Champions League: Real Madrid, Man Utd lose, City wins group
VALENCIA: Two of European football’s grandest clubs have paid the price for fielding weakened teams as the Champions League group stage concluded with Lyon grabbing the final place in the round of 16.
Real Madrid slumped to a record home loss, while Manchester United squandered a surprise opportunity to top its group.
On an evening when Lyon celebrated and Manchester City was confirmed as group F winner with a 21 comefrombehind home win over Hoffenheim, Madrid’s players were jeered off the field at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Their 30 defeat to CSKA Moscow was their heaviest loss in more than 250 home games in European competition.
‘‘I took risks with the starting lineup we played and I take responsibility for that,’’ Real coach Santiago Solari said.
At least that embarrassing loss did not prevent the defending champion from winning group G ahead of Roma, which was a shock 21 loser at Viktoria Plzen.
United did not have the same luxury as the European champion.
Like Madrid, United selected a largely secondstring lineup with qualification secure, although Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku were among the starters.
With Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus surprisingly losing 21 at Swiss club Young Boys, United would have finished top with victory at Valencia, but lost by the same scoreline at the Mestalla.
‘‘Job done. In a difficult group. I don’t think we were brilliant in this group phase. We got enough points to qualify,’’ United boss Jose Mourinho said.
It is now assured of facing Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Porto or Paris SaintGermain in the knockout stage, with the draw on Tuesday.
Only one qualification place was up for grabs on the final night of group play, and it was a shootout in freezing Kiev between Lyon and Shakhtar Donetsk, with the 11 result seeing the French side through.
‘‘Even if I scored the goal, I think the whole team was heroic and showed up well,’’ Lyon’s goal scorer Nabil Fekir said.
Bayern Munich’s wild 33 draw at Ajax — featuring two red cards and four goals from the 82nd minute, including an equaliser for Ajax five minutes into stoppage time — earned the German champion first place in group E above the Dutch team.
Benfica was already assured of third place and a Europa League spot before it accounted for AEK Athens 10. — AP