UCL Review: Former Champions United, Juventus Secure Last 16 Spots

Former European champions Manchester United and Juventus have booked their respective places in the first knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) after Matchday 6 victories.

United came from behind to beat Russian side CSKA Moscow 2-1 at home to confirm a last 16 place as Group A winners.

Vitinho struck late in the first half to give the Russian side hopes of a knockout place but that quickly evaporated with two goals in two second half minutes from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford.

The win was enough to preserve the team’s unbeaten home run, which has now extended to 40 matches.

In the other game in Group A, Swiss champions Basel booked their place in the second round after a 2-0 win at hapless Benfica through goals from Mohammed Elyounoussi and Dmitri Oberlin.

In Group B, big spenders Paris Saint Germain (PSG) suffered a 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena but that didn’t stop the French side from finishing as group winners ahead of their Bavarian opponents.

Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Corentin Tolisso gave Bayern a 2-0 lead at the interval before Kylian Mbappe pulled one back five minutes into the second half. Tolisso added his second goal later to wrap up the victory for his side.

Celtic will drop to the UEFA Europa League (UEL) for their third-placed finish despite a 1-0 home loss to Anderlecht in the other game in Group B.

2012 winners Chelsea missed out on Group C top spot after AS Roma leapfrogged the team with a 1-0 over lowly Qarabag at home through Diego Perotti’s goal.

Eden Hazard’s shot deflected off Stefan Savic to cancel out Saul Njguez’s opener for Atletico Madrid as both sides played out an entertaining 1-1 draw to deny Chelsea the summit.

In Group D, Barcelona defeated Sporting Lisbon 2-0 at the Nou Camp to end the visitors’ chances of securing a last 16 berth and Italian champions Juventus will join them following a 2-0 away win in at their Greek opponentits Olympiakos.

Paco Alcacer and a Jeremy Mathieu own goal gave the Nou Camp giants the win while Juan Cuadrado and Federico Bernardeschi scored the goals for Juventus.

Matchday 6 Results

Group A

Benfica 0-2 Basel

Manchester United 2-1 CSKA Moscow

Standings:

1. Manchester United 15 points

2. Basel 12 points

3. CSKA Moscow 9 points

4. Benfica 0 point

Group B

Celtic 0-1 Anderlecht

Bayern Munich 3-1 PSG

Standings:

1. PSG 15 points

2. Bayern Munich 15 points

3. Celtic 3 points

4. Anderlecht 3 points

Group C

AS Roma 1-0 Qarabag

Chelsea 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Standings:

1. AS Roma 11 points

2. Chelsea 11 points

3. Atletico Madrid 7 points

4. Qarabag 2 points

Group D

Barcelona 2-0 Sporting Lisbon

Olympiakos 0-2 Juventus

Standings:

1. Barcelona 14 points

2. Juventus 11 points

3. Sporting Lisbon 7 points

4. Olympiakos 1 point