LONDON: Barcelona and Inter Milan won again in the Champions League on Wednesday though both former title holders are looking up in the standings toward upstart newcomer Brest.

Aston Villa started the week atop the 36-team table but their winning run ended after a bizarre penalty was awarded when defender Tyrone Mings picked up the ball in the area at Club Brugge, resulting in a 1-0 loss that sent the English club plummeting to eighth place.

Paris Saint-Germain, in their first season without Kylian Mbappe, trail far behind in 25th after Atletico Madrid scored in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for the Spanish team at Parc des Princes.

Barcelona’s blistering scoring form continued in a 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade — a seventh straight win since the start of October at a rate of four goals per game. Robert Lewandowski scored twice and has 21 this season.

Inter Milan stifled Arsenal in a 1-0 win at San Siro sealed by Hakan Çalhanoglu’s penalty in first-half stoppage time.

Inter are unbeaten on 10 points and in fifth place, one below Brest who won 2-1 at Sparta Prague. The French debutant look sure to advance to the knockout phase starting in February.

Atalanta won 2-0 at Stuttgart to stay unbeaten on eight points and Salzburg got their first goals and points in a 3-1 win at Feyenoord.

Bayern Munich won 1-0 at home to Benfica in a game that was delayed 15 minutes by crowd congestion and then was played in a muted atmosphere because of a medical incident for a fan.

Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov had a fine assist and an even better goal in a 2-1 win for the Ukrainian champion against Young Boys. Shakhtar’s No. 10 showed why he is expected to be the club’s next big-money sale.

Liverpool, who on Tuesday routed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0, lead the standings at the midway point of the eight-round program.

Liverpool are the only team with four straight wins, while five teams have four losses. They are Leipzig, Sturm Graz, Young Boys, Red Star and Slovan Bratislava.

Two Italian teams – Inter Milan and Atalanta – have yet to concede a goal in four games. Another Italian side, Bologna, is the only team with no goals scored.

Villa slide

Villa had led the standings in the new league-phase format after three straight wins without conceding a goal — and it took a bizarre incident before goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was eventually beaten.

Mings was punished for picking up the ball when Martinez seemed to restart play with a goal kick passed forward to his teammate. Mings walked a couple steps to gather the ball with his left hand and returned to place it in the six-yard box.

“It’s the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career,” Villa coach Unai Emery said. “It has only happened one time in all my life. Today.”

Brugge captain Hans Vanaken placed the 52nd-minute spot-kick to Martinez’s left as the World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper dived to his right.

Bayern and Dinamo

It was the standout result of the inaugural week of the new Champions League in September: Bayern Munich 9, Dinamo Zagreb 2.

It was the first time a team had scored nine times in a game in the 32-year Champions League era, and Dinamo fired its coach two days later.

Since then? Bayern lost twice, including a 4-1 rout at Barcelona, and Dinamo won twice. At the end of play Wednesday, Bayern were 17th on six points, one place below Dinamo on seven. If those placings hold until January, they meet again twice more in the knockout playoffs round.

Next up

The fifth round in three weeks’ time has perhaps the stellar attraction of 144 games in the league phase: Liverpool vs. Real Madrid.

That game on Nov. 27 is a rematch of the 2022 and 2018 finals, both won by Madrid, and the 1981 European Cup titl e match that Liverpool won.

There is another final rematch: Bayern Munich hosts PSG on Nov. 26 in a repeat of the pandemic-season final played in August 2020 without fans in Lisbon. Also, sixth-place Barcelona hosts Brest, a fixture which might have been overlooked when the draw was made in August yet the French team is currently fourth.

Only the top eight teams in January advance directly to the round of 16 in March.

RIYADH: Tickets for “Usyk vs. Fury Reignited,” the much anticipated rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, are now on sale through the Webook app, organizers said on Wednesday.

The heavyweight boxing contest will take place on Dec. 21 at the Kingdom Arena. In the main event, Ukrainian heavyweight champion Usyk will once again face off against British powerhouse Fury. The former emerged victorious in a split decision when the pair last did battle at the same venue on May 18, as part of Riyadh Season.

Known for his speed and agility, Usyk holds all major championship belts in the heavyweight division, making him the first boxer in 25 years to claim unified heavyweight titles. Fury, meanwhile, brings a wealth of experience and raw strength, and is celebrated for his knockout power and tactical prowess.

Also on on the card, Ukrainian Serhii Bohachuk will take on Israil Madrimov of Uzbekistan. Bohachuk has an impressive record of 24 wins, including 23 knockouts, while Madrimov has 10 wins to his name, seven of them by knockout.

Other matchups include what could be an electrifying bout between the unbeaten Johnny Fisher, who has a record of 12 wins and 11 knockouts, and British veteran David Allen, who has 31 bouts under his belt. Dennis McCann will battle fellow Brit Peter McGrail, with the former aiming to extend a flawless 16-win record while while the latter hopes to secure his 11th victory.

Englishman Isaac Lowe and Scotsman Lee McGregor will also go head-to-head in what promises to be an intense battle. Lowe brings with him experience gained from 30 fights, while McGregor boasts a strong record of 14 wins, including 11 knockouts, making this one of the most-anticipated bouts of the night.