Atletico Madrid eased through to the round of 16 with a game to spare and eliminated Galatasaray when Antoine Griezmann’s double secured a 2-0 win at home to the Turkish side in Group C.
Atletico, the 2014 runners-up, needed only a draw to progress and their comfortable victory at the Calderon stadium put them level on 10 points at the top of the group with Benfica and ahead of the Portuguese club on goal difference.Benfica, who host Atletico in the sixth and final round of games next month when top spot will be up for grabs, fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Kazakh side Astana earlier on Thursday .
In Sweden, Zlatan Ibrahimovic crowned a triumphant homecoming with a second-half goal as Paris St Germain crushed Malmo 5-0 to book a place in the last 16. With the 34-year-old Ibrahimovic captaining PSG for the night, Adrien Rabiot netted the first goal after three minutes by heading home Gregory van der Wiel’s pinpoint cross. Angel Di Maria doubled the advantage when he coolly slotted the ball past Johan Wiland 11 minutes later after Blaise Matuidi had played a searching ball across Malmo’s penalty area. Ibrahimovic struck five minutes into the second half, surging in from the left before planting the ball beyond Wiland and celebrating modestly with his teammates. Di Maria netted his second goal midway through the second half with a simple header before being replaced by Lucas who also found the target with an unstoppable free kick in the 82nd minute.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United failed to seal their place in the last 16 when they were held to a 0-0 draw by PSV Eindhoven, leaving Group B wide open before the final round of matches.
United would have qualified with a win, but will now face the tougher task of claiming their place in the knockout round in their final match at VfL Wolfsburg on December 8. PSV’s hopes of reaching the last 16 are still alive too and they can qualify if they beat already-eliminated CSKA Moscow at home in their final game.Wolfsburg, who won 2-0 at CSKA, top the group with nine points, followed by United on eight, Eindhoven on seven and CSKA on four. Although both teams had their chances, overall it was a frustrating night at Old Trafford, where fans paid tribute to United great George Best who died exactly 10 years ago to the day aged 59.
Meanwhile Mario Mandzukic shrugged off his poor recent form to score the goal that sent last year’s runners-up Juventus into the Champions League round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Thursday . The Croatian forward struck in the 18th minute, holding off Nicolas Otamendi’s challenge to volley the ball in from close range following Alex Sandro’s cross from the left.
Juventus completed a double over the English Premier League side, who had already qualified from Group D after winning their last three games. The Serie A champions, still unbeaten after five games, now top the group with 11 points and visit Sevilla in their final match.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals and set up two more as Real Madrid weathered a late Shakhtar Donetsk revival to win 4-3. Already qualified for the knockout stages, Real’s win ensures they will finish top of Group A, while defeat ends Shakhtar’s slim qualifying hopes. Ronaldo opened the scoring with an 18th-minute header off a flick from Gareth Bale, before assisting first Luka Modric and then Dani Carvajal for goals in the space of three second-half minutes. Ronaldo’s second goal in the 70th minute made it 4-0 before Shakhtar’s comeback began.First Alex Teixeira scored from the penalty spot before Dentinho’s header cut the deficit to 4-2. Teixeira struck again in the 88th minute but Real held on for the win.
Reuters, AP