Champions League

DECLAN RICE received a shower of beer bottles and cups during Arsenal’s 3-0 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.The England international lit the blue touch paper two minutes into the Croatian giants’ visit to the Emirates on Wednesday night.Declan Rice broke the deadlock in Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Dinamo ZagrebCredit: EPAA minority of Zagreb fans targeted the Gunners midfielder with bottles and cupsCredit: REUTERSRice ended up being struck by one of the missilesCredit: GETTYGunner skipper Martin Odegaard was also in the the firing lineCredit: GettyAnd sections of the travelling supporters took their anger out on the midfielder by twice pelting him with missiles.The first incident occurred in the tenth minute when Rice looked to take a corner, with bottles, cups and what appeared to be a lighter being thrown.Yobs in the Zagreb end targeted Rice again in the 27th minute with even more missiles, one of which hit the midfielder.Footie fans watching the match took to social media to blast the louts, with one writing on X: “These Zagreb fans are actually crazy.”READ MORE ON ARSENALAnother sarcastically said: “Classy from Zagreb fans.”And another said: “Absolutely nasty from Zagreb fans throwing stuff at Declan.”One remarked: “What is the point of stewards?JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS”They’re literally just stood watching Rice get peppered by the Zagreb fans when he goes over to take a corner.”Most read in FootballAnother chimed in: “Well I must say, that’s definitely a new and interesting tactic for stopping Arsenal corners.Mikel Arteta admits that he uses music to inspire his Arsenal players “Kudos to the Zagreb fans for their creativity and stupidity.”The actions of a minority of Zagreb’s fans will likely land the Croatian champions in hot water with Uefa.European football’s governing body could now throw the book at Zagreb, who will likely have to pay a penalty fine.The Gunners ran out 3-0 winners and all-but sealed automatic qualification for the last-16 thanks to second half goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard.Arsenal ratings vs Dinamo: Martinelli makes himself undroppable as Sterling blows big chanceBy Katherine WalshDavid Raya – 6A really poor clearance invited pressure from Dinamo’s front three in the first half. A heart in mouth moment for sure.But rarely touched the ball from then on, with the Croatian side not registering a single shot at the Spaniard in 90 minutes.Jurrien Timber – 5Involved in early attacks and got back to block a dangerous Dinamo counter as things settled in the 12th minute.But was caught sleeping after Luca Stojkovic won the ball off him on the edge of his box, before Jakub Kiwior’s handy interception.Gabriel – 6Missed a sitter to make it 2-0 after Odegaard put it on a sixpence from a corner.Held off Stojkovic whenever he was called upon, although Dinamo offered little going forward.Jakub Kiwior – 7For all the scrutiny he’s faced, the Pole saved regular starter Timber from embarrassment and a sure Dinamo chance inside 33 minutes.Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7With teen Myles Lewis Skelly carrying a knock, the Ukrainian was forward thinking and whipped crosses into Havertz all evening.Declan Rice – 8Fired Arsenal ahead with a thunderous volley inside 105 seconds – his first-ever goal in the competition.But his usual corner deliveries were affected by the deafening away end pelting plastic cups and lighters at his back.Ran his heart out but fluffed a poor header, reminiscent of the same chance missed against Man Utd in the FA Cup defeat, to make it 3-0.Jorginho – 6Horror backpass almost cost his side the lead when he put Raya in trouble inside 30 minutes.But worked hard to win the ball back and put Martinelli through for a blistering run.Martin Odegaard – 7Engine of the team. Dropped back into midfield to provide an outlet for Kiwior whenever he could.A tap-in at the death saw him score his first goal since the 5-2 win over West Ham in November to make it 3-0.Raheem Sterling – 4A non-event. The former England winger was weak in front of goal yet again.But some lovely Sterling-esque runs of old were a nice watch at times, if that’s all he had to offer.Lucky to avoid a straight red after a nasty challenge on Maxime Bernauer’s ankle with his studs just seconds into the second half.Gabriel Martinelli – 8A last-ditch tackle denied him what would have been a sensational solo goal from a 60-yard run that woke Arsenal from their slumber.Was the main attacking threat and had a hand in both goals, first crossing into Havertz, who laid it on for Rice, before a glorious curling ball into the German for 2-0.Has the Brazilian made himself undroppable moving forward?Kai Havertz – 7Brushed off recent criticism with a perfect lay-off for Rice to smash home and doubled Arsenal’s lead with a laid-on header in the 66th minute.Was happy to score but was wasteful before finding the back of the net and often absent in box during first-half attacks.SubsEthan Nwaneri (for Sterling, 57 mins) – 6A loud applause welcomed the teen back from injury, but he didn’t have to do much against such weak opposition.Thomas Partey (for Timber, 57 mins) – 6Assured cameo in midfield.Kieran Tierney (for Zinchenko, 73 mins) – 5Calm on the ball after coming on.Leandro Trossard (for Havertz) – 5Made his 100th appearance for the club. 