Vidal’s hat-trick keeps hope alive for Juventus
Madrid, Man U and PSG advance to round of 16
LONDON Nine-time winner Real Madrid qualified for the Champions League’s round of 16 alongside Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Juventus kept alive its chances of reaching the knockout stage.
Madrid, which only needed a draw at home to Galatasaray to clinch top spot in Group B, won 4-1 with goals from Gareth Bale, Alvaro Arbeloa, Angel Di Maria and Isco.
Juventus claimed its first win of the campaign and moved into second place in the same group with a 3-1 victory over Copenhagen as Arturo Vidal scored a hat-trick.
The Bianconeri kept their destiny in their own hands and a draw away to Galatasaray on the final matchday will be enough for the Italian champions to advance.
United qualified from Group A with an emphatic 5-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen and PSG secured top spot in Group C with a 2-1 win against Olympiakos.
“To come to Germany and get a such a good result — Leverkusen are second in the Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich — it gives an idea of where our performance and result stood,” United coach David Moyes said.
On a night when all the big clubs won, defending champion Bayern Munich set a new Champions League record by winning its 10th straight game in the competition with a 3-1 win at CSKA Moscow.
It equalled Barcelona’s 2002-03 record with nine in a row three weeks ago.
Bayern, the only team left in the tournament with a perfect record, leads Group D with 15 points, three more than Manchester City after the Blues won 4-2 against last-place Viktoria Plzen.
Bayern and City, who had already qualified, will be vying for the group supremacy in two weeks in Germany.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence and Sergio Ramos’s sending off after just 26 minutes, Madrid played superbly in the second half, scoring three goals to add to Bale’s opener.
Ramos was sent off for a foul on Umut Bulut, but Madrid looked unfazed as Bale opened the scoring with an exquisite free kick from 30 metres in the 37th minute.
Bulut equalized right away but the Turkish club wilted in the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu as Madrid joined fellow Spanish clubs Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.
Chelsea also advanced on Tuesday night despite losing 1-0 against Basel.
“The second half was very good. The coach made all the right changes. Many people say that we depend on players like Xabi Alonso or Cristiano Ronaldo but we showed we can win because of the way others play,” said Arbeloa.
United played its most accomplished match of the season against a poor Leverkusen team to claim its biggest away success since the Champions League format was introduced in 1992-93.
Playing without star striker Robin van Persie and defender Nemanja Vidic, United had been expected to struggle against the German team. Instead, they cruised.
“That was a really tough evening for us,” Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes said. “The second goal broke down our morale a bit although we actually had a decent start to the game. After the third goal, the game was over.”
Antonio Valencia put United ahead in the 22nd minute, Emir Spahic’s own goal in the 30th doubled United’s lead and Jonny Evans got the third in the 65th. Chris Smalling steered home the fourth in the 77th and Nani completed the rout in the 88th.
United has 11 points before its final match against secondplace Shakhtar Donetsk, which beat Real Sociedad 4-0 to move onto eight points.