Paris Saint-Germain's disappointing Champions League campaign stumbled to a new low on Wednesday as a last-gasp 2-1 home loss to Atletico Madrid left them in the elimination zone.
After defeat to Arsenal and a draw with PSV, PSG were hoping to get back on track in Europe and scored first through Warren Zaire Emery on 14 minutes.
But Nahuel Molina had Atleti level just four minutes later, and a largely disappointing encounter looked set for a draw until Angel Correa's dramatic winner three minutes into second-half stoppage time.
On as a substitute, Correa stabbed past Gianluigi Donnarumma following a rapid counter-attack, prompting an angry reaction from the home crowd.
PSG are left on just four points from four matches, down in 25th and facing an early exit from the competition.
Diego Simeone's Atleti themselves badly needed this victory but are now two points and two places above their opponents at the halfway stage of the league phase.
Data Debrief: Classic Atleti punish profligate PSG
This was Simeone's Atletico in a nutshell. They had just 29% of the ball and attempted only four shots, yet two of those found the back of the net to stun PSG.
The Ligue 1 giants entered this matchweek as the Champions League's biggest under-performers in terms of expected goals since the start of last season, and again they were too wasteful in the final third after creating 1.9 xG.
Atleti, who have consistently proven far more clinical, had chances worth just 0.7 xG but ruthlessly stole victory.
Van Nistelrooy hints at January arrivals ahead of Brighton test
Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy said he will have money available to spend in January as his side welcome Brighton to the King Power Stadium this Sunday.
The Foxes posted an impressive 3-1 win against West Ham in Van Nistelrooy's first Premier League game in charge on Tuesday, with captain Jamie Vardy, Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka finding the target.
However, with Leicester still only four points clear of safety with 13 points from 14 matches, the former Netherlands striker hinted at incomings during the winter transfer window.
"There were conversations about it before I signed. We said that there is no rush to do things and I agree with that," Van Nistelrooy said ahead of the Brighton game.
"The squad we have is getting all of the chances to prove themselves over this month. There is time after that to make a good assessment and we make a decision in January."
Meanwhile, Brighton are gunning for the Champions League places, sitting fifth with 23 points.
Despite a 3-1 defeat to Fulham in their last game, Fabian Hurzeler's side are only five points behind second-placed Chelsea.
Hurzeler, who will return to the Brighton dugout after serving a touchline suspension, acknowledged that Leicester will be a tough challenge for his side.
"They have quality, they play good football. They were very effective against West Ham. It will be interesting to see where they are," the 31-year-old German said.
"They have had a good start [under Van Nistelrooy] so it is up to us to break that up and get back the points we lost against Fulham."
Danny Welbeck, who has scored four league goals against Leicester, is an injury doubt for Brighton, while the Foxes will be without Facundo Buonanotte, with the loanee not eligible to face his parent club.
"Facundo is doing a great job with Leicester, he is developing well. He works hard, and he has big potential," Hurzeler said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester - Jamie Vardy
Vardy remains Leicester's biggest goal threat at the age of 37, with the captain also their top Premier League scorer this season with five goals.
He has also scored 11 goals in his last 14 league appearances against teams with Albion in their name, most recently netting against West Brom in April this year in the Championship.
Brighton - Danny Welbeck
After starting the season with six goals in nine games, Welbeck has failed to find the target in his last three outings, but he will be confident of finding the back of the net against one of his favoured opponents, should he be fit to feature.
He has scored four goals in 11 Premier League appearances against Leicester, with these strikes being worth seven points to his respective sides.
MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN
While Brighton are favoured by Opta's data-led simulations to win on Sunday, they have won none of their six Premier League away games against Leicester (D3 L3), with their last league victory at the King Power Stadium coming in the Championship in April 2014 (4-1).
The Seagulls have also lost five of their last six top-flight away games played on a Sunday, as many as in their previous 16 such games (W7 D4). The only exception in this current run was a 5-0 win at Sheffield United in February.
Five of Brighton’s last seven Premier League games against promoted sides have been drawn (W1 L1), including each of the last three in a row. The last team to draw four consecutive such games were Newcastle in the 2021-22 campaign.
But having won six of their first eight Premier League meetings with Brighton (D2), Leicester are now winless in their last four against the Seagulls (D2 L2).
However, the Foxes will be looking to build on their win over West Ham. They had seven big chances in their win on Tuesday in Van Nistelrooy's first game in charge, the joint-most big chances on record (since 2010-11) a team has had in their first Premier League match under a new manager, level with Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City against Newcastle (August 2013).
Van Nistelrooy will also be hoping to join Claudio Ranieri (first two) and Craig Shakespeare (first five) in winning their first two games in charge of the Foxes in the Premier League.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brighton – 52.6%
Leicester – 24.2%
Draw – 23.2%
Van Nistelrooy hints at January arrivals at Leicester ahead of Brighton test
Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy said he will have money available to spend in January as his side welcome Brighton to the King Power Stadium this Sunday.
The Foxes posted an impressive 3-1 win against West Ham in Van Nistelrooy's first Premier League game in charge on Tuesday, with captain Jamie Vardy, Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka finding the target.
