Man City, Leipzig into Champions League last 16 as Shakhtar stun Barcelona

Manchester City’s Norwegian striker Erling Haaland scores his team’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B second leg match against Young Boys at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on Tuesday. (AFP)
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Updated 08 November 2023
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Man City, Leipzig into Champions League last 16 as Shakhtar stun Barcelona

  • Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions have eased into the knockout phase with a perfect record, a 3-0 win over Young Boys making it four wins out of four in Group G
  • Atletico Madrid top Group E after crushing 10-man Celtic 6-0 in Spain to record their biggest win in the modern Champions League

PARIS: Holders Manchester City and RB Leipzig became the first teams to reach the last 16 of this season’s Champions League on Tuesday while Danylo Sikan’s goal allowed Shakhtar Donetsk to claim a stunning win over Barcelona.

Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions have eased into the knockout phase with a perfect record, a 3-0 win over Young Boys making it four wins out of four in Group G.

Erling Haaland followed his brace in Bern two weeks ago with another two goals against the Swiss side, with the Norwegian striker opening the scoring from the penalty spot midway through the first half.

Phil Foden got their second in first-half stoppage time and Haaland struck again soon after the interval for his 15th goal of the campaign.

Young Boys were then reduced to 10 men as Sandro Lauper was sent off, and City saw out a 10th successive home victory in the competition.

“People say ‘yeah, the group stage, it is easy’, but you have to do it. In life, you have to do it when people expect you to do it,” Guardiola told TNT Sports.

Leipzig joined City in securing progress from Group G thanks to their 2-1 victory at Red Star Belgrade.

Xavi Simons gave the German side an early lead with a lovely finish into the far corner, and Lois Openda made it 2-0 in the rain in Belgrade with his 10th goal this season.

Former European Cup winners Red Star pulled one back through a Benjamin Henrichs own goal but they are now left to fight it out with Young Boys for a place in the Europa League knockout phase.

Barcelona could have booked their last-16 ticket with a win over Shakhtar but instead the Ukrainian club kept their own hopes alive with a famous 1-0 victory in Hamburg.

Sikan, the 22-year-old forward, headed in the only goal of the Group H game late in the first half and Shakhtar held on.

“It feels very sweet,” smiled coach Marino Pusic, whose Shakhtar team are playing European home games this season in Germany amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“I am tremendously proud of my players and all the people in the club, working very hard to support me in this, what we achieved tonight.”

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez admitted his team were “in a bit of a footballing rut,” and they were joined at the top of the section on nine points by Porto, who beat Royal Antwerp 2-0 in Portugal.

Brazilian forward Evanilson opened the scoring with a first-half penalty and Antwerp had Jurgen Ekkelenkamp sent off early in the second half.

Porto wrapped up the win in stoppage time when veteran defender Pepe headed in to become, at the age of 40 years and 254 days old, the oldest player ever to score a Champions League goal.

The record had previously been held by Francesco Totti, who last scored in the competition for Roma aged 38.

Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United’s hopes of qualifying from Group F remain in the balance after both lost on the road.

PSG went down 2-1 away to AC Milan despite Milan Skriniar giving the French side an early lead at San Siro.

It took Milan just three minutes to draw level when Rafael Leao finished in acrobatic fashion, and Olivier Giroud headed in the winner five minutes after half-time.

Borussia Dortmund are top of the group after beating Newcastle 2-0 in Germany, with Niclas Fuellkrug and Julian Brandt scoring the goals, one in each half.

“When you concede four goals in this stadium three days ago, it feels good to hold a very good English team to nil — and the two goals will do us good,” Brandt told Amazon Prime as Dortmund bounced back from Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Atletico Madrid top Group E after crushing 10-man Celtic 6-0 in Spain to record their biggest win in the modern Champions League.

Antoine Griezmann grabbed an early opener and Celtic then had Daizen Maeda sent off midway through the first half.

Alvaro Morata made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time and Griezmann made it three on the hour mark.

Samuel Lino got the fourth with a stunning strike, Morata lashed in the fifth for his second, and Saul Niguez completed the scoring.

