It was a do or die situation in Group B for all clubs to seal progression but Wolfsburg and Dutch champions PSV find themselves through to the Round of 16 from Group B after their wins, leaving Manchester United with the Europa League spot and CSKA Moscow at the foot of the table.
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Wolfsburg almost took the lead on the counter attack in the opening stages of their encounter against Manchester United when Champions League debutant Varela committed himself to an aerial duel against Max Kruse, losing out, and left Andre Schurrle unmarked who had just the goalkeeper to beat but skied his effort. Louis van Gaal’s men did however get the lead when Daley Blind cleverly played the ball forward to No. 10 Juan Mata who set Anthony Martial free with a defence-splitting pass, the Frenchman deftly slotted it past Diego Benaglio.
Moments later, due to an uncharacteristic lack of concentration, Manchester United conceded a goal from a free kick around 40 yards from goal as Ricardo Rodriguez’ free kick was hit on the volley by Brazilian centre back Naldo leaving David de Gea with no chance. The assist proved to be Ricardo Rodriguez’ last contribution of the game as he went off holding his hamstring.
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Dieter Hecking’s men took the lead at the half hour mark after some lovely one touch football in and around the penalty area. Julian Draxler, was at the heart of the move, as the German shimmied past two opponents before playing a quick one-two with Kruse, before slipping the ball to Vieirinha, who made no mistake in front of an empty net. Moments before the first-half whistle, Jesse Lingard curled one in into the bottom corner but the goal was disallowed as Mata was flagged offside for influencing the game from an offside position and obscuring the goalkeeper’s view, leaving the Manchester United faithful in holding their heads in frustration.
United pushed on for an equaliser after the break but were denied by a resolute home side defence.
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The Red Devils would have long been out of the contest had it not being for their star shotstopper David De Gea, who pulled 4 jaw dropping saves in the latter stages of the second half.
The pressure was on and with 10 minutes plus injury time to go, United pressed hard for a leveler. In the 81st minute, Daley Blind’s outswinging corner was firmly met by Marouane Fellaini, who headed his effort on the turf and Joshua Guilavogui attempted header clearance looped into his own net over the onrushing Benaglio to make matters level. United were back in the hunt following the disastrous own goal but their happiness didn’t last long, as Naldo found the back of the net again, scrambling home his headed effort off Daley Blind after a corner routine as it ended 3-2 in favor of the hosts at Volkswagen Arena.
In the other Group B encounter, PSV Eindhoven narrowed past the already eliminated CSKA Moscow 2-1 to seal a place in the knockout stages, finishing second in the group behind Germans Wolfsburg, while United will have to be content with a place in the Europa League.
In the other groups, both qualifiers had been decided on Round 5 but in Group C and Group D, the battle for top spot was pretty much on.
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Manchester City will avoid the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Round of 16, thanks to an emphatic 4-2 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach. Raheem Sterling, who is celebrating his 21st birthday, gave himself the best gift possible with a brilliant performance capped off with a brace and an assist, as City pipped Juventus to win top spot in Group D. After David Silva’s opener, the high-flying German outfit scored two goals to lead at half-time but an inspired final 15 minutes were enough for the Citizens, as a double from Sterling and late Wilfried Bony goal wrapped things up. Meanwhile, last season’s runners-up Juventus finished second in their group after a 1-0 loss at Sevilla, who will play in the Europa League.
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Real Madrid were going to top Group A, irrespective of the result of Tuesday due to their favorable head-to-head record against PSG but the 10-time winners annihilated the visiting Swedish minnows Malmo for good measure in a commanding 8-0 victory, as Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net on 4 occasions, while the under-fire Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick and Matteo Kovacic got one for himself. PSG won 2-0 at the Parc des Princes thanks to goals from Lucas Moura and Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Shakhtar Donetsk and the Ukrainian side will play in the Europa League.
Atletico Madrid beat Benfica away from home to win Group C, while Galatasaray finished a point above Kazakh side FC Astana, to seal a place in Europe’s second-tier competition.
Tags: Champions League Champions League 2015 Manchester City Manchester United Real Madrid Ronaldo
