Karim Benzema on Wednesday sent Real Madrid through to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League alongside their rivals Atletico Madrid, while Neymar scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) beat Istanbul Basaksehir in a match that had been delayed for 24 hours over a racism row.
Real are Europe’s most decorated club with 13 European Cups, but they needed to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach in Madrid to be sure of making it through the group stage of the Champions League for a 24th consecutive year.
Benzema was their hero, easing the pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane with two fine back-post headers in the first half, securing a 2-0 win in a game played behind closed doors at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.
Photo: AFP
“Each match is a final and I think that if we always play how we did today, no team can hurt us,” said Benzema, who has played in four Champions League final wins with Real over the past seven seasons.
Benzema also hit the bar in the second half, but in the end, it was a result that suited both teams: A 0-0 draw between Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk allowed Real to top Group B, while ’Gladbach, former European Cup runners-up, went through as runners-up.
Moenchengladbach players sat around smartphones and laptops after the match in Madrid to follow events in Milan, where a winner for either team would have knocked them out — they celebrated wildly when their qualification was confirmed.
“Moments like that live long in the memory. It was absolutely incredible and the joy was uncontainable,” ’Gladbach midfielder Christoph Kramer said.
Shakhtar go into the UEFA Europa League, while Inter finish at the bottom of their group, failing to reach the last 16 for a third consecutive season.
Atletico needed to beat RB Salzburg in Austria to qualify as runners-up in Group A behind Bayern Munich, and they did so, with Mario Hermoso and Yannick Carrasco scoring in a 2-0 victory.
“I think in the nine years we’ve been here, we have reached the last 16 eight times,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “I enjoy looking back at that. Lots of people will say it’s just normal for us, but I don’t think it’s normal.”
Salzburg go into the Europa League, while reigning European champions Bayern completed the group stage unbeaten, as Niklas Suele and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting gave them a 2-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow.
The other team to clinch qualification on Wednesday was Atalanta BC, whose 1-0 win away to Ajax secured second place in Group D behind Liverpool and a last-16 spot for the second consecutive year.
Luis Muriel scored a late winner for Atalanta in Amsterdam, after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for the hosts, who drop into the Europa League.
Already through, Liverpool could give an opportunity to several younger players in their 1-1 draw with Midtjylland in Denmark, where Mohamed Salah put the 2018-2019 winners ahead early on, but Alexander Scholz’s penalty gave the hosts an honorable draw.
PSG had on Tuesday wrapped up their qualification for the last 16, thanks to Manchester United’s defeat at RB Leipzig, despite their game being suspended after an unprecedented walkout.
Both sets of players refused to continue after a row erupted over an alleged racist remark by the fourth official aimed at Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo.
With a new set of officials, the game restarted in the 14th minute on Wednesday, with Neymar scoring a hat-trick, while also winning a penalty converted by Kylian Mbappe.
That was Mbappe’s first Champions League goal in 12 months, although he scored again later on after Mehmet Topal pulled one back.
With their 5-1 victory, PSG go through as group winners.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City made it five wins and a draw in Group D, as they eased to a 3-0 victory against Olympique de Marseille, with Ferran Torres and Sergio Aguero getting second-half goals before an Alvaro Gonzalez own-goal.
Also already qualified, Porto beat Olympiakos 2-0 in Piraeus, courtesy of Otavio’s early penalty and a Matheus Uribe goal.
Olympiakos, who ended with 10 players, finish third in the section.
The draw for the last 16 is on Monday next week.
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