Manchester City's Matija Nastasic is challenged by Real
Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. REUTERS/Darren Staples
Real Madrid and AC Milan were among six teams to make
sure of their Champions League knockout stage places today
while big-spending English Premier League champions Manchester
City were eliminated.
Paris St Germain, Arsenal and Bundesliga pair Borussia
Dortmund and Schalke 04 were the other teams to qualify for
the last 16 with a match to spare.
Nine-time champions Real Madrid went through with a 1-1 draw
at City, who fell at the group stage for the second season in
a row.
Karim Benzema gave Jose Mourinho's team an early lead and
Sergio Aguero's 74th minute penalty was too late to save the
hosts in Group D.
Bundesliga champions Dortmund gave the evening's most
impressive display as they trounced four-times European
champions Ajax Amsterdam 4-1 away in the same group.
Mario Goetze scored one goal and was involved in two others
converted by Marco Reus and Roberto Lewandowski as Dortmund
raced to a 3-0 halftime lead in Amsterdam.
Lewandowski added the fourth before Daniel Hoesen pulled one
back.
Ezequiel Lavezzi scored twice to help ambitious Paris St
Germain win 2-0 at Dynamo Kiev and qualify from Group A,
joining Porto who were already though.
Arsenal's 2-0 win over Montpellier and Schalke's 1-0 defeat
of Olympiakos Piraeus meant both sides progressed from Group
B.
Seven-times champions AC Milan put their Serie A problems
behind them as Stephan El Shaarawy, Philippe Mexes and
Alexandre Pato scored in the second half to give them a 3-1
win at Anderlecht in Group C.
They joined Malaga, who had already qualified and guaranteed
top spot with a 2-2 draw at Zenit St Petersburg.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.