Karim Benzema sent Real Madrid through to the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday alongside their rivals Atletico Madrid.
In another key result, Neymar scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain beat Istanbul Basaksehir in a match that had been delayed for 24 hours over a racism row.
REAL MADRID ARE EUROPE’S MOST DECORATED CLUB
Real are Europe’s most decorated club with 13 European Cups but they needed to beat Borussia Monchengladbach in Madrid to be sure of making it through the group stage of the Champions League for a 24th straight year.
Benzema was their hero, easing the pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane with two fine back-post headers in the first half securing a 2-0 win in a game played behind closed doors at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium.
The Frenchman also hit the bar in the second half and in the end it was a result that suited both teams, with a 0-0 draw between Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk allowing Real to top Group B and Gladbach, former European Cup runners-up, to go through as runners-up.
Players from the German club gathered around smartphones and laptops after full time in Madrid to follow events in Milan, where a winner for either team would have knocked Gladbach out.
They celebrated wildly when their qualification was confirmed.
INTER MILAN CRASH OUT – AGAIN
Shakhtar go into the Europa League while Inter finish bottom of their group, failing to reach the last 16 for a third season running.
Meanwhile, Atletico needed to beat Red Bull Salzburg in Austria to qualify as runners-up in Group A behind Bayern Munich, and did so with Mario Hermoso and Yannick Carrasco scoring in a 2-0 victory.
Salzburg now go into the Europa League while reigning European champions Bayern completed the group stage unbeaten as Niklas Suele and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting gave them a 2-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow.
The other team to clinch qualification on Wednesday was Atalanta, whose 1-0 win away to Ajax secured second place in Group D behind Liverpool and a last-16 spot for the second year running.
Luis Muriel scored a late winner for Atalanta in Amsterdam after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for the hosts, who drop into the Europa League.
LIVERPOOL GAVE STARTS TO YOUNGSTERS
Already through, Liverpool were able to give a chance to several younger players in their 1-1 draw with Midtjylland in Denmark, where Mohamed Salah put the 2019 winners ahead early on but Alexander Scholz’s penalty gave the hosts an honourable draw.
PSG had wrapped up their qualification for the last 16 on Tuesday thanks to Manchester United’s defeat at RB Leipzig, despite their own game being suspended after an unprecedented walkout.
Both sets of players refused to continue after a row erupted over an alleged racist remark by the fourth official aimed at Basaksehir’s assistant coach, Pierre Webo.
With a new set of officials, the game restarted in the 14th minute on Wednesday and an irresistible Neymar scored a hat-trick while also winning a penalty converted by Kylian Mbappe.
That was Mbappe’s first Champions League goal in 12 months, and he scored again later on after Mehmet Topal pulled one back. With their 5-1 victory, PSG go through as group winners.
MANCHESTER CITY EASE PAST MARSEILLE
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City made it five wins and a draw in Group D as they eased to a 3-0 victory against Marseille with Ferran Torres and Sergio Aguero getting second-half goals before an Alvaro Gonzalez own goal.
Also already qualified, Porto beat Olympiakos 2-0 in Piraeus courtesy of Otavio’s early penalty and a Matheus Uribe goal. The Greeks, who ended with 10 men, finish third in the section.
The draw for the last 16 is on Monday.
Champions League results on Wednesday:
Group A
Bayern Munich (GER) 2 (Suele 63, Choupo-Moting 80) Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS) 0
Salzburg (AUT) 0 Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2 (Hermoso 39, Carrasco 86)
Group B
Inter Milan (ITA) 0 Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 0
Real Madrid (ESP) 2 (Benzema 9, 32) Borussia Moenchengladbach (GER) 0
Group C
Olympiakos (GRE) 0 Porto (POR) 2 (Otavio 10-pen, Uribe 77)
Manchester City (ENG) 3 (Torres 48, Aguero 77, Sterling 90) Marseille (FRA) 0
Group D
Ajax (NED) 0 Atalanta (ITA) 1 (Muriel 85)
Midtjylland (DEN) 1 (Scholz 62-pen) Liverpool (ENG) 1 (Salah 1)
Group H (match suspended on Tuesday; completed on Wednesday)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 5 (Neymar 21, 38, 50, Mbappe 42-pen, 62) Istanbul Basaksehir (TUR) 1 (Topal 57)
Played on Tuesday
Group E
Rennes (FRA) 1 (Rutter 86-pen) Sevilla (ESP) 3 (Kounde 32, En-Nesyri 45+2, 81)
Chelsea (ENG) 1 (Jorginho 28-pen) Krasnodar (RUS) 1 (Cabella 24)
Group F
Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) 1 (Driussi 16) Borussia Dortmund (GER) 2 (Piszczek 68, Witsel 78)
Lazio (ITA) 2 (Correa 12, Immobile 27-pen) Club Brugge (BEL) 2 (Vormer 15, Vanaken 76)
Group G
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) 1 (Popov 60) Ferencvaros (HUN) 0
Barcelona (ESP) 0 Juventus (ITA) 3 (Ronaldo 13-pen, 52-pen, McKennie 20)
Group H
RB Leipzig (GER) 3 (Angelino 2, Haidara 13, Kluivert 69) Manchester United (ENG) 2 (Fernandes 80-pen, Pogba 82)
Champions League leading scorers after Wednesday’s matches:
6 goals: Morata (Juventus), Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Neymar (Paris SG), Rashford (Manchester United)
5 goals: Berisha (RB Salzburg), Giroud (Chelsea), Immobile (Lazio), Plea (Bor. Monchengladbach)
4 goals: Benzema (Real Madrid), Ronaldo (Juventus), En-Nesyri (Sevilla), Fernandes (Manchester United), Jota (Liverpool), Lukaku (Inter Milan), Torres (Manchester City)
3 goals: Angelino (RB Leipzig), Braithwaite (Barcelona), Coman (Bayern Munich), Dembele (Barcelona), Felix (Atletico Madrid), Kahveci (Basaksehir), Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Messi (Barcelona), An. Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Oliveira (Porto), Salah (Liverpool), Vanaken (Club Brugge), Werner (Chelsea), Zapata (Atalanta)
Qualifiers for the last 16 of this season’s Champions League
Qualified as group winners
Bayern Munich (GER)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Manchester City (ENG)
Liverpool (ENG)
Chelsea (ENG)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Juventus (ITA)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Qualified as runners-up
Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Borussia Monchengladbach (GER)
FC Porto (POR)
Atalanta (ITA)
Sevilla (ESP)
Lazio (ITA)
Barcelona (ESP)
RB Leipzig (GER)
– Last 16 draw takes place on Monday, December 14 at 13:00 SA time.
– Teams who were in same group cannot face each other in last 16; Teams from same country cannot meet before the quarter-finals
