💫 Benzema heads Real through; Atléti advance and Inter out of Europe | OneFootball

And there we have it! The group stage for this season’s Champions League has now concluded.

This is what went down on Wednesday night …

Real Madrid 2-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Scorers: Benzema 9′, 32′

Real Madrid avoided the humiliation of a first ever group stage exit thanks to a Champions League talisman coming up with the goods again.

It was Los Blancos’ old reliable in this competition, Karim Benzema, who set them on their way, planting in two exceptional headers from right flank crosses to step up when it counted again.

Buoyed by those goals and the return of captain Sergio Ramos at the back, only the woodwork and an inspired Yann Sommer prevented an even more convincing margin of victory.

Real even advance as group winners and Gladbach join them in second after squeezing past Shakhtar on a one-sided head to head record.

Inter 0-0 Shakhtar

Inter crashed out of Europe altogether, with Shakhtar claiming third place in a tough group, after a scoreless draw at San Siro.

The closest either side came to a goal in an edgy encounter was the Nerazzurri, which arrived when Lautaro Martínez smashed the crossbar from close range in the first half.

But they couldn’t break through against a side they beat 5-0 just a few months ago – their night summed up by Alexis Sánchez’s last gasp goal-bound header being accidentally blocked by Romelu Lukaku.

Inter will now only have Serie A to focus on – for better or worse.

RB Salzburg 0-2 Atlético Madrid

Scorers: Hermoso 39′, Carrasco 85′

Atlético Madrid secured their place in the knockout phase by avoiding the considerable banana skin they faced in Salzburg.

The breakthrough arrived on 39 minutes when Mario Hermoso headed in from a Yannick Carrasco free-kick after some scares at the other end.

The provider then scored himself to make sure of the win, finishing smartly on the volley after Ángel Correa picked him out – sending Diego Simeone dancing down the touchline in delight.

Bayern Munich 2-0 Lokomotiv Moscow

Scorers: Süle 63′, Choupo-Moting 80′

With Bayern already assured of top spot and Lokomotiv facing a huge task to even get off the bottom, little of note was expected in this one.

And in that regard, it delivered with little to report for an hour before a downward header from Niklas Süle breathed some life into things.

The result was put beyond doubt with 10 minutes left when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting finished after good work from Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry.

Manchester City 3-0 Marseille

Scorers: Torres 48′, Agüero 77′, Sterling 90′

Sergio Agüero marked his return for Manchester City with a goal as they condemned Marseille to bottom spot in the group.

However, there is another fitness concern for Pep Guardiola as they lost Eric García to injury in a goalless first half and it remains to be seen how serious that issue is.

But they hit the front shortly after the restart when Gabriel Jesus picked out Ferran Torres with a perfect measured pass and he made no mistake.

Agüero scored from close range to enjoy the perfect return, with Raheem Sterling completing the win with a late close range strike.

Olympiacos 0-2 Porto

Scorers: Otávio pen 10′, Uribe 77′

Porto finished their group campaign on a high with a comfortable win in Piraeus against 10-man Olympiacos.

Otávio scored from the penalty spot early on and Mateus Uribe drilled in a second from the edge of the area with 13 minutes left, although Olympiacos still finish third as a result of Marseille’s defeat in Manchester.

Paris Saint-Germain 5-1 Istanbul Basaksehir

Scorers: Neymar 21′, 38′, 50′, Mbappé pen 42′, 62; Topal 57′

After putting on a powerful message of anti-racism prior to the final 76 minutes of this one, PSG ran riot against Istanbul Basaksehir to top the Group of Death.

When it came to the game, it was Neymar who stole the show, scoring with two wonderful strikes from outside the area in each half, either side of a less tidy finish to help himself to a hat-trick.

Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot in the first half too, becoming the youngest player ever to reach 20 Champions League goals (beating Lionel Messi’s record) and began his march to 30 when tapping home easily after the break for a second.

Basaksehir’s consolation came via a deflected strike from Mehmet Topal, with the victors ruthlessly finishing first to advance along with RB Leipzig.

Midtjylland 1-1 Liverpool

Scorers: Scholz penalty 62′; Salah 1′

Some farcical officiating all round saw Liverpool end their group stage campaign with a draw in Denmark.

After 55 seconds, Mohamed Salah gave the lead with their quickest ever Champions League goal, capitalising on a series of defensive laps to run clear and poke home.

But a controversial VAR-awarded second half penalty allowed the hosts to level, shortly after Billy Koumetio had came on for his Liverpool debut and become the youngest player ever to do so for the club in Europe.

There was further officiating drama at both ends in which the rules of the game were called into question by both as Liverpool eased through as group winners.

Ajax 0-1 Atalanta

Scorers: Muriel 85′

A late goal from Europe’s greatest supersub Luis Muriel sent Ajax out of the Champions League at Atalanta’s expense.

The game was tightly poised at 0-0 for 85 minutes but a late, and harsh, red card for Ryan Gravenberch swung the game in the Italians’ favour.

They soon struck against the 10 men for Muriel to race in, round the keeper and score to send Atalanta through for the second straight year.

Tuesday’s results

Barcelona 0-3 Juventus Chelsea 1-1 Krasnodar Dynamo Kyiv 1-0 Ferencváros RB Leipzig 3-2 Manchester United Rennes 1-3 Sevilla Lazio 2-2 Club Brugge Zenit 1-2 Dortmund