European heavyweights Real Madrid and Manchester City suffered major defeats in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Reigning champion Madrid lost 3-1 at home to AC Milan. Erling Haaland missed the penalty City missed the lead in the fourth minute, losing 4-1 to Sporting Lisbon. will soon take charge of his cross-town rival.

It was a much better evening for Liverpool; Luis Diaz scored a hat trick and Cody Gakpo also grabbed another goal. Defeated German champion Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Xabi Alonso’s return to his former home was overshadowed at Anfield.

The Leverkusen coach received a warm welcome upon his return to the club where he became a fans’ favorite for five seasons between 2004-09. Alonso won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005.

Liverpool topped the league table with four wins in four matches, followed by Sporting and Monaco with 10 points after three wins and a draw. Under The new 36-team format introduced by UEFA This season, the top eight teams advance directly to the next round, with the ninth through 24th teams entering the play-offs, while the bottom 12 teams are eliminated.

Amorim’s audition

Before the match, Sporting fans showed a huge tifo thanking Rúben Amorim in his last home game. took over Manchester United.

Phil Foden got City off to a flying start in the fourth minute, scoring the second goal Sporting had conceded in four matches of the tournament.

But Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres scored a hat-trick as Sporting stormed back. Gyökeres equalized for the first time in the 38th minute with Geovany Quenda’s excellent cross and Maximiliano Araújo made it 2-1 just after the break. Gyökeres made it 3-1 from the penalty spot as Joško Gvardiol struck Francisco Trincão in the penalty area.

Haaland’s penalty hit the crossbar, while Gyökeres showed the Norwegian how to complete the scoring with another spot-kick at the other end.

City have lost three matches in a row for the first time since 2018; They were defeated by Tottenham in the English League Cup and by Bournemouth in the Premier League.

“I don’t remember losing three games in a row in my seven and a half years at the club,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva said.

Madrid is floundering

In Spain, Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead in the 12th minute by giving Malick Thiaw a corner and ensured that Madrid fell behind for the third consecutive game in the Champions League this season. The 15-time champion lost to the surprising Lille team in his second match.

Vinícius Júnior equalized from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute after being tripped, but Álvaro Morata struck on the rebound after Andriy Lunin saved Rafael Leão’s shot to give the visitors the lead against his former club.

Morata had received a hostile reception from the home fans, who clearly remembered the goal he scored to take Juventus to the 2015 final at their own expense.

As Tijjani Reijnders scored Milan’s third goal, home fans also expressed their disappointment at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

“The last two defeats are inexplicable. “We need to analyze and react quickly,” Lunin said, referring to Madrid’s 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the previous Spanish league match.

According to Opta, Madrid have lost two consecutive matches after scoring at least three goals at home for the first time since 2009.

“We have to get back on track,” Lunin said.

Other results

German striker Nicolas Kühn scored two goals in Celtic’s 3-1 home win over Leipzig, and Juventus drew 1-1 with Lille.

Lille midfielder Edon Zhegrova dodged two defenders before playing a perfect pass to Jonathan David, who fired in at the far post, but Dušan Vlahović equalized for the Italian club with a penalty.

Donyell Malen scored the late goal for Borussia Dortmund to beat Sturm Graz 1-0 at home, while Thilo Kehrer helped Monaco beat Bologna 1-0.

US midfielder Malik Tillman scored one goal and scored another as PSV Eindhoven defeated Spanish team Girona 4-0.

With the guest team defeating Bratislava 4-1, Dinamo Zagreb inflicted its fourth consecutive defeat on Slovan Bratislava.

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