Barca, Chelsea in last 16 Griezmann snaps goal drought to keep Atletico alive
English giants go down to Basel; Catalans through despite draw with Juve; Blues hammer Qarabag
Barcelona and Chelsea progressed to the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, but Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United must wait to seal their spot after a last-gasp 1-0 defeat in Basel.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde rested Argentina star Lionel Messi in Turin, later introducing him as a second-half substitute as a 0-0 draw against Juventus sent the five-time European champions through as winners of Group D.
Willian scored twice and won a pair of penalties as Chelsea thrashed 10-man Qarabag 4-0 in Baku to guarantee Antonio Conte’s side a top-two finish in Group C.
First-half goals from Eden Hazard and Willian put Chelsea in control, with Cesc Fabregas adding a third before Willian netted again to cap the rout and knock Qarabag out of the competition.
“We did everything well. We should have scored more. It is easy to play with these good players,” Hazard said.
United, who hit the woodwork twice in the first half through Marouane Fellaini and Marcos Rojo, looked on course to secure the point required to punch their ticket to the last 16 before Michael Lang scored in the 89th-minute.
Mourinho blamed United’s inability to convert their firsthalf dominance into goals after watching his side lose their perfect record in the group. “We lost because in the first half we should be 5-0 up but we could not score one goal after being so dominant,” Mourinho said.
Paris Saint-germain dismantled Celtic 7-1 as the French giants registered their biggest win in the competition, despite falling behind when Moussa Dembele scored inside the first minute.
A brace from Neymar soon turned the game around, before Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe added goals of their own before the interval. Marco Verratti made it five with quarter of an hour left, before Cavani got his second and Dani Alves wrapped up a record-breaking night.
the first player to play for seven different clubs in the Champions League after trotting out for Manchester United in their defeat at the hands of Basel.
Paris SaintGermain
Manchester United
for PSG, AC Milan, Barcelona, Inter, Juventus and Ajax in the premier club competition. He is also the only player to have as scored for six different sides.
Inter Milan Juventus Ajax Beat Celtic scored in 2017-18 in 2016-17 Beat Bayern in 1998-99, in 2011-12 & 2016-17, in 2013-14
in 1999-2000, in 2011-12 & 2015-16, in 2015-16 Beat Anderlecht Beat Anderlecht
beat Bundesliga outfit Bayern Munich in their last group game to become only the seventh side to finish the group proceedings with 100 per cent win record.
also eclipse the best group campaign record held by Real Madrid, who were unbeaten in group stages during the 2011-12 campaign and finished with a goal difference of +17. PSG still have one match in hand and have a goal difference of +23. Paris Saint-germain Milan Ajax Beat Celtic Schennikov 13 Jardel 56-og
Lang 89 Man United5 4 0 1 8 12 Basel 5 30249 CSKA 5 3 02 -1 9 Benfica 5005 -11 0 Hanni 63
Neymar 9, 22 Cavani 29, 79 Mbappe 35 Verratti 75 Alves 80 PSG* 5 5 0 0 23 15 Bayern* 540 1 5 12 Celtic 5 1 04 -12 3 Anderlecht 5 0 0 5 -16 0 Griezmann 69 Gameiro 85 Chelsea* Roma Atletico Qarabag Dost 40, 66 Cesar 43 Lewandowski 51 Tolisso 77 Hazard 21-pen Willian 36, 85 Fabregas 73-pen 5 3 1 5 2 2 5 1 3 502 Barcelona* 5 3 Juventus 5 2 Sporting 5 2 Olympiacos 5 0
Dembele 1 1 1 1 3 8 10 28 1 6 -11 2 Odjidja 86 206 11 2 1 08 12 1 7 1 4 -7 1
Top two from each group qualify for the knockouts. MADRID: Atletico Madrid kept their slim chances of progressing alive as Antoine Griezmann snapped an eight-game goal drought in spectacular fashion with an overhead kick to help see off Roma 2-0 on Wednesday. Kevin Gameiro added a second five minutes from time for Atletico, who still need Roma to drop points at home to Azerbaijani champions Qarabag and to beat the already-qualified Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 5 to reach the last-16.
BAYERN PLAYED THEIR WORST MATCH’
MUNICH: Jerome Boateng lamented Bayern Munich’s below-par performance against Anderlecht, despite the Bundesliga giants winning 2-1. Boateng pegged Wednesday’s performance as worse than anything they have offered up for some time. He said: “I think everyone saw that we played really bad in the first half. One of the worst matches for a long time.”
NEYMAR LOSES COOL
PARIS: Neymar swore at journalists and stormed off from an interview after being questioned about reports linking him with a sensational move from Paris SaintGermain to Real Madrid. When Neymar was asked about the reports after his two-goal show in PSG’S 7-1 destruction of Celtic on Wednesday, he was less than impressed. “For f***’s sake,” he is widely quoted as saying. “Have you got nothing else to talk about?”
ROBINHO SENTENCED FOR GANGRAPE
MILAN: Former Real Madrid and AC Milan striker Robinho was found guilty of gangrape in a Milanese disco in 2013 and has been sentenced to prison for nine years, according to a Football Italia report. Robinho was playing for Milan at the time of the incident, which took place on January 22, 2013.
The tribunal in Milan this evening found Robinho and five other men guilty of the gangrape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman. Robinho, currently in Brazil playing for Atletico Mineiro, can appeal this sentence. Robinho was reportedly also accused of raping a university student in Leeds in January 2009, according to The Telegraph. However, it was announced in April that year that he would not face any charges.