Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Champions League PIX: Ibra's PSG thrash Malmo; Atletico in last 16

November 26, 2015 09:59 IST

Paris SG's Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (left) dribbles the ball past Malmo's Norwegian player Jo Inge Berget during their Champions League Group A match at Malmo New Stadium in Malmo, Sweden on Wednesday

IMAGE: Paris SG's Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (left) dribbles the ball past Malmo's Norwegian player Jo Inge Berget during their Champions League Group A match at Malmo New Stadium in Malmo, Sweden on Wednesday. Photograph: Andreas Hillergren/TT News Agency

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic crowned a triumphant homecoming with a second-half goal as Paris St Germain crushed Malmo 5-0 on Wednesday to book a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Adrien Rabiot netted the first goal after three minutes by heading home Gregory van der Wiel's pinpoint cross.

Angel Di Maria doubled the advantage when he coolly slotted the ball past Johan Wiland 11 minutes later after Blaise Matuidi had played a searching ball across Malmo's penalty area.

Ibrahimovic struck five minutes into the second half, surging in from the left before planting the ball beyond Wiland and celebrating modestly with his team mates.

Malmo had a chance to reduce the deficit when Maxwell felled Nicolai Djurdjic but Markus Rosenberg thumped the resulting penalty against the post.

Di Maria netted his second goal midway through the second half with a simple header before being replaced by Lucas who also found the target with an unstoppable free kick in the 82nd minute.

A few minutes later Ibrahimovic left the field to a standing ovation from all sides of the ground.

PSG are second in Group A on 10 points, three behind Real Madrid who beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-3 in Lviv.

Malmo are bottom on three points, the same total as Shakhtar.

Griezmann fires Atletico into last 16, Galatasaray out

Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates with teammate Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion after scoring against Galatasaray during their UEFA Champions League Group C match at Vicente Calderon stadium on Wednesday

IMAGE: Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates with teammate Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion after scoring against Galatasaray during their UEFA Champions League Group C match at Vicente Calderon stadium on Wednesday. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters

Atletico Madrid eased through to the Champions League round of 16 with a game to spare and eliminated Galatasaray when Antoine Griezmann's double secured a 2-0 win at home to the Turkish side in Group C on Wednesday.

Atletico, the 2014 runners-up, needed only a draw to progress and their comfortable victory at the Calderon stadium put them level on 10 points at the top of the group with Benfica and ahead of the Portuguese club on goal difference.

Benfica, who host Atletico in the sixth and final round of games next month when top spot will be up for grabs, fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Kazakh side Astana earlier on Wednesday.

Galatasaray have four points in third place, with Astana on three in fourth.

Griezmann, who got both goals in September's 2-0 win at Galatasaray on matchday one, put Diego Simeone's side ahead in the 13th minute when he was left unmarked and headed a Gabi cross firmly past goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

Gabi was again the provider for the France forward's second in the 65th minute, a tap in from close range that snuffed out any hopes of a Galatasaray comeback.

Gladbach end Sevilla's knockout stage hopes with 4-2 win

Sevilla's Adil Rami and Grzegorz Krychowiak react in frustration during their UEFA Champions League Group D match against Borussia Moenchengladbach in Borussia-Park on Wednesday

IMAGE: Sevilla's Adil Rami and Grzegorz Krychowiak react in frustration during their UEFA Champions League Group D match against Borussia Moenchengladbach in Borussia-Park on Wednesday. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/Reuters

Already-eliminated Borussia Moenchengladbach crushed Sevilla 4-2 in their Champions League Group D match on Wednesday with two goals from Lars Stindl for their first ever victory in the competition that killed off the Spaniards' hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

Stindl tapped in after 29 minutes and scored again after second half goals from Fabian Johnson and Raffael, to lift Gladbach to five points in the group and on track for a third place finish that leads to the Europa League, with their last group match against ManchesterCity next month.

Sevilla, who scored through Vitolo in the 82nd minute with Ever Banega adding a stoppage-time penalty and have now lost their last four group games since beating the Germans in their opener, are in bottom place on three and face Juventus next.

Gladbach, who have won seven of their eight matches in the league under coach Andre Schubert, got off to a better start, with Sevilla keeper Sergio Rico forced to make three saves in the opening minutes.

The visitors responded with a huge chance by Yevhen Konoplyanka who failed to beat keeper Yann Sommer from three metres out.

Sevilla upped the tempo and came close twice with Frenchman Kevin Gameiro before Johnson delivered the knockout punch in the 68th with a well-placed curled effort.

Raffael added a third and Vitolo cut the deficit in the 82nd before Stindl responded with his second goal of the evening a minute later in an entertaining finale that included a penalty for Sevilla in stoppage time converted by Ever Banega.

Wolfsburg surge to the top after crucial win in Moscow

VfL Wolfsburg's Andre Schuerrle celebrates with his teammate Maximilian Arnold after scoring a goal against CSKA Moscow during their Champions League Group B match at Arena Khimki, in Khimki, Russia, on Wednesday

IMAGE: VfL Wolfsburg's Andre Schuerrle celebrates with his teammate Maximilian Arnold after scoring a goal against CSKA Moscow during their Champions League Group B match at Arena Khimki, in Khimki, Russia, on Wednesday. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

VfL Wolfsburg surged to the top of Group B in the Champions League as substitute Andre Schurrle's heroics saw them beat CSKA Moscow 2-0 at the Arena Khimki and put them in pole position for a place in the knockout stages.

CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made a terrible blunder, somehow parrying Schurrle's shot from an acute angle over his own line in the 67th minute, before the winger finished the job with Wolfsburg's second two minutes from time.

It was the first away win by any team in the tightly fought group and put the German side on nine points, two ahead of Manchester United and three clear of PSV Eindhoven, who meet later on Wednesday.

Schurrle's excellence left CSKA's hopes of qualifying looking bleak as they lie bottom of the group on four points.

The hosts had struggled to settle in the first half, their best opportunity falling to the lively Ahmed Musa on 34 minutes, but the Nigerian international could only hit the side netting from an acute angle.

Wolfsburg, with most of the possession were looking comfortable with the ball, but themselves struggled to create much as they sat deep and tried to hit their opponents on the break.

Following a few strong words from head coach Leonid Slutski at halftime, the home side improved after the resumption with the impressive Alan Dzagoev having his shot well saved by Diego Benaglio when Wolfsburg failed to deal with a corner.

Dzagoev was instrumental again as CSKA almost took the lead in the 62nd minute, setting up Tosic to strike his left-footed shot from just outside the box against the post.

Wolfsburg took the lead largely against the run of play but the introduction of Schurrle just after the hour mark made all the difference to their counter-attacking.

A long, searching ball found him on the right hand side and the German international unleashed his hopeful effort which Akinfeev contrived to bundle into the net. It was officially credited as an own goal.

There was no argument about Schurrle's second belonging to him as the former Chelsea man volleyed a late second which wrong-footed the hapless Russian international Akinfeev.

 

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.