Champions League: Real Madrid and Manchester City through to knockout phase

Spanish giants Real Madrid downed Paris Saint Germain 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to make it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Fernandez Nacho took advantage of a goalkeeping error by Kevin Trapp to put the hosts ahead in the 35th minute. The French Champions then pushed but it wasn’t to be as Cristiano Ronaldo’s team-mates held on to secure the win.

In group B, Wayne Rooney scored his first goal in the competition since September 2013 to hand Louis Van Gaal’s men a narrow 1-0 win against CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford. This result sees them lead group B, one point above PSV Eindhoven following their superb 2-0 win over Wolfsburg on home soil. Manchester United will next entertain PSV while Wolfsburg will travel to Moscow.

In group C, Jonas and Luisao both struck to hand Benfica a 2-1 win over Galatasaray at the Estádio da Luz. Rui Vitoria’s men have leapfrogged Atletico Madrid as the Colchoneros were unable to break the deadlock against Astana. The Kazakh team, who are currently sitting bottom with two points, will next entertain Benfica while Atletico will be looking to regain top spot when they travel to Galatasaray.

Manchester City have followed in the footsteps of Real Madrid in qualifying for the round of 16. Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho and Wilfried Bony each netted as the English side beat Sevilla 3-1 in Spain. Yaya Toure’s teammates now have 9 points, one more than Juventus following their hard fought draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany.