Manchester United and Chelsea both qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League last night after United came from behind to beat CSK Moscow at Old Trafford 2-1 and Chelsea came from behind to draw against Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United won Group A on goal difference and Basel finished second also qualifying for the knockout stage after beating Benfica 2-0 at the Estadio de Luz in Lisbon. PSG lost 3-1 against Bayern Munich in Munich, but just won Group B from Bayern on goal difference and both will feature at the knockout stage. Group C was won by Roma who defeated Qarabag 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome last night and Chelsea finished second on goal difference. Barcelona won Group D after defeating Sporting 2-0 at the Nou Camp last night and Juventus finished second in the group after beating Olympiakos at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus.
Tonights Champions League action involves Group E leaders Liverpool who face Spartak Moscow at Anfield and with Spartak still in with a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage if they win tonight and second place Sevilla lose at Maribor. Group F leaders Manchester City have already qualified as group winners so Pep Guardiola could hand a start to some of the lesser squad players who don’t see much first team action tonight when they make the long trip to the Ukraine to face second place Shakhtar. Shakthar just need a draw to guarantee their qualification for the knockout stage, but may even qualify if they lose and third place Napoli win at Feyenoord depending on goal difference.
Group G leaders Besiktas have already qualified and are worth opposing away at RB Leipzig who are joint second on seven points along with FC Porto. The Portuguese also have a winnable match at home against an out of sorts Monaco who are bottom of the group on two points. Finally, Group H leaders Spurs have already qualified for the knockout stage and a win tonight at Wembley against APOEL will insure they finish as group winners. Second place Real Madrid could finish as group winners if they beat Dortmund at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and Spurs lose, but the winner will be determined by goal difference.
