Drought in Champions League
point of the group against Europa League champions Seville.
He said he was ‘‘very ambitious for my performance’’ and ‘‘always look at the things I could do better’’, but felt he showed ‘‘that I am ready and I want to play’’.
Stamenic got a passmark too from one of Denmark’s biggest national newspapers, Jyllands-Posten, which said ‘‘the New Zealander was given the chance in midfield, where he delivered a fine effort despite a few mispasses at times’’.
The Ekstra Bladet tabloid newspaper gave Stamenic a 3 out of 5 ‘worth the money’ rating.
Stamenic became the first New Zealander to appear in the Champions League group stages since former All Whites striker Chris Killen made one start and four substitute appearances for Glasgow Celtic in 2007-08. Elsewhere, it was the Erling Haaland show even on a night when Paris SaintGermain superstars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar all scored in a comeback win.
Manchester City also trailed, deep into the game, at home against Haaland’s former club Borussia Dortmund in a fascinating quick reunion for the prolific Norway prodigy.
The stage was set for Haaland to seal a 2-1 win after team-mate John Stones levelled the game scoring with a stunning shot in the 80th minute.
Haaland rose to his challenge in the 84th minute when he met a high cross with a twisting leap and acrobatic volley to send goalward a ball that seemed to have passed him.
In other matches yesterday, AC Milan beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-1, Shakhtar Donetsk drew 1-1 with Celtic, Chelsea were held 1-1 at home by Salzburg, Juventus were upset 2-1 at home by Benfica, PSG won 3-1 at Maccabi Haifa, Napoli won 3-0 at Rangers and defending champions Real Madrid beat Leipzig 2-0.