Manchester United, Basel, Roma, Juventus advance in Champions League


(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By KAREL JANICEK | AP

Manchester United advanced to the Champions League knockout stage after rallying to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 on Tuesday to remain unbeaten at Old Trafford for a club record-equaling 40 successive games.

Basel joined United in the next phase from Group A by downing Benfica 2-0.

Paris Saint-Germain won Group B despite losing at Bayern Munich 3-1, the second straight loss for the French league leader.

Roma beat Qarabag 1-0 to top Group C ahead of already-qualified Chelsea. The latter was held to 1-1 at home by Atletico Madrid, which was eliminated after reaching the final in two of the last four years.

England could have five teams in the last 16 for the first time if Liverpool advances on Wednesday.

Last year's runner-up, Juventus, had to wait until the last group game to qualify. Juve won at Olympiakos 2-0 and joined group winner Barcelona, which beat Sporting Lisbon 2-0.

Here is a look at what happened on Tuesday:

GROUP A

Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford scored in a 66-second span for United, which became the third English team to finish top of its group. Manchester City and Tottenham were already assured of first place heading into their final group games on Wednesday.

Lukaku volleyed in just his second goal since September for the 64th-minute equalizer, and strike partner Marcus Rashford drove home an angled winner to complete the comeback.

Vitinho gave the visitors a 1-0 lead seconds before halftime.

Basel forward Mohamed Elyounoussi headed in a cross by Michael Lang five minutes into the game and Dimitri Oberlin doubled the advantage with another header in the 65th.

United won the group with three more points than Basel. CSKA was left with the Europa League, and Benfica completed a poor campaign without a single point.

GROUP B

PSG's impressive attack extended its tournament record of 24 goals in the group stage with another one. Kylian Mbappe scored the record 25th in six games.

But it was not enough for PSG to win and rebound from a stunning 2-1 loss to promoted Strasbourg in the French league over the weekend.

Robert Lewandowski got Bayern off to a flying start and Corentin Tolisso doubled Bayern's lead before the break. The home side needed just two more in the second half to top the group, but Mbappe dented those hopes soon after the break when Edinson Cavani lifted the ball for the teen to head home.

Both sides finished with 15 points, well ahead of Celtic and Anderlecht, both on three. Anderlecht won in Glasgow 1-0 but Celtic finished third to take the Europa League place.

GROUP C

Diego Perotti scored early in the second half for Roma against Qarabag.

The Chelsea-Atletico match in England still had a couple of more minutes to go after the final whistle in Rome. All of the Roma squad waited in front of their fans and, as soon as the big screen showed it was over, there were huge cheers from players and supporters.

Demoted to the Europa League, Atletico will miss the Champions League knockout phase for the first time in five years.

But even if Atletico had held onto the lead secured in the 56th minute by Saul Niguez, it would not have been enough to finish in the top two due to Roma's victory.

Chelsea equalized to finish second in the 75th minute; defender Stefan Savic turned Eden Hazard's shot into his own net.

Qarabag finished on the bottom.

GROUP D

Juventus, a finalist in two of the last three seasons, secured its berth in the next phase courtesy of goals from Juan Cuadrado and Federico Bernardeschi.

Cuadrado lunged forward to meet a cross from Alex Sandro and beat Olympiakos goalkeeper Silvio Proto in the 15th minute.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri left striker Mario Mandzukic on the bench as he recovered from a calf injury, but the Bianconeri looked comfortable in low gear. The hosts tired toward the end of the game at Karaiskakis stadium, leaving Bernardeschi with little to do for the second goal in the 90th.

With Lionel Messi rested by Barcelona for the first hour, forward Paco Alcacer took full advantage of the opportunity by scoring a header in the 59th. Former Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu added an own goal in stoppage time.

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The Peninsula

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