Lazio beat Feyenoord 1-0 in the same section thanks to Ciro Immobile’s 200th goal for the club.


Real Madrid edge Valencia to stay on Barca’s tail, Atletico slump

Updated 09 February 2026
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Real Madrid edge Valencia to stay on Barca’s tail, Atletico slump

  • After Spanish champions Barca had beaten Mallorca on Saturday, Alvaro Arbeloa’s Madrid eked out a tight victory at Mestalla to keep the pressure on their arch-rivals

BARCELONA: Kylian Mbappe scored his 23rd goal of the season in La Liga to help Real Madrid claim a battling 2-0 win at Valencia on Sunday and close the gap to leaders Barcelona to one point.
Third-place Atletico Madrid slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Real Betis, three days after thrashing the Andalusian side in the Copa del Rey, falling further away from the top two.
After Spanish champions Barca had beaten Mallorca on Saturday, Alvaro Arbeloa’s Madrid eked out a tight victory at Mestalla to keep the pressure on their arch-rivals.
Missing suspended forward Vinicius Junior and injured midfielder Jude Bellingham, Los Blancos lacked sparkle but did enough to claim three points on Spain’s east coast.
Alvaro Carreras put the visitors ahead midway through the second half and Mbappe struck late on to seal their win.
“It was going to be a game where we had to have a lot of patience. I think it was a win that came because of how solid we were, and our focussed performance,” said Arbeloa.
“I think that we were fair winners.”
England international Trent Alexander-Arnold made his return after injury as a substitute in the second half of Madrid’s victory.
Arda Guler and Mbappe had chances in the first half, while Madrid right-back David Jimenez, from the club’s youth academy, came closest to scoring but was denied by goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Midway through the second half, Carreras conjured a goal out of nothing to give Madrid the lead.
Coming in from the left, the defender used his weaker right foot to stroke the ball inside Dimitrievski’s near post.
Valencia might have levelled but Lucas Beltran’s effort on the stretch clipped the post.
Madrid eventually secured the three points in stoppage time as Brahim Diaz teed up La Liga’s top scorer Mbappe to finish from close range.
“Right now he’s the best player in the world, for what he’s showing day after day and game after game,” said Arbeloa, who reiterated that Mbappe could live up to his boyhood idol Cristiano Ronaldo’s legacy at Real Madrid.
“As I’ve said before, it seemed like Cristiano was something alien, impossible to equal, and that nobody would get close, but Kylian is on a good path... it’s not easy, obviously, but if anyone can, it’s Kylian.”
Valencia’s fans, some of whom had waved white handkerchieves during the match in protest at the club’s situation, headed for the exits with Los Che 17th, one point above the drop zone.
“It’s normal that (the fans) are nervous, I would be too,” admitted Valencia captain Jose Gaya to DAZN.

Revenge mission

Antony’s first-half strike helped Betis win at Atletico, earning his side revenge for their cup mauling, and leaving Atletico 13 points behind leaders Barcelona.
Betis, fifth, continued their push toward the top four, now trailing fourth-placed Villarreal by four points, although they have played two more matches than the Yellow Submarine.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico waltzed into the Copa del Rey semifinals with a hefty 5-0 win at Betis on Thursday, but this was a far closer affair at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium.
“It’s a tough defeat to take after the great game we had in the cup. We weren’t as good as the other day,” admitted Atletico captain Koke to Movistar.
“They set up a lot tighter at the back... We had very few chances and they played a great game.”
Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini made five changes to the team which crumbled at home and his side were determined to prove a point in the Spanish capital.
“I’m very happy for the goal and even more so for the victory — it’s been a very difficult week,” said Antony, who curled home after 28 minutes, beating Jan Oblak at his near post.
“We had to change, there was no other option... we’re sorry (to the fans) for the game in the cup.”
Atletico had the ball in Betis’s net with 15 minutes to go when Diego Llorente headed Giuliano Simeone’s cross into his own net, but Antoine Griezmann was judged to be fractionally offside and interfering with play.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao beat Levante 4-2, Sevilla and Girona shared a 1-1 draw, and Getafe won 2-0 at Alaves.