Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who lost to Real Madrid in the
2014 and 2016 finals, needed to beat Porto in Portugal to advance to the
knockout phase and they duly triumphed 3-1 in a game which featured three red
cards.
Antoine Griezmann put the Spanish champions ahead in the
56th minute at the Estadio do Dragao but they then had Yannick Carrasco sent
off for wrestling Otavio to the ground.
With tempers flaring, Porto were also reduced to 10 men as
Wendell was sent off for elbowing Atletico’s Matheus Cunha in the neck, before
their substitute goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin also saw red.
With Porto pushing forward in search of the draw they needed
to qualify, Atletico got their second goal on the break in the last minute
through Angel Correa before Rodrigo De Paul scored their third in injury time.
Sergio Oliveira’s penalty was a mere consolation for Porto.
Atletico finish second in Group B, a huge 11 points behind
group winners Liverpool, who made it six wins out of six in Europe this season
by beating AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro despite fielding a virtual reserve side.
Milan had to win to stand a chance of going through and they
went ahead midway through the first half through Fikayo Tomori.
Mohamed Salah did start for the visitors and he equalised in
the 36th minute before Divock Origi — who scored a stoppage-time winner in the
Premier League at the weekend — made it 2-1 10 minutes into the second half,
heading in after Sadio Mane’s shot was saved.
“It’s an exceptional performance,” said manager Jurgen
Klopp. “With that many changes, the boys have to be confident enough to show
how good they are. I saw so many good things tonight, it was unbelievable.”
Milan finish bottom of the group in their first Champions
League campaign since 2013-14, with Porto parachuting into the Europa League.
Real Madrid Top Group
Elsewhere, Real Madrid secured top spot in Group D with a
2-0 defeat of Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Both sides had already qualified for the last 16 and Real
just needed a draw to top the group.
They went ahead through an early Toni Kroos strike, and Inter
had Nicolo Barella sent off just after the hour mark before substitute Marco
Asensio sealed Real’s victory with a stupendous strike.
“Our objective is to go all the way, not just reach the last
16,” said Real coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Moldovan debutants Sheriff Tiraspol had already secured
third place before Boban Nikolov’s injury-time goal earned them a 1-1 draw at
bottom side Shakhtar Donetsk, for whom Fernando had opened the scoring.
Haller Strikes Again
Ajax made it six wins out of six in Group C by defeating
Sporting Lisbon 4-2 in Amsterdam in a game played behind closed doors due to
coronavirus restrictions in the Netherlands.
Sebastien Haller put Ajax ahead with an early penalty for
his 10th goal in the group stage, while Brazilian duo Antony and David Neres
added further goals and Steven Berghuis was also on target.
Nuno Santos and Bruno Tabata netted for Sporting, who had
already secured second place to qualify ahead of Borussia Dortmund.
The Germans crushed 10-man Besiktas 5-0 with Donyell Malen
getting the opener and Marco Reus scoring a brace before Erling Haaland came
off the bench to score two headers in the second half.
Earlier Manchester City, having already clinched first place
in Group A, lost 2-1 at RB Leipzig, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Andre Silva on
target for the Germans in their first game since sacking coach Jesse Marsch.
Riyad Mahrez pulled one back for City, who had Kyle Walker
sent off late on as Leipzig took third place.
Paris Saint-Germain, who finish second in the group, crushed
Club Brugge 4-1 with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi both scoring twice.
Mbappe’s goals both came inside the first seven minutes and
he then set up Messi’s first goal, with the Argentinian adding a penalty as he
moved on to five Champions League goals in five appearances this season.
AFP
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