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Tuesday Champions League round-up
Tuesday Champions League round-up: Man United top group; Chelsea finish second (December 05 2017)
A round-up from Tuesday night's action in the Champions League. Manchester United came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow and top their Champions League group as Jose Mourinho's men took their unbeaten home run to a club record-equalling 40th match. It always appeared a case of when rather than if United would progress to the last-16 for the first time since 2013-14, despite their winning start to Group A ending with the last-gasp defeat at Basel. Not even Alan Dzagoev's controversial opener had the Old Trafford faithful concerned as only a record seven-goal defeat would deny United, who turned things around through quick-fire Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford goals to triumph 2-1. Victory puts United among the group winners for the last-16 draw and saw them equal the club record of 40 successive home games without defeat ahead of Sunday's visit of runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. Basel clinched second place with a 2-0 victory over Benfica in Lisbon. The Swiss outfit got off to the perfect start when Mohamed Elyounoussi headed them into a fifth-minute lead from Michael Lang's cross. They doubled their advantage 20 minutes into the second half when Dimitri Oberlin headed home from close range, and that was enough to condemn the Portuguese to a sixth successive defeat. Chelsea finished second in Group C after rallying to draw 1-1 with Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. The Blues, already through, needed a win to secure top spot, but fell behind to Saul Niguez's header as Atletico sought the victory they needed to have any chance of progressing. Chelsea had chances, with Jan Oblak frustrating Alvaro Morata and Andreas Christensen heading wide, before Eden Hazard's run forced Stefan Savic to turn the ball into his own net. Substitute Willian might have won it for Chelsea, who instead had to settle for a draw which saw them finish behind Roma on head-to-head records. The Italians needed Diego Perotta's 53rd-minute header to get past Azerbaijani side Qarabag to book their place in the last 16 as group winners. Celtic will be playing European football after Christmas despite a 1-0 defeat by Anderlecht at Parkhead. The Hoops' 3-0 win in Brussels on match-day two meant the visitors had to equal or better that result in the final Group B game to leapfrog the Scottish champions into a Europa League spot. Brendan Rodgers' side endured an uncomfortable first-half bossed by the visitors and went behind through a Jozo Simunovic own goal in the 62nd minute but managed to avoid further mishap to remain in third place. Corentin Tolisso struck twice as Bayern Munich beat Paris St Germain 3-1 and briefly threatened to usurp the Ligue 1 side at the top of Group B. Bayern needed just eight minutes to get their noses in front when Robert Lewandowski stabbed home after David Alaba had got his head to James Rodriguez's cross, and they increased their lead eight minutes before the break. Four minutes after Neymar had seen his shot turned away by keeper Sven Ulreich, midfielder Tolisso powered home a header from another James delivery to further boost their hopes. Kylian Mbappe calmed PSG nerves five minutes after the restart when he put the finishing touch to a fine move involving Marco Verratti and Edinson Cavani, but Tolisso made it 3-1 with 21 minutes remaining. Barcelona completed their Group D campaign with a 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon at the Nou Camp. With the LaLiga leaders already qualified as group winners and a testing trip to Villarreal ahead on Sunday, coach Ernesto Valverde made the expected wholesale changes as talisman Lionel Messi started on the bench. After a lacklustre first half, Barcelona broke the deadlock after 59 minutes when Paco Alcacer headed in from a corner and former Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu netted an own goal in stoppage time, which left Sporting having to be content with a Europa League spot after finishing behind Juventus. Juventus secured their place in the last 16 with a 2-0 victory against Olympiacos in Greece. On a night when Sporting Lisbon might have deprived them of second spot in Group D, last season's finalists ensured there would be no slip-ups with a fourth successive clean sheet. Juan Cuadrado settled any Italian nerves after 15 minutes and substitute Federico Bernardeschi sealed matters with a fine strike in the final moments. In the end Sporting's defeat in Barcelona meant that this result in Greece did not matter, but Juventus controlled the contest throughout.
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