with a quick counter attack by Vinicius who delivered a long pass through the box destined for Bellingham. But after he failed to control the ball in his stride, Rodrygo reacted quickly to slot a first-touch effort just inside the right post in the 23rd minute.

Rodrygo extended the home side's lead in the 34th minute, curling home a shot from inside the box after a brilliant back heel flick from Bellingham in a fine one-two combination between them.

Mbappe took advantage of a massive blunder by Salzburg goalkeeper and captain Janis Blaswich, who failed to dribble the ball past the French striker and instead gifted him the third goal in the 48th minute.

With an easy win well underway, Vinicius started putting on a show up and down the left channel and made two magnificent runs in the 55th and 77th minutes to extend Real's lead.

First he took a great long pass by Luka Modric in his stride to beat one defender in speed and another with a cut inside before firing an unstoppable strike into the top corner.

Vinicius stroked in the fifth in another quick counter, receiving a Federico Valverde pass in space and dribbling past two defenders before wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

Mads Bidstrup scored the visitors' consolation goal in the 85th minute.

After a slow start to their title defence, losing three of their first five matches, Real Madrid are 16th in the standings on 12 points.

Arsenal outclassed Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 to all but secure a spot in the Champions League knockout phase with Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard all on target.

Rice struck inside the opening two minutes after a clever lay-off by Havertz and the German put Arsenal in full control with a 66th-minute header.

Captain Odegaard put the icing on the cake of a clinical Arsenal display with a third in stoppage time -- his first goal in 14 games in all competitions.

Victory lifted Arsenal to third in the standings on 16 points and with the top eight qualifying automatically for the last 16 only an extraordinary sequence of results in next week’s final round of group matches could deny Mikel Arteta’s side.

A first-half goal by winger Rafael Leao helped AC Milan to a 1-0 home win against Girona, leaving the Italians well-placed to book a spot in the last 16.

Leao broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a stunning shot into the roof of the net from a low cross by Ismael Bennacer, who won the ball around the halfway line and dribbled past Girona’s midfield to set up the Portugal winger.

Girona’s Spain forward Bryan Gil thought he had scored an equaliser before the hour mark with a lovely curled shot inside the far post, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

Milan is sixth in the standings with 15 points with the top eight earning automatic qualification for the last-16 stage. Debutant Girona, which has a single league phase win, is 31st with three points and has no chance of securing a spot in the playoffs. Agencies

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