Dortmund, Atletico, Porto qualify for CL last 16
PARIS: Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Schalke and Porto all secured their tickets to the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.
Dortmund earned their presence in the knockout stages in a goalless draw at home to Club Brugge.
Atletico claimed a spot in the knock-out stages beating Monaco 2-0 thanks to first half efforts from Antoine Griezmann and Koke in Madrid.
Porto and Schalke made it through from Group D before the Portugese side beat their German visitors 3-1 as Galatasary lost 2-0 to Lokomotiv Moscow earlier in Russia.
Barcelona claimed top spot of Group B with a 2-1 victory over a resilient PSV Eindhoven as Lionel Messi scored and created a goal for Gerard Pique in the Netherlands.
ATLETICO DOWN MONACO
Atletico clinched their place in the Champions League last 16 at home while also ensuring that Thierry Henry’s hapless visitors will now even miss out on qualification for the Europa League.
Koke scored Atletico’s fastest-ever Champions League goal within two minutes and Antoine Griezmann added a second after 25 before any hopes of a late Monaco comeback were ended with Radamel Falcao’s 83rd minute missed penalty.
The win meant that Atletico, who were knocked out of the group stage of Europe’s elite competition last season, advanced to the knockout stages, leading Group A with 12 points from five games.
Dortmund’s goalless draw at home to Club Bruges saw them into the next round too but Diego Simeone’s Atletico will have a twopoint lead at the top of the group when they visit Bruges, and Monaco host Dortmund, in the final round of games.
However, the draw may have come at a price as Dortmund’s Belgium midfielder Witsel limped off with a knee injury in the dying stages.
REDS’ HOPES IN BALANCE
Paris St Germain revived their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Liverpool in Group C, leaving the English club’s hopes of reaching the last 16 hanging in the balance.
PSG set out like a team determined finally to prove their credentials on the big European stage, and went in front in the 13th minute through Juan Bernat, before Neymar made it 2-0 eight minutes before halftime after a lightning PSG counter-attack.
Yet with the French champions in cruise control, Angel Di Maria needlessly brought down Sadio Mane to concede a penalty, which James Milner converted in first-half stoppage time, to give Liverpool hope.
The visitors could not find an equaliser, though, slipping to a third away group defeat — the first time they have lost all three group matches away from Anfield in the Champions League.
The result sees PSG leapfrog last year’s finalists Liverpool, with eight points to Liverpool’s six, with Napoli top of the group on nine and everything still to play for in the final round of matches.
SPURS IN HUNT
Christian Eriksen came off the bench to keep alive Tottenham Hotspurs’ bid to qualify for the Champions League last 16 as the Denmark star’s late strike sealed a tense 1-0 win over Inter Milan.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were 10 minutes away from being eliminated at the group stage as they laboured to break down the massed Inter defence at Wembley.
But Eriksen, surprisingly dropped to the bench by Pochettino, came to Tottenham’s rescue when he fired home to take their Group B qualification bid down to the final game.
It was a dramatic end to a hardfought clash that Tottenham had to win to avoid bowing out at the group stage for the second time in three seasons.
After taking one point from their opening three matches, Tottenham had scored twice in the last 12 minutes to avoid an early exit against PSV Eindhoven earlier this month.
And this latest act of European escapology means second placed Tottenham are now level on points with third placed Inter.
They head to Barcelona to face the group leaders on Dec. 11.
BARCA ON TOP
Barcelona overcame PSV Eindhoven 2-1 to finish top of their Champions League group with one round remaining thanks to a Lionel Messi goal and assist.
Messi and Gerard Pique scored to claim the La Liga outfit’s first win since Nov. 3 across all competitions.
Captain Luuk de Jong netted for the Mark van Bommel’s team who are top and unbeaten of the Dutch league. The home side had the best chances of the first half as de Jong’s shot hit the cross bar and defender Denzel Dumfries’ follow-up re-bounded off the post moments before the break.
Messi tested Jeroen Zoet with a curling effort but the goalkeeper parried it away to safety five minutes after the restart.
On the hour mark Messi picked the ball up on the half way line, laid it off to Ousmane Dembele then received it back from the Frenchman inside the penalty area before beating a stunned Zoet at his front post.
NAPOLI HOPES ALIVE
Dries Mertens bagged a brace to add to Marek Hamsik’s early goal as Napoli beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 on Wednesday to go top of their Champions League Group C but the battle for a place in the knock-out rounds will go down to the wire in the final round of games mid-december.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Serie A club have to wait to advance to the knock-out rounds after French champions Paris Saint-germain beat Liverpool 2-1 in France.
Hamsik got the hosts off the mark after 11 minutes in Naples with Mertens adding two more either side of half-time to lift the Italians before the final game at Anfield.