However, with Leicester still only four points clear of safety with 13 points from 14 matches, the former Netherlands striker hinted at incomings during the winter transfer window.
"There were conversations about it before I signed. We said that there is no rush to do things and I agree with that," Van Nistelrooy said ahead of the Brighton game.
"The squad we have is getting all of the chances to prove themselves over this month. There is time after that to make a good assessment and we make a decision in January."
Meanwhile, Brighton are gunning for Champions League places, sitting fifth with 23 points. Despite a 3-1 defeat to Fulham in their last game, Fabian Hurzeler's side are only five points behind second-placed Chelsea.
Hurzeler, who will return to the Brighton dugout after serving a touchline suspension, acknowledged that Leicester will be a tough challenge for his side.
"They have quality, they play good football. They were very effective against West Ham. It will be interesting to see where they are," the 31-year-old German said.
"They have had a good start [under Van Nistelrooy] so it is up to us to break that up and get back the points we lost against Fulham."
Danny Welbeck, who has scored four league goals against Leicester, is an injury doubt for Brighton, while the Foxes will be without Facundo Buonanotte, with the loanee not eligible to face his parent club.
"Facundo is doing a great job with Leicester, he is developing well. He works hard, and he has big potential," Hurzeler said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester - Jamie Vardy
Vardy remains Leicester's biggest goal threat at the age of 37, with the captain also their top Premier League scorer this season with five goals.
He has also scored 11 goals in his last 14 league appearances against teams with Albion in their name, most recently netting against West Brom in April this year in the Championship.
Brighton - Danny Welbeck
After starting the season with six goals in nine games, Welbeck has failed to find the target in his last three outings, but he will be confident of finding the back of the net against one of his favoured opponents, should he be fit to feature.
He has scored four goals in 11 Premier League appearances against Leicester, with these strikes being worth seven points to his respective sides.
MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN
While Brighton are favoured by Opta's data-led simulations to win on Sunday, they have won none of their six Premier League away games against Leicester (D3 L3), with their last league victory at the King Power Stadium coming in the Championship in April 2014 (4-1).
The Seagulls have also lost five of their last six top-flight away games played on a Sunday, as many as in their previous 16 such games (W7 D4). The only exception in this current run was a 5-0 win at Sheffield United in February.
Five of Brighton’s last seven Premier League games against promoted sides have been drawn (W1 L1), including each of the last three in a row. The last team to draw four consecutive such games were Newcastle in the 2021-22 campaign.
But having won six of their first eight Premier League meetings with Brighton (D2), Leicester are now winless in their last four against the Seagulls (D2 L2).
However, the Foxes will be looking to build on their win over West Ham. They had seven big chances in their win on Tuesday in Van Nistelrooy's first game in charge, the joint-most big chances on record (since 2010-11) a team has had in their first Premier League match under a new manager, level with Manuel Pellegrini’s Man City against Newcastle (August 2013).
Van Nistelrooy will also be hoping to join Claudio Ranieri (first two) and Craig Shakespeare (first five) to have won their first two in charge of the Foxes in the Premier League.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brighton – 52.6%
Leicester – 24.2%
Draw – 23.2%
Leverkusen's Schick to miss St. Pauli clash, confirms Alonso
Patrik Schick will miss Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga encounter with St. Pauli due to injury, Xabi Alonso confirmed on Friday.
Schick was forced off during Leverkusen's 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal in midweek, despite only being introduced at half-time for Robert Andrich.
The Czech has been in impressive form in the absence of Victor Boniface, netting five goals in his last three league appearances, including a hat-trick against Heidenheim.
His goal against Union Berlin last time out saw him net his 48th Bundesliga goal on his 100th appearance in the competition, equalling Ulf Kirsten's club record.
"Patrik won't be there tomorrow, everyone else is fit," Alonso said.
Alonso will also be without Amine Adli, Jonas Hofmann and Boniface, who are all long-term absentees, for Saturday's encounter at the BayArena.
Leverkusen enter the weekend in third, seven points behind leaders Bayern, but will be confident of closing the gap to Vincent Kompany's side against St. Pauli.
They are unbeaten in their last 10 competitive home games against Saturday's opponents (W6 D4), only losing at home to them in professional football in their very first clash (3-2 defeat in March 1976).
Leverkusen have also lost only one of their last 20 Bundesliga fixtures against promoted sides (W15 D4), last losing to Arminia Bielefeld in March 2021.
Since then, the Werkself are on a 13-game unbeaten run in such fixtures (W10, D3 – only RB Leipzig’s 33-game streak is longer), an ongoing club record in the top flight.
Despite recent results being in Leverkusen's favour, Alonso was expecting a tough test for his side on home soil.
"After the DFB-Pokal, we're back in Bundesliga mode," Alonso said. "After the win in Berlin, we want to take the next step. We're expecting a strong opponent.
"We still have four games until the end of the year. The two wins against Heidenheim and Union have done us good.
"We have a good feeling and are more efficient than before. We want to build on that and keep going."
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