Soccer
Champions League Wednesday wrap-up: English sides perfect and Barcelona earn gritty win in Prague
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Matchday 7 of the Champions League wrapped up on Wednesday, with another nine thrilling matches across Europe.
The day's action was dominated by the Premier League, although some traditional powers from elsewhere also recorded big victories.
Here are some of the bigger talking points from Wednesday's Champions League action.
Liverpool ride brilliant second half to victory
The Stade Velodrome is a daunting place for visiting sides to play, but Liverpool were welcomed by a bit of home when they took on Olympique Marseille on Wednesday.
The Marseille faithful, known for their colourful displays, put together a Beatles-inspired tifo for the Reds' visit. What seemed a strange choice when it was unveiled ahead of kickoff became even more puzzling at full-time, as Liverpool left with three points after a 3-0 victory.
Perhaps inspired by the homage to the most famous exports in Liverpool history, Arne Slot's men played inspired football — especially in the second half — to claim a comfortable win and move up to fourth in the league phase with just one match remaining.
Seeding is very important in this competition, as the Reds found out last year, so getting themselves into the top four is a good piece of business.
Barcelona survive Slavia scare
The Blaugrana left Prague with a 4-2 victory, but they were made to work for it as the Czech side scored first and remained on level terms until after the hour mark.
It was then that Barcelona pulled away, with Dani Olmo putting the La Liga giants ahead in the 63rd minute before Robert Lewandowski rounded out the scoring in the 70th.
Lewandowski was actually responsible for two goals in Wednesday's affair, as he scored an own-goal for Slavia Praha just before the stroke of halftime.
The hosts' pluckiness aside, the gulf in class between the sides was evident throughout the contest and it felt like a matter of time that Barcelona would pull ahead for good.
Premier League clubs perfect on Wednesday
The three English sides involved in Tuesday's games went 2W-1L, with Manchester City's shocking loss to Bodo/Glimt the biggest story of the three, but Wednesday's slate of matches involving Premier League sides had no such drama.
In fact, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea were all perfect in their respective matches, with all three keeping clean sheets en route to victory.
Like Liverpool, Newcastle also ran out 3-0 winners, as the Magpies steamrolled past visiting PSV at St. James' Park. Things weren't so easy at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea only defeating Cyprus' Pafos FC 1-0 despite an overwhelming advantage in the key attacking statistics.
Regardless, a win's a win, and the Premier League can brag about three of them on Wednesday.
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