Bayern Munich sent Barcelona into the Europa League with a thumping 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena, whilst English clubs Chelsea and Manchester United were held to draws. Juventus confirmed top spot in the group after Chelsea dropped points, whilst extreme snow prevented Atalanta and Villarreal from their virtual knockout game for a place in the round of 16.
Thomas Muller opened the scoring for Bayern against the Catalan giants, with Robert Lewandowski donning the assisting cap. Leroy Sane doubled the lead soon, only for youngster Jamal Musiala to add a third in the second half. Xavi’s men looked deflated and got outwitted, only for them to get relegated into the Europa League for the first time since the cup was formed in 2004.
In the other game of this group, Benfica emerged victorious 2-0 against Dynamo Kyiv, which took them just a point above Barcelona. Roman Yaremchuk and Gilberto scored for the first non-Spanish winners of the European Cup, as they sailed into the round of 16 as the runners up in Group E.
Whilst Atalanta and Villarreal couldn’t face off due to extreme weather conditions, Manchester United fielded an entirely different XI in Ralf Rangnick’s second game in charge of the club. Mason Greenwood scored with an acrobatic finish inside 10 minutes, but a mistake from Donny van de Beek allowed Fabian Rieder to have a pop from long range and scored imperiously. Young Boys had several good opportunities but could only manage one point at Old Trafford.
Juventus confirmed top spot in Group H with Moise Kean scoring the only goal of the contest against Malmo, whilst Chelsea’s trip to Zenit provided another gruelling encounter for the Blues. Timo Werner was heavily involved in all the goals scored by the visiting unit, scoring twice and assisting once.
It seemed like his 85th minute strike sealed three points for Chelsea, but just the way they did against West Ham in the league on Saturday, they conceded a very late goal to Magomed Ozdoev, who lashed at a volley, which rocketed into the top corner to break Chelsea hearts. Sardar Azmoun and Claudinho were the other scorers for Zenit on the night.
In arguably the closest group of the contest, RB Salzburg and French champions Lille managed to sideline Sevilla and Wolfsburg for a place in the round of 16. Salzburg hosted the Spanish giants in a hard-fought contest, which was eventually decided by Noah Okafor’s close-range finish, set up by a brilliant cross from Karim Adeyemi. Salzburg managed to hold that lead until the end and sealed three crucial points.
Jocelyn Gourvennec’s Lille had a tricky task as they had to visit Germany and had to beat Wolfsburg to top the table. A draw wouldn’t put them in the next round too, but the French champions were on the front foot from the get-go.
Burak Yilmaz found the net after a breath-taking counter from his team, from conceding a corner to scoring at the other end in a flash. Former Manchester United prospect Angel Gomes made a sub appearance to replace Gabriel Gudmundsson and made two goal contributions in the space of five minutes, assisting and scoring, respectively.
A late consolation from Renato Steffen proved to be of no use for the hosts, as they went down 3-1 and finished last in the group.
