UEFA Champions League

PARIS (AFP)

The fifth phase of the group stage of the Champions League starts today, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich seem "upset by the results of the two teams recently in the local leagues.

Argentine coach Santiago Solari and Croatian Niko Kovac will be under the microscope when Real Madrid, world champion of the last three seasons, and Bayern Munich will be in contention.

In Group G, Real Madrid are the visitors to Rome, with a broken wing after the 1-0 defeat on Sunday at Ibar.

Solari's first match as a permanent coach contrasted with what Real had done in the four games he had won when he took the post temporarily after Lopezte's dismissal.

The Ibar victory comes after dominating the match by Solari's defensive fight despite the return of French defensive midfielder Rafael Farran and his participation alongside Sergio Ramos, accused Friday of the Football Lix flight at the weekend. a doping test on the sidelines of the final of the Champions League 2017. Which is refused by his team and by the player himself.

For Solari, "it is not a question of who should be blamed, everything is reformable." We won four consecutive games. We played really well and we have to go back to that, "he said after the match, leaving him six points behind Sevilla.

Real was confident in a better result before facing Rome, who will ensure his qualification to the final by a draw or even a defeat if CSKA Moscow does not win at home against the Czech Viktoria Plzen.

The match in the Olympic stadium is not a threat to the club's position in the group with nine points and a direct confrontation with Roma (3-0), as they will qualify for the final prize as leaders of the group in the eventuality of another victory over the team of coach Francesco Eusebio. His card even in case of loss conditions do not win the CSKA who has 4 points.

But the defeat against Rome after a run of four straight victories over the Italian capital will increase pressure on Solari and his players, led by Ramos, who seemed very upset by the level of the team at Ibar. "When you can not follow your opponents, you become a vulgar team," he said.

"We feel bad because, after having obtained a series of positive results that have given us confidence before the international break, we are now returning to a bad result outside the home, which takes us away from the top" said Ramos. .

"We have to practice self-criticism, we were not at the required level, we lacked momentum, and this is reflected in the dashboard … When you get bad results, this has an impact on the morale of the team and when you are not at the level of the opposing team, the situation gets worse, we have to keep working and improve our performance to get positive results and forget what happened. "

The future of Kovac in the wind

The situation is not so different for coach Kovacs, who seems to be in a more difficult position than Solari on the eve of the match against Benfica in Group E, signs of dismissal have begun to appear, according to the club's president, Uli Hoeness, Sunday. With a 3-3 win at home against Fortuna Dusseldorf and a 3-1 lead.

Bayern are threatened with losing their title in the last six seasons, with a fifth-place finish at 9 points from Borussia Dortmund.

"We will put everything on the table in the coming days," said his boss, Uli Hoeness, following the match.

Hoeness said Kovac would be his coach when he faces Benfica on Sunday in a match that needs a point to ensure his qualification for the final prize of the eleventh season. AEK Athena, who will have two points ahead of Ajax and six for Benfica, has never beaten Bayern in nine continental matches.

"I can not say that now," said Hoeness to the question of whether the Croatian had failed. At Bayern, we have to put everything on the table to ask why we play as we play. We must take advantage of the next few days, perhaps the next few weeks, to find a good solution. We must come to a conclusion. We have to work on it. "

City and Juventus are looking for the goal!

In group F, Manchester City looks like a candidate for a card when he goes to Lyon in a match that seems quite within the reach of Spanish coach Josep Guardiola at the formidable level of his players, whether they local or continental.

With nine points in advance, three more than Lyon, second, and six more than Hoffenheim, who meets Shakhtar Donetsk (2 points), he needs a point to make sure of his victory.

Despite the sudden defeat of their first home game against the Lyonnais (1-2), it is unlikely that Guardiola stumbles again before the French, especially since they presented the same levels they did more later, if they are in the group (three wins with 11 goals Or two points ahead of Liverpool II (seven games and one draw since losing to Lyon, scoring 25 goals against only 3 goals).

In the eighth group, Juventus meet Cristiano Ronaldo with his Spanish counterpart Valencia, who needs a draw to secure his qualification, postponed to the previous round, after a fall at home to 1-2 ahead of Manchester United, whose Destiny is linked to the "old lady" team, as Will also qualify for a win over the Swiss Young Boys team provided that the champions of Italy do not fall to his home.