Barcelona, Inter and upstart Brest win again in Champions League. Bizarre penalty dooms Aston Villa

Barcelona and Inter Milan won again successful nan Champions League connected Wednesday though some erstwhile title holders are looking up successful nan standings toward upstart newcomer Brest

Barcelona and Inter Milan won again successful nan Champions League connected Wednesday though some erstwhile title holders are looking up successful nan standings toward upstart newcomer Brest.

Aston Villa started nan week atop nan 36-team array but its winning tally ended aft a bizarre punishment was awarded erstwhile defender Tyrone Mings picked up nan shot successful nan area astatine Club Brugge, resulting successful a 1-0 nonaccomplishment that sent nan English nine plummeting to eighth place.

Paris Saint-Germain, successful its first play without Kylian Mbappe, trails acold down successful 25th aft Atletico Madrid scored successful stoppage clip to seal a 2-1 triumph for nan Spanish squad astatine Parc des Princes.

Barcelona’s blistering scoring shape continued successful a 5-2 triumph astatine Red Star Belgrade — a seventh consecutive triumph since nan commencement of October astatine a complaint of 4 goals per game. Robert Lewandowski scored doubly and has 21 this season.

Inter Milan stifled Arsenal successful a 1-0 triumph astatine San Siro sealed by Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s punishment successful first-half stoppage time.

Inter is unbeaten connected 10 points and successful 5th place, 1 beneath Brest which won 2-1 astatine Sparta Prague. The French debutant looks judge to beforehand to nan knockout shape starting successful February.

Atalanta won 2-0 astatine Stuttgart to enactment unbeaten connected 8 points and Salzburg sewage its first goals and points successful a 3-1 triumph astatine Feyenoord.

Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov had a good assistance and an moreover amended extremity successful a 2-1 triumph for nan Ukrainian champion against Young Boys. Shakhtar’s No. 10 showed why he is expected to beryllium nan club’s adjacent big-money sale.

A kickoff delayed by 15 minutes astatine Bayern Munich because of crowd congestion meant a precocious decorativeness successful its crippled against Benfica.

Liverpool, which connected Tuesday routed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0, leads nan caller single-standings format astatine nan midway constituent of nan eight-round program.

Liverpool is nan only squad pinch 4 consecutive wins, while 5 teams person 4 losses. They are Leipzig, Sturm Graz, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade and Slovan Bratislava.

Two Italian teams – Inter Milan and Atalanta – person yet to concede a extremity successful 4 games. Another Italian side, Bologna, is nan only squad pinch nary goals scored.

Villa had led the 36-team Champions League standings aft 3 consecutive wins without conceding a extremity — and it took a bizarre incident earlier goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was yet beaten.

Mings was punished for picking up nan shot erstwhile Martínez seemed to restart play pinch a extremity footwear passed guardant to his teammate. Mings walked a mates steps to stitchery nan shot pinch his near manus and returned to spot it successful nan six-yard box.

Brugge skipper Hans Vanaken placed nan 52nd-minute spot-kick to Martínez's near arsenic nan World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper dived to his right.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer