Champions League Matchday 5: Chelsea, Barcelona Go Through; Atletico Still Alive
Two more Champions League knockout stage tickets were punched on Wednesday, with Chelsea and Barcelona taking the total of clubs already through up to eight.
In the day's early fixture, Chelsea clinched its spot in the last 16 with a 4-0 result against Azerbaijan upstart Qarabag. Elsewhere, Barcelona and Juventus later played to a 0-0 draw, which was enough to secure Barcelona's place atop the group–even with Lionel Messi coming off the bench. Juventus isn't through just yet, with Sporting CP's win over Olympiakos keeping the door open for a surprise in the group stage finale.
Elsewhere, Manchester United failed to secure first place in its group with a late loss to Basel, Atletico Madrid stayed alive with a needed win over Roma and PSG set a new record for goals in the group stage, taking its tally to 24 with a 7-1 demolition of Celtic.
So far, PSG, Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Besiktas, Chelsea and Barcelona have clinched places in the round of 16.
Here are the day's scores:
Qarabag 0, Chelsea 4
CSKA Moscow 2, Benfica 0
Basel 1, Manchester United 0
Anderlecht 1, Bayern Munich 2
PSG 7, Celtic 1
Atletico Madrid 2, Roma 0
Juventus 0, Barcelona 0
Sporting CP 3, Olympiakos 1
Highlights of goals and key plays from throughout day are below:
BASEL STUNS MAN UNITED LATE
Manchester United was hit with a late defeat in Switzerland, with Michael Lang netting a go-ahead goal in the 89th minute to give Basel a 1-0 win. Man United still tops its group, but it's not through just yet and will have some work to do, with Basel and CSA Moscow both three points behind and United playing CSKA in the group finale.
PSG SETS GROUP STAGE RECORD
Marco Verratti's goal–PSG's fifth of the day vs. Celtic–has set a new standard for attacking excellence. With a game to go, PSG has 22 goals in the group stage, the most in the Champions League's history ... and there's still a game to be played.
Edinson Cavani piled on another mere minutes later and Dani Alves got in on the act late as well with a sensational hit off the outside of his boot, adding to the new record (24) and making it 7-1.
TOLISSO HEADS BAYERN BACK IN FRONT
Bayern Munich has its second lead of the day at Anderlecht, with Corentin Tolisso, who supplied the assist on the opener, doing the honors on the scoresheet with the header.
GRIEZMANN GIVES ATLETICO NEW LIFE WITH BICYCLE KICK
Atletico Madrid is fighting for its Champions League life, and Antoine Griezmann gave some hope with a nice, stunning overhead kick in the 69th minute, putting Atletico up 1-0 over Roma. A win would pull Atletico within two points of Roma for second place and keep that spot in the balance until the final day.
LEWANDOWSKI BREAKS THROUGH FOR BAYERN; ANDERLECHT ANSWERS
A slow day outside France picked up in neighboring Belgium, where Robert Lewandowski has Bayern Munich in front of Anderlecht after being set up by Corentin Tolisso in the 51st minute.
The hosts pulled even about 10 minutes later, with Sofiane Hanni delivering a surprising equalizer. The result is of little consequence for the German side, with PSG having first in the group wrapped up and Bayern already through in second.
SPORTING STRIKES FOR TWO BEFORE HALFTIME
Sporting Lisbon is hoping to pip Juventus to second place in their group, and it helped its chances with a pair of goals late in the first half, courtesy of Bas Dost and Bruno Cesar. Sporting entered the day three points behind Juventus.
PSG FINALLY CONCEDES; NEYMAR, CAVANI, MBAPPE ANSWER WITH FORCE
PSG had been bludgeoning opponents in the competition, winning its four games thus far by a combined 17-0 margin, but Celtic broke through in the first minute in Paris. Moussa Dembele's first-time effort off a corner kick has Celtic up early.
That lead didn't last long. Neymar pulled even from a tight angle after Adrien Rabiot pounced on a turnover and found him on the left channel to make it 1-1 in the ninth minute.
Neymar tallied his second in the 22nd minute, putting PSG in a familiar place–the lead.
That lead grew six minutes later from Edinson Cavani, with PSG hitting the three-goal mark for the fifth straight Champions League game.
PSG wasn't done there, either. After seeing his two front-line mates getting on the board, Kylian Mbappe just had to do the same, and he did in the 35th to make it 4-1.
WILLIAN GOLAZO SEALS CHELSEA'S PLACE
After Cesc Fabregas increased Chelsea's lead to 3-0 from the penalty spot, Willian put an exclamation point on the rout in the 85th minute with a thunderbolt from long range. He took a pass from Pedro and threaded a rocket inside the right post, making it 4-0 and sending Chelsea on its way to the knockout stage as the third English team to qualify.
CSKA DOUBLES LEAD ON OWN GOAL
Benfica's have troubles continued, with Jardel's 56th-minute own goal doubling CSKA's advantage to 2-0. Benfica's European run will be mathematically over with a game to spare, as the club won't have any shot of even reaching the Europa League as a third-place finisher without a win.
WILLIAN, HAZARD GIVE CHELSEA EARLY COMMAND
Eden Hazard gave Chelsea the lead on a 21st-minute penalty kick in Azerbaijan, putting the Blues up 1-0 on Qarabag after Willian was taken down in the box by captain Rashad Sadigov, who was promptly sent off.
With Qarabag down to 10 men, the two combined in the run of play for Chelsea's second, with Hazard coolly slotting a ball to his left for Willian in the center of the box, where the Brazilian finished with ease in the 36th minute.
BENFICA GOES DOWN A GOAL EARLY
It's been a rough go in the Champions League for Benfica, with the Portuguese club without points through four games. It's not getting better, either, with Georgi Shchennikov putting CSKA Moscow up 1-0 in the 19th minute. CSKA entered the day level with Basel on points for second in the group and could well work its way to the knockout stage.
Here are the lineups for the day's matches:
Basel vs. Manchester United
Anderlecht vs. Bayern Munich
PSG vs. Celtic
Atletico Madrid vs. Roma
Juventus vs. Barcelona
Sporting CP vs. Olympiakos
Qarabag vs. Chelsea
CSKA Moscow vs. Benfica
The Champions League group stage wraps up on Dec. 5 and 6, with the final games of the round, prior to the Dec. 11 draw for the round of 16.
