[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Bayern Through With City As Ronaldo Equals Best

FC Bayern München and Manchester City FC are the first two teams through to the round of 16 on a night when two UEFA Champions League records were equalled.

Mario Mandžukić struck on 65 minutes to set Bayern en route to a 1-0 victory at FC Viktoria Plzeň. With City also beating PFC CSKA Moskva 5-2 that meant the two Group D qualifiers were confirmed with two games to spare. It was Bayern’s ninth UEFA Champions League win in a row, matching the competition high set by FC Barcelona in 2002/03.

Real Madrid CF trailed Juventus 1-0 at half-time but Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale registered to put them on course for early progress – only for Fernando Llorente to make it 2-2. Still, with his eighth goal in the tournament this season, Ronaldo has equalled the group-stage scoring record shared by Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004/05), Filippo Inzaghi and Hernán Crespo (both 2002/03). FC København’s 1-0 defeat of Galatasaray AŞ leaves both sides a point ahead of Juve and six behind Group B leaders Madrid, not yet through mathematically.

Also having to wait to rubber-stamp a knockout berth are Paris Saint-Germain, who needed Zlatan Ibrahimović’s seven goal of the group stage to hold visitors RSC Anderlecht 1-1. That keeps Anderlecht in contention too, as Olympiacos FC beat SL Benfica 1-0. Paris, Olympiacos, Benfica and Anderlecht are – in that order – at three-point intervals in Group C.

There were no goals in Group A so Manchester United FC stay top, a point above Bayer 04 Leverkusen, as the front two were held at Real Sociedad de Fútbol and FC Shakhtar Donetsk respectively. Shakhtar are two adrift of Leverkusen and four in front of La Real, who like Anderlecht secured a first point.

See Results Of The Matches Below

Group A
FC Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Real Sociedad de Fútbol 0-0 Manchester United FC

Group B
Juventus 2-2 Real Madrid CF
FC København 1-0 Galatasaray AŞ

Group C
Paris Saint-Germain FC 1-1 RSC Anderlecht
Olympiacos FC 1-0 SL Benfica

Group D
FC Viktoria Plzeň 0-1 FC Bayern München
Manchester City FC 5-2 PFC CSKA Moskva