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29 March 2024

Man Utd, City on track as Real progress

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney (centre) celebrates his goal against Otelul Galati with teammates during their Champions League Group C match at Old Trafford in Manchester, northern England, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

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By Agencies

Premier League title rivals Manchester United and Manchester City both closed on the Champions League knockout phase on Wednesday, as Real Madrid sealed their place in the last 16.

United won 2-0 at home to Romanian champions Otelul Galati in Group C, which means that last season’s beaten finalists can make sure of a place in the next round with victory at home to Benfica in their next game on November 23.

Having lamented the 6-1 “derby debacle” against City last month in his programme notes, Sir Alex Ferguson sent out an ultra-attacking United side that took an early lead when Antonio Valencia converted Phil Jones’ low cross.

The hosts’ momentum was punctured by an injury to Michael Owen in the first half and they struggled to press home their advantage until Cristian Sarghi deflected Wayne Rooney’s shot past his own goalkeeper in the 87th minute.

“Winning was important. Our opponents were very aggressive and defended very well, but it’s down to us now,” said Ferguson.

“If we beat Benfica, we’ll win the group. The incentive is fantastic with the history between the clubs.”

Benfica looked destined for the round of 16 after Rodrigo put them ahead in the fourth minute against Basel, but Benjamin Huggel’s equaliser meant the Portuguese giants finished the night level on points with United.

City muscled into position in Group A with a 3-0 victory at injury-ravaged Villarreal - their first away win in the competition’s history.

Yaya Toure broke the deadlock in the 30th minute at El Madrigal, bending a right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner from David Silva’s pass.

As ever, Mario Balotelli made sure of a share of the headlines, diving to win a penalty in first-half injury time and rolling away the spot-kick, before Toure danced through the home defence to make the game safe in the 71st minute.

“We know in the Champions League anything can happen, but we are going very well and want to improve if possible,” said City coach Roberto Mancini, after his side’s seventh straight victory.

The win lifted City into second place in the group, above a Napoli team whose last-16 hopes took a blow in a 3-2 defeat at Bayern Munich.

In rampant form domestically, group leaders Bayern went 3-0 up through a first-half Mario Gomez hat-trick.

Federico Fernandez got on the score-sheet twice, becoming the first opposition player to score at the Allianz Arena since Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Igor de Camargo on August 7, but Bayern held on.

City now lead third-place Napoli by two points and could book their place in the knockout phase with victory over Walter Mazzari’s side at Stadio San Paolo later this month.

Having seen his eternal rival Lionel Messi score his 200th and 201st goals for Barcelona on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo reached the 100-goal milestone for Real Madrid with both goals in a 2-0 succes at Lyon.

He broke the deadlock in the 24th minute with a low free-kick through the wall and made the points safe with a 69th-minute penalty that secured Real’s first ever win at Stade Gerland and a place in the last 16.

“We produced a complete, focused performance on a difficult pitch,” said Real coach Jose Mourinho.

“Qualification is assured but now we want to hold on to first place.”

Defeat for Lyon was doubly damaging, as it coincided with a 4-0 victory for Ajax at home to Dinamo Zagreb that lifted the Dutch giants three points clear of OL ahead of the two sides’ meeting at Gerland on November 22.

Inter Milan put their domestic woes behind them to beat French champions Lille 2-1 and open up a four-point lead in Group B.

Inter, currently 17th in Serie A, took an 18th-minute lead through Walter Samuel, with his Argentine compatriot Diego Milito extending the hosts’ advantage before Tulio de Melo dinked in a late consolation.

Lille remain bottom of the group, although they are only three points adrift of both CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor, who played out a goalless draw in Trabzon.

Champions League collated results and standings

Group A 
Bayern Munich 3 Napoli 2  
Villarreal 0 Manchester City 3  
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts  
Bayern Munich 4 3 1 0 8 3 10  
Manchester City 4 2 1 1 6 4 7  
Napoli 4 1 2 1 6 5 5  
Villarreal 4 0 0 4 1 9 0 
- - 
Group B 
Trabzonspor 0 CSKA Moscow 0  
Inter Milan 2 Lille 1 
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts  
Inter Milan 4 3 0 1 6 4 9  
CSKA Moscow 4 1 2 1 7 5 5  
Trabzonspor 4 1 2 1 2 4 5  
Lille 4 0 2 2 4 6 2  
- - 
Group C 
Manchester United 2 Otelul Galati 0  
Benfica 1 Basel 1 
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts  
Manchester United 4 2 2 0 8 4 8 
Benfica 4 2 2 0 5 2 8  
Basel 4 1 2 1 6 7 5  
Otelul Galati 4 0 0 4 1 7 0  
- - 
Group D 
Olympique Lyon 0 Real Madrid 2  
Ajax Amsterdam 4 Dinamo Zagreb 0  
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts  
Real Madrid* 4 4 0 0 10 0 12  
Ajax Amsterdam 4 2 1 1 6 3 7  
Olympique Lyon 4 1 1 2 2 6 4  
Dinamo Zagreb 4 0 0 4 0 9 0 
* Denotes qualified for last 16  
- - -  
Played on Tuesday 
Group E 
Valencia 3 Bayer Leverkusen 1  
Racing Genk 1 Chelsea 1 
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts 
Chelsea 4 2 2 0 9 2 8 
Bayer Leverkusen 4 2 0 2 5 6 6 
Valencia 4 1 2 1 5 4 5 
Racing Genk 4 0 2 2 1 8 2  
- - 
Group F 
Arsenal 0 Olympique Marseille 0  
Borussia Dortmund 1 Olympiakos Piraeus 0 
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts 
Arsenal 4 2 2 0 4 2 8 
Olympique Marseille 4 2 1 1 4 1 7 
Borussia Dortmund 4 1 1 2 3 7 4 
Olympiakos Piraeus 4 1 0 3 4 5 3 
- - 
Group G 
Zenit St Petersburg 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 0  
APOEL Nicosia 2 Porto 1 
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts 
APOEL Nicosia 4 2 2 0 6 4 8 
Zenit St Petersburg 4 2 1 1 7 5 7 
Porto 4 1 1 2 5 7 4 
Shakhtar Donetsk 4 0 2 2 4 6 2 
- - 
Group H 
BATE Borisov 1 AC Milan 1 
Viktoria Plzen 0 Barcelona 4 
 
Standings P W D L F A Pts 
Barcelona* 4 3 1 0 13 2 10  
AC Milan * 4 2 2 0 7 3 8 
BATE Borisov 4 0 2 2 2 9 2  
Viktoria Plzen 4 0 1 3 1 9 1 
* Denotes qualified for last 16