As we covered in Tuesday’s preview, there was much to play for in the final round of UEFA Champions League group matches. Group winners were still to be decided, some big names were clinging to their qualification hopes by a thread and others were just hoping they might be able to gatecrash the Europa League.
Paris Saint-Germain headed to Munich with their 100% record on the line hoping that they couldn’t find a way to lose 4-0 and lose top spot. Bayern Munich landed a decent sized psychological blow to Neymar’s side, beating them 3-1 thanks to two goals from Corentin Tolliso and one from Robert Lewandowski. Kylian Mbappe’s goal just after half-time calmed any nerves of a mini-repeat of Barcelona last season.
PSG topped the group with Celtic finishing third and entering the Europa League.
Barcelona had already won their group and decided to rest Messi’s legs in their 2-0 win over Sporting CP. Juventus completed their task by beating Olympiakos 2-0 meaning what could have been a dreadful midweek for Italian football got off to the best possible start. Juventus are now through to the knockout stages with Sporting dropping into the Europa League.
Chelsea managed to lose top spot in their group by being held at home by Atletico Madrid, meaning AS Roma could take full advantage. The Serie A side managed to do so courtesy of a 1-0 win over Qarabag meaning Atletico, finalists in two of the last four seasons, are out.
Basel would not have expected to have made the Last 16 at the start of this season’s tournament but they have managed to achieve just that by finishing runners up to Manchester United in Group A. A fine 2-0 at Benfica secured their spot as United managed to come from 1-0 down to beat CSKA 2-1 and finally win the group.
Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 with Cristiano Ronaldo breaking yet another record. He is now the first player in Champions League history to score in every group game. Dortmund, struggling for any kind of good news currently, will slip into the Europa League.
Fernando Llorente finally found the back of the net for Tottenham Hotspur in their 3-0 win over APOEL.
Napoli had a very slim chance of making it through, needing a win in Feyenoord and for the Shahktar Donetsk vs Manchester City game to go their way. In the end neither happened, Napoli losing 2-1 and Shakhtar incredibly ending Manchester City’s unbeaten run, the score also finishing 2-1.
In Group G, FC Porto joined Besiktas in the next round by hammering AS Monaco 5-2. It will be RB Leipzig who drop into the Europa League with last season’s Ligue 1 champions finishing bottom of their group.
Liverpool were electric in beating Spartak Moscow 7-0 and will be joined by Sevilla in the next round. Sevilla got the draw they needed in Maribor, 1-1.