MADRID — It was another great Champions League night for Keylor Navas at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Like many times before, the goalkeeper left the field with the Bernabéu crowd chanting his name.
This time, though, his outstanding performance was key for the visitors, Paris St.-Germain, which salvaged a 2-2 draw against the host Real Madrid to clinch first place in Group A on Tuesday.
“I’m not surprised,” Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane said of Navas. “He had these types of performances when he played for us. He did his job. I think he had four or five very good saves. But it was for them, unfortunately.”
Navas kept P.S.G. in the game after Karim Benzema gave Madrid a 2-0 lead with a goal in each half. Then Kylian Mbappé and Pablo Sarabia scored in the 81st and 83rd minutes to secure the draw.
Mbappé’s goal came after a mistake by the current Madrid goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, who is yet to earn the full support of the Madrid fans.
Navas had his name chanted by the Madrid supporters, and he saluted them as he made his way to the changing room after the game.
“I’m really thankful,” said Navas, who helped Madrid win three Champions League titles before joining P.S.G. this season. “Together we lived some incredible moments here.”
Gareth Bale, a second-half substitute, nearly gave Madrid the win with a free kick that hit the post deep into injury time, this time with Navas already beaten.
P.S.G., which started the match without Neymar and Edinson Cavani, needed only a point to clinch first place.
Madrid had secured its spot in the knockout round in advance, thanks to Club Brugge’s 1-1 draw at Galatasaray earlier Tuesday in the other group game. P.S.G. had already advanced after winning its first four matches, including a 3-0 victory against Madrid at home.
Tottenham 4, Olympiakos 2
Tottenham Manager José Mourinho might have been eager to ingratiate himself with fans who might still be skeptical about his appointment as Mauricio Pochettino’s replacement. But he got off to the worst possible start in his first match, in what he has described as the “best stadium in the world.”
Olympiakos, which arrived in last place in the group, scored through Youssef El-Arabi and Rúben Semedo and overran Spurs, prompting Mourinho to replace defensive midfielder Eric Dier with the more creative Christian Eriksen.
Dele Alli profited from poor defending to pull a goal back just before halftime, and a quick-thinking ball boy rushed forward to help Serge Aurier send a snappy throw-in to Lucas Moura, who crossed for Harry Kane to convert and tie the score.
Aurier and Kane scored goals in the 73rd and 77th minutes to clinch victory for Spurs, with Kane breaking the record of Alessandro Del Piero to become the player to score 20 Champions League goals in the fewest games — 24. Del Piero managed it in 26 games for Juventus.
In Other Games
Manchester City settled for the point it needed to reach the last 16 for a seventh straight season, earning a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk. … Paulo Dybala ensured Juventus would finish at the top of Group D by scoring a free kick from a nearly impossible angle, about two meters in from the byline, in a 1-0 win over Atlético Madrid. … Robert Lewandowski scored four goals in 15 minutes in Bayern Munich’s 6-0 win at Red Star Belgrade.
Source: Soccer - nytimes.com
