Sluggish Real, devastating City make cut

Benitez’s men hand PSG first defeat of the season while EPL side beat Sevilla to book place in the last 16; Rooney finally scores in win

Real Madrid and Manchester City qualified for the Champions League knockout rounds with victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla respectively on Tuesday.

And there was relief at Old Trafford as Manchester United ended a 404-minute wait for a goal to beat CSKA Moscow 1-0.

A fortuitous goal from Nacho proved decisive for 10-time champions Real to win 1-0 despite being outplayed for the majority of the first half of their Group A game at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real qualified from Group A thanks to Shakhtar Donetsk romping to a 4-0 win over Malmo, a result which means a win for PSG in either of their last two matches will ensure they join Real in the last 16. City banished memories of their recent Champions League struggles as a confident 3-1 win in Seville qualified them for the last 16 with two games to spare in Group D.

Sevilla had taken City all the way before losing out to Kevin de Bruyne’s stoppage-time goal when the sides met at the Etihad two weeks ago.

City, who now top the group, have made it to the knockout stages for only the third time. City’s neighbours United laboured for long periods against CSKA at Old Trafford before a late Wayne Rooney header snatched a 1-0 win that puts the Red Devils in control of Group B.

PSV Eindhoven’s 2-0 win at home to Wolfsburg means United lead those two by a point but a victory over the Dutch outfit at Old Trafford in three weeks’ time will book their place in the last 16. Rooney’s goal saw him equal Denis Law in second on United’s all-time scorers’ list with 237 goals. United came into the game on the back of three successive 0-0 draws with manager Louis van Gaal’s tactics increasingly coming in for criticism.

Benfica are close to qualifying from Group C after beating Galatasaray 2-1 in Lisbon.