Man.City clinch Champions League last-16 spot with Galatasaray win

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki struck before halftime to secure a Champions League place in the last 16 for their side in a 2-0 victory over Galatasaray on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola’s side claimed eighth spot with 16 points in the eight-game league phase to just avoid the two-legged playoffs and advance directly to the last 16 for a precious slice of breathing room in a packed fixture schedule.

Galatasaray ended 20th on 10 points and go into the playoffs.

Liverpool, and Barcelona booked last-16 places in the Champions League on Wednesday, as holders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Real Madrid missed out on the top eight.

Haaland headed an early chance wide but made up for it in the 11th minute when Jeremy Doku delivered a perfect ball to put him one-on-one with Ugurcan Cakir. The Norwegian chipped the ball over the keeper for his first open-play goal in 10 games.

Doku also provided the assist for Cherki’s goal when he drew two defenders before laying the ball back for the Frenchman, who took a touch before slotting it home in the 29th minute.

Doku went off with a calf injury soon afterwards to a standing ovation.

City were coming off a shock 3-1 defeat at Bodo/Glimt last week that left them 11th and needing a win to have a chance of claiming a top-eight spot.

Haaland’s goal was his seventh in eight Champions League games and his 56th in 56 appearances in Europe’s elite club competition. He is now joint-eighth on the all-time scorers list alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy, who netted 56 times in 73 games.

Haaland missed a late chance which would have been a stunning strike when he flew in with an outstretched leg but failed to connect with Phil Foden’s cross into the six-yard box.

City controlled long stretches of the match and squandered numerous chances. Nico O’Reilly launched a rocket in the first half that Cakir tipped over. The keeper also saved a close-range shot from an unmarked Omar Marmoush in the second half.

Despite Galatasaray’s spirited second-half response, City’s much-needed victory - the fifth win of the campaign for the 2023 Champions League winners - never felt in doubt.

After the final whistle, fans at Etihad Stadium peered at their phones as a late goal from Real Madrid in their game against Benfica would have knocked City down to ninth. A rousing cheer went up when instead Benfica’s goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored in the 98th minute for a 4-2 victory.

Inter, Juve miss top eight: Inter Milan failed to seal a top-eight berth despite a 2-0 success over Borussia Dortmund, as did Juventus after their goalless draw at Monaco.

Atletico, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund, Olympiacos, Club Brugge and Galatasaray are the other sides into the play-off round.

Liverpool thrash Qarabag: Premier League champions Liverpool thrashed Qarabag 6-0 in the eighth and final round of league-phase matches at Anfield to finish third in the 36-team table behind already-qualified Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

They were joined in the last 16 by Tottenham, Barca, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon and City.

But holders PSG will have to go through the knockout play-off round, as they did en route to glory last season, after a 1-1 home draw with Newcastle.

Record 15-time winners Real Madrid also missed out on direct last-16 qualification in a dramatic 4-2 loss at former coach Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, who snatched the final play-off spot thanks to a 98th-minute goal from goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

Liverpool forged ahead against Qarabag with a scrappy goal from Alexis Mac Allister before Florian Wirtz slotted in a second.

Mohamed Salah curled in from the edge of the box after Dominik Szoboszlai laid off a free-kick early in the second half and Hugo Ekitike raced clear to make it four.

Mac Allister completed a brace and substitute Federico Chiesa rounded off the rout.

Barcelona, semi-finalists last season, came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 4-1 at the Camp Nou, finishing fifth in the table.

Agencies