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A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE clash was suspended after just 72 seconds due to fans’ flares.Feyenoord hosted Bayern Munich on matchday seven at De Kuip.Feyenoord fans set off flares in the early stages of their match with Bayern MunichCredit: XThe flares began as the players got ready for kick-offCredit: RexPlay had to be suspended due to the thick smokeCredit: GettyBut with just over a minute on the clock in the 8pm kick-off, the referee had to halt proceedings. That is because the Feyenoord fans set off a ton of flares inside the stadium in scenes more akin to November 5 than a football match.The fireworks and smoke bombs started as the players made their final preparations on the pitch for kick-off.But once the fires of pyrotecnics died down, they were replaced with a huge cloud of smoke.READ MORE ON FOOTBALLAnd it became so bad that visibility was reduced for the players and officials on the pitch that the referee temporarily paused the Champions League match.Play was stopped for more than five minutes as everyone waited for the smoke to dissipate. And once the referee was happy, he allowed the game to continue.But on 21 minutes, the stadium exploded into life once again.Most read in Champions LeagueBest new sign-up offersSunSport exclusivesThat is because Santiago Gimenez gave the Dutch side the lead.Bayern centre-back Kim Min-jae failed to deal with a ball over the top.Man United players don’t trust Amorim’s tactics or each other – the utter humiliation by Brighton proved itThat allowed Gimenez to run in behind.And the Mexican took his strike early, sweeping a fine left-footed finish past Manuel Neuer. Seven minutes of injury time were added on at the end of the first half to make up for the early delay. Right at the end of the seven minutes, Feyenoord launched a blistering counter attack.The danger appeared to be cleared but then Raphael Guerreiro – who had only just come on for Alphonso Davies – stuck his leg into a needless challenge.The ref had no choice but to point to the spot.READ MORE SUN STORIESAnd Gimenez stepped up to blast home the penalty in the ninth added minute.Ayase Ueda then rounded off the 3-0 win in the 89th minute – with Feyenoord’s third shot on target while Bayern had 30 attempts. The fireworks made for an impressive display and a crackling atmosphereCredit: APFeyenoord fans were desperate to give their side any advantage possibleCredit: RexPlay was simply not possible with the reduced visibilityCredit: RexSantiago Gimenez scored twice in the first half once the smoke clearedCredit: Getty More

GOALKEEPERS were the pantomime villains in their nine-goal thriller between Barcelona and Benfica.The European giants went head to head in their penultimate Champions League league phase games of the season when the Catalan club scored THREE goals in the last 20 minutes to win 5-4.Goalkeepers were the headline makers for the wrong reasons as Barcelona pulled off an incredible 5-4 comeback against Benfica last nightCredit: RexWojciech Szczesny came out of retirement in October to seal a deal with Barcelona amid their goalkeeping crisis, but manager Hansi Flick might have felt his side would have been better served without the Polish international bothering.The former Arsenal and Juventus shot-stopper had a calamitous first half between the sticks as he dropped two clangers to concede a first-half hat-trick from Vangelis Pavlidis.There was nothing Szczesny could have done about Pavlidis’ opener, but his second and third were almost entirely down to the Pole.Just nine minutes after Robert Lewandowski had levelled the scores for Barcelona to 1-1, Szczesny inexplicably came charging out of his area to greet a “loose” ball played over the top by Nicolas Otamendi.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLInstead, he clumsily clattered into his own defender Alejandro Balde, completely wiping out the left-back and allowing Pavlidis to score the easiest goal he’ll ever score as he ran through on an open net.The third was just as much Szczesny’s fault too as he came charging off his line once again, this time sliding at the feet of Benfica winger Karem Akturkoglu and bringing him to the ground inside the area for an undeniable penalty.Pavlidis converted the spot-kick and Benfica were 3-1 up inside 30 minutes.But the action didn’t stop there with the second half throwing up even more goals, drama… and goalkeeping howlers.Most read in FootballWojciech Szczesny clattered into his own teammate Alejandro Balde to gift Benfica a golden opportunity to scoreCredit: APThe Barcelona keeper came charging out of his areaCredit: TNT SPORTSHe clattered into BaldeCredit: TNT SPORTSBenfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis picked up the loose ballCredit: TNT SPORTSHe netted one of the easiest goals he will ever scoreCredit: TNT SPORTSSzczesny brought down Kerem Akturkoglu in the box to give away a penalty tooCredit: ReutersCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSIn fact, Benfica keeper Antoliy Trubin made perhaps the worst goalkeeping mistake of the game after the break.Trubin tried to play the ball out of his own box after making a save from a long-distance Gavi effort and got the whole thing horribly wrong.Horror moment Barcelona star finds his tooth on the pitch after losing it in battle with Real Betis defender The Ukrainian goalkeeper hit his clearance straight into the head of Barca’s Raphinha, seeing the ball bounce right off the Brazilian’s head and into the back of the net. Trubin could have tried that 100 more times and wouldn’t have hit him, but the freak moment gave Barcelona a way back into the game and had TNT Sports’ commentator Ian Darke asking: “Have you ever seen a goal like that?”Despite Benfica managing to go up the other end and force a Ronald Araujo own goal just four minutes later to go 4-2 up, Barcelona’s freak goal had given them a spark to fight back in the game.Goals from Lewandowski, Raphinha and Eric Garcia did just that as the Spanish giants turned it around to score their winner in the 96th minute of the clash.All-in, the match had three penalties, nine goals, an own goal, three calamitous goalkeeper errors, six bookings, a hat-trick hero and ended with Barcelona sealing their spot in the next round of the competition.Antoliy Trubin tried to clear his lines in the second halfCredit: TNT SPORTSHe hit the ball directly onto the head of RaphinhaCredit: TNT SPORTSThe ball looped over his head and into the back of the netCredit: TNT SPORTS More