Neymar, Mbappe run riot after racism walkout as Liverpool held by minnows: CL wrap
A much-changed Liverpool were left hanging on to deny Midtjylland a first ever Champions League group stage win as the Reds escaped with a 1-1 draw in Denmark on Wednesday.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring inside the first minute to become Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the Champions League.
Alexander Scholz’s penalty levelled for the Danish champions just after the hour mark before Scholz had a winner ruled out for offside and rookie Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher saved Erik Sviatchenko’s powerful header.
Liverpool were already guaranteed top spot in Group D, while Midtjylland bow out of European competition as they finish bottom of the group in their first Champions League appearance.
PSG 5-1 ISTANBUL BASAKSEHIR
Neymar scored a stunning hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 5-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday when their Champions League match restarted a day after being suspended in an unprecedented walkout over a racism row.
Kylian Mbappe also scored twice for the French side, who secured top spot in their Champions League group and with it a potentially easier draw in the last 16.
The match restarted in the 14th minute where it had been halted on Tuesday amid accusations the Romanian fourth official had used a racist term to describe Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach, Pierre Webo.
REAL MADRID 2-0 BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
Karim Benzema netted two identical headers to secure Real Madrid a place in the Champions League last 16 with a 2-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday, easing the pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane.
Record 13-time champions Madrid started the night in third place, at risk of failing to qualify from the group stage for the first time in their history and dropping into the Europa League, but delivered an assured performance at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium.
Madrid finished as group winners on 10 points, ahead of runners-up Gladbach on eight despite the defeat, as Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan drew 0-0 in the other Group B clash.
MANCHESTER CITY 3-0 MARSEILLE
Sergio Aguero scored on his return from injury as a heavily-rotated Manchester City comfortably saw off Marseille 3-0 to end the French side’s hopes of dropping into the Europa League.
City had already secured top spot in Champions League Group C and Pep Guardiola took the chance to hand a number of his key players a rest ahead of Saturday’s trip to Manchester United in the Premier League.
But City’s reserves were still far too strong for Marseille, who slipped to a 14th defeat in their last 15 Champions League games, and missed out on the chance to leapfrog Olympiakos into third place in the group.
OTHER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
Bayern Munich 2-0 Lokomotiv Moscow
Real Madrid 2-0 Borussia Monchengladbach
RB Salzburg 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Manchester City 3-0 Marseille
Inter Milan 0-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Olympiacos 0-2 Porto
Ajax 0-1 Atalanta
Source: Foxsports
