The final round of Champions League group-stage games were shrouded with controversy as Manchester United became the only English club to drop out of Europe this season, while unacceptable racial abuse saw the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir suspended.
On Tuesday in Group H United needed to avoid defeat against RB Leipzig, but despite their best efforts late on, a lacklustre performance from Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s side saw them crash out of the competition.
Manchester City loanee Angelino put the Germans’ ahead, which was swiftly added to by Malian midfielder Amadou Haidara before Justin Kluivert bagged their third goal in the second half.
Bruno Fernandes and an Ibrahima Konate own goal made for a nervy end to the match, but in the end Leipzig won 3-2.
The same night PSG were set to play Basaksehir, but the match was rightly abandoned after the fourth official used a racist term to describe one of the Turkish club’s coaching staff.
The players all walked off the pitch after 14 minutes, and the game was resumed the next day with a new set of officials.
PSG eventually ran out 5-1 winners, thanks to a fantastic hat-trick from Neymar and a brace by Kylian Mbappe.
Chelsea came from behind to draw with Krasnodar in Group E – with the Blues having already secured top spot.
Former Newcastle United man Remy Cabella put his side ahead, but Jorginho equalised for the Blues from the penalty spot.
Sevilla beat Rennes in the other Group E fixture, with Jules Kounde’s first-ever Champions League goal being added to twice by Youssef En-Nesyri as the Spanish side won 3-1.
Georginio Rutter got a late consolation from the penalty spot, but it wasn’t enough as the French club missed out on third place.
In Group D, Trent Alexander-Arnold captained his boyhood club for the first time while Mohamed Salah became Liverpool’s record goalscorer in the Champions League when they drew 1-1 with FC Midtjylland.
Alexander Scholz equalised from the spot, and despite giving away the penalty, young goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher had another great game for the Reds.
Atalanta scored late on against in 1-0 win over Ajax to ensure that they progressed to the next round, as Luis Muriel put the Italian club through and demoted the Dutch side to the Europa League.
Manchester City are still yet to lose in Europe this season after they beat Marseille 3-0.
Goals from Ferran Torres, Sergio Aguero and an own goal from Alvaro Gonzalez saw City through in Group C.
Porto also went through after defeating Olympiacos 2-0.
Otavio and Mateus Uribe scored the goals, but despite their loss the Greek side remained in third and will now compete in the Europa League.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo clashed on the big stage for the first time in over two seasons when Juventus visited Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
Ronaldo netted twice from the penalty spot either side of a Weston McKennie goal as Juventus won 3-0 and overtook their opponents to win Group G.
The other match in the group saw Dynamo Kiev beat Ferencvaros 1-0, with Denys Popov scoring the only goal of the game.
Lazio confirmed their spot in the round of 16 despite a nervy performance against Club Brugge.
The Italian club went ahead through Joaquin Correa, but Ruud Vormer equalised just minutes later.
Ciro Immobile kept up his fantastic goalscoring form in the Champions League to restore his sides lead, and despite a late leveller from Hans Vanaken, the Italian club made it into the next round.
Elsewhere in Group F, Borussia Dortmund came from behind to defeat Zenit St Petersburg 2-1.
Sebastian Driussi scored early on, but quickfire goals from Lukasz Piszczek and Axel Witsel meant that BVB came away with all three points.
Despite losing 2-0 to Real Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach deservedly made it into the next round.
Karim Benzema scored twice in the Group B encounter as both sides made it to the round of 16.
A goal for either Inter Milan or Shakthar Donetsk would have seen them overtake the German side into second, but the pair drew 0-0.
Young goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin put in a stellar performance as Shakthar secured a spot in the Europa League, meaning that Inter are out of Europe completely.
Finally, a classic Atletico Madrid showing against Red Bull Salzburg in Group A saw them confirm their spot in the next stage.
Yannick Carrasco and Mario Hermoso netted as Diego Simeone’s side won 2-0.
Bayern Munich also won their match against Lokomotiv Moscow, with Niklas Sule and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scoring in a 2-0 victory.
That finalises things in the Champions League, as an exciting group stage comes to an end and the clubs can now look ahead to the knockout stages in two months’ time.
By Ali Pollock
