MADRID: Two headed goals from Karim Benzema helped Real Madrid reach the Champions League knockout stages with a convincing 2-0 home win last night over Borussia Moenchengladbach, who also progressed to the last 16.
Benzema ghosted into the area unmarked to head home a floated cross from Lucas Vazquez in the ninth minute and rose again to score in the 32nd, this time powering a cross from Rodrygo through the hands of Swiss keeper Yann Sommer.
The German side were out-classed by the Spaniards but sneaked through from the group as Inter Milan drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the other game in Group B.
Zinedine Zidane’s side finished top with 10 points while Gladbach came second with eight, pipping third-placed Shakhtar due to their better head-to-head record, while Inter came fourth with six.
Inter Milan were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage for the third season in a row after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Shakhtar Donetsk, who were also eliminated.
Lautaro Martinez rattled the crossbar in the seventh minute of the Group B match but Inter created few chances after that, despite dominating possession at a soggy San Siro, and mustered only four efforts on target.
Shakhtar finished level with Borussia Moenchengladbach on eight points but lost out to the Bundesliga side on their head-to-head record to finish third and will go into the Europa League instead.
Neymar bagged a hat-trick as Paris St Germain topped Group H with a 5-1 home victory over Istanbul Basaksehir, a day after the game was suspended amid an alleged racist incident.
The PSG and Basaksehir players, as well as the three field referees, took a knee before kickoff one day after both teams walked off in protest after the Turkish side had accused the assistant referee of using a racist word against their assistant coach Pierre Webo.
Neymar struck three times and Kylian Mbappe scored his first goals in the competition in a year as PSG, who had already qualified for the last 16, advanced from the group stage with 12 points, ahead of RB Leipzig thanks to their better head-to-head record against the German side.
Sergio Aguero came off the bench to score for Manchester City as they cruised past Olympique Marseille 3-0 in Group C.
The result means the French team finished bottom of the group and failed to make the Europa League spot despite third-placed Olympiakos losing 2-0 to group runners-up Porto.
City were already assured of top spot and ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby rested keeper Ederson and gave a start to American back-up goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Bayern Munich earned a 2-0 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow in their final Group A game with second-half goals from Niklas Suele and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting.
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