Borussia Dortmund drew 0-0 with already-qualified Manchester City on Tuesday to book their spot in the Champions League knockout stage with a game to spare.
The result made sure that City, who missed a second-half penalty and are on 11 points, will top Group G while Dortmund, on eight, punched the second qualifying ticket, locking down second spot ahead of third-placed Sevilla, who have five points.
“We played much better in the second half. In the first half we conceded some balls and lost some counter-attacks,” said City coach Pep Guardiola.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve missed 24 or 25 penalties – it’s too many. You always have to admire the courage, but missing so many penalties is a problem. We have to improve.
“It comes down to fine margins in this competition and these situations can make the difference,” he added.
The Germans, needing a point to advance, got off to a strong start with Karim Adeyemi causing major problems with his speed down the right wing.
The Germany international had a first effort on goal early, testing City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega in his first appearance.
Gio Reyna came closer in the 25th minute with a low shot but it was the unmarked Youssoufa Moukoko who should have scored a little later but instead sidefooted their best chance wide from six metres.
In an unremarkable return to Dortmund where he had scored 86 goals in 89 matches until his departure in June, City top scorer Erling Haaland was completely shut out by defender Mats Hummels in the first half.
The English champions failed to get a single effort on target and the Norwegian was taken off at halftime.
“Erling had a little bit of fever before the game, Joao Cancelo too. They were tired, so we made changes,” Guardiola said.
They could have snatched the lead when Riyad Mahrez was brought down in the box.
The Algerian, who had also missed a spot kick on the previous matchday against FC Copenhagen, was beaten by Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel, who picked the right corner to palm away his shot.
Kobel also did well to stop Julian Alvarez’s shot in the 67th minute in what turned out to be City’s first and only chance from open play.
“We finally rewarded ourselves against City with the point today,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “We played a really good first half. I have seldom seen a City game where they had so few chances.” Sevilla, third on five points, will continue in the Europa League after beating 10-man Copenhagen 3-0 earlier on Tuesday.
Messi and Co turn on the style as PSG hit 7 past Maccabi
Paris St Germain’s Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored twice with Neymar also on target as the French club’s fearsome attack tore apart Maccabi Haifa in a 7-2 win to send them into the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.
The irrepressible trio were too much for a Maccabi side to handle, although the Israelis showed great heart in the Group H clash with Abdoulaye Seck scoring twice.
Messi got the ball rolling in the 19th minute with a sumptuous opening goal with the outside of his left foot and Mbappe curled in his side’s second in the 32nd.
Mbappe and Messi then combined to play in Neymar three minutes later with the Brazilian’s shot going in off the post.
Seck replied almost immediately with a header but Messi dispatched a left-footed shot inside the post just before halftime after linking with Neymar again.
Maccabi again reduced the arrears in the 50th minute with a looping header but PSG were not done and Mbappe sent another curler past goalkeeper Joshua Cohen before Neymar’s low cross was turned into his own goal by Sean Goldberg.
Messi, who was denied a ninth Champions League hat-trick by the crossbar, then set up Carlos Soler to wrap up the scoring with six minutes remaining.
PSG top the group on goal difference with 11 points with Benfica in second place, well ahead of Juventus and Haifa who are both on three points.
score or have a big chance,” Maccabi defender Dylan Batubinsika said.
“We managed to score twice today, which is a positive, and we can still finish third in the group.”
Tuesday Champions League results and standings after 5 (of 6) games:
Group E
Salzburg 0 Chelsea 2
Dinamo Zagreb 0 Milan 4
Standings: Chelsea 10, Milan 7, Salzburg 6, Dinamo Zagreb 4
GROUP F
RB Leipzig 3 Real Madrid 2
Celtic 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 1
Standings: Real Madrid 10, RB Leipzig 9, Shakhtar 6, Celtic 2
GROUP G
Dortmund 0 Man City 0
Sevilla 3 København 0
Standings: Man City 11, Dortmund 8, Sevilla 5, København 2
GROUP H
PSG 7 Maccabi 2
Benfica 4 Juventus 3
Standings: PSG 11, Benfica 11, Juventus 3, Maccabi 3