Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrated his return to his first senior club with a goal as Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, while Juventus claimed top spot to qualify from Group D with a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
Atletico Madrid secured their place in the round-of-16 with a 2-0 victory over Galatasaray in Group C and travel to SL Benfica to decide first place in two weeks’ time.
Both teams have 10 points after Benfica recovered from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 at Astana.
Photo: Reuters
Ibrahimovic played his first competitive club match at his hometown team Malmo FF since joining Ajax in 2001. He marked the occasion by netting PSG’s third goal, with Laurent Blanc’s players thrashing their Swedish opponents 5-0 in Group A.
“I lived a dream tonight, coming back,” Ibrahimovic said. “On top of that I scored one. I’m very happy. Since the beginning, there’s been a great relationship between Malmo’s fans and me.”
Bearing the slogan “Je suis Paris” (I am Paris) on their shirts in solidarity with the French capital following the Nov. 13 terror attacks, Paris Saint-Germain’s players secured qualification for the knockout stage with ease.
Angel di Maria scored twice for PSG, while Adrien Rabiot and Lucas also made the score sheet.
Malmo came closest when captain Markus Rosenberg hit the post with a penalty-kick.
Wednesday’s results mean the only thing at stake in next month’s final round of Group A games is third place and a ticket to the UEFA Europa League.
Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo are both on three points, but the Ukrainian team would take the spot if they finish level.
In Group B, it is all to play for heading into the final matches, with VfL Wolfsburg, Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven all in with a chance of qualifying and all still having their destiny in their hands.
Wolfsburg went top of the group after beating CSKA Moscow 2-0, with Andre Schuerrle scoring one goal and delivering the shot that was deflected in off the arm of goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev for what was marked down as an own-goal.
Wolfsburg lead United by one point, with PSV a point further back in third place.
In Group C, Atletico and Benfica both advanced, while Galatasaray and Astana were eliminated.
Atletico and Benfica are to play for first place when they meet in Portugal on Dec. 8. Benfica defeated Atletico 2-1 in Madrid when the two teams met earlier in the group stage.
France striker Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half as Atletico easily defeated the Turkish team at the Vicente Calderon, with both goals set up by team captain Gabi.
Raul Jimenez scored twice to help Benfica rally from two goals down against Astana, who finish unbeaten at home in their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign.
Juventus went top in Group D and made sure of progressing to the knockout stages with a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
Juve moved onto 11 points, two more than already-qualified City, heading into the final group match. They also have a better head-to-head record, having won 2-1 in Manchester.
Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal of an entertaining game in the 18th minute, moments after City should have taken the lead.
Paul Pogba feinted round his marker and the former Manchester United player spread the ball to the left for Alex Sandro to cross toward Mandzukic, who volleyed home.
Both sides also hit the woodwork, while Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon did brilliantly to prevent Sergio Aguero from leveling.
Juventus would have qualified even if they had lost, after Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated Sevilla 4-2 to boost their chances of playing in the UEFA Europa League.
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