The remaining tickets to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages were booked on Wednesday, with Atalanta and Atletico Madrid booking passage to the next round.
All of the other top teams had already qualified, but they still took care of business. Paris Saint-Germain crushed Galatasaray 5-0, and Real Madrid overcame a spirited Club Brugge side in Belgium.
Juventus beat Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, and Manchester City cruised to a win over Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. Bayern Munich got past Tottenham Hotspur in the marquee clash of the night
The teams that have qualified for the knockout stages:
Final Tables (Team, Goal Difference, Points)
Group A
PSG, +15, 16
Real Madrid, +6, 11
Club Brugge, -8, 3
Galatasaray, -13, 2
Group B
Bayern, +19, 18
Spurs, +4, 10
Olympiacos, -6, 4
Red Star, -17, 3
Group C
Manchester City, +12, 14
Atalanta, -4, 7
Shakhtar Donetsk, -5, 6
Zagreb, -3, 5
Group D
Juventus, +8, 16
Atletico, +3, 10
Leverkusen, -4, 6
Lokomotiv Moscow, -7, 3
With just two more spots in the next round on the line, most of the top clubs rolled out their backups and youngsters. Atletico didn’t have such an opportunity, needing to beat Lokomotiv, and cruised to a 2-0 win at home.
Kieran Trippier had an early penalty saved, but Joao Felix fared better from the spot, handing his team the lead. Felipe made it 2-0 after the break to secure a routine win. Juventus’ win over Bayer Leverkusen meant the Rojiblancos would have gone through, regardless.
While there were no miracles for Leverkusen, a massive upset took place in Group C:
A Gabriel Jesus hat-trick saw City cruise to a win over Zagreb, giving Atalanta the opportunity to complete a comeback for the ages in Ukraine. Having picked up just a single point from their first four matches, the Italians booked their spot in the next round with a 3-0 win over Shakhtar, who finished with 10 players.
Tuesday Champions League games and qualified teams
Elsehwere, things played out mostly as expected. Bayern beat Spurs 3-1 but lost scorer Kingsley Coman to a non-contact injury, and Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr. and Luka Modric were all on point in Real Madrid’s win over Club Brugge.
The Belgians will play Europa League football despite earning just three points from six matches, thanks to PSG’s demolition of Galatasaray. Neymar ran the show against the Turks and gave up a penalty to Edinson Cavani:
Youssef El Arabi converted a late penalty to send Olympiacos to the Europa League, courtesy of a win over Red Star. Leverkusen and Shakhtar will also drop to Europe’s secondary club competition.
Credit: Bleacher
