Leicester kept their Champions League dreams aflame, cruising into the last 16 with a 2-1 win over Belgium’s Club Brugge, where they were joined by Real Madrid but not a crestfallen Tottenham.
Joining the hopeful debutants and the holders on the night were Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco. They join last year’s runners-up Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who had already booked their tickets to the knockout phase with two group games to spare.
Leicester’s success saw the Foxes advance as Group G winners in their maiden season in the event, giving a major fillip to Claudio Ranieri’s side, who are just two points above the domestic drop zone.
Shinji Okazaki netted after just five minutes and a Riyad Mahrez penalty made it 2-0 before Jose Izquierdo notched a second-half consolation for Brugge. The Colombian’s strike was the first goal Leicester have conceded in the tournament to date.
As Leicester celebrated, Tottenham in contrast saw their adventure in Europe’s top club competition come to a grinding halt after a 2-1 loss at Monaco, who won Group E in the process.
Spurs had a let off when their French keeper Hugo Lloris saved Radamel Falcao’s early spotkick. But quickfire goals from Djibril Sidibe and Thomas Lemar just after the break, sandwiching a Harry Kane penalty, did for the Londoners.
In the same group, Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 with CSKA Moscow to take the Germans into the knockout stages following Spurs’ loss.
Spurs will host CSKA in a final game whose outcome will decide who goes into the Europa League. Holders and 11-times winners Real Madrid joined 1997 champions Borussia Dortmund in qualifying from Group F after a 2-1 win at star man Cristiano Ronaldo’s former club Sporting Lisbon.
Raphael Varane gave the ‘meringues’ the lead before Adrien Silva netted a spot-kick for the Portuguese only for substitute Karim Benzema to pop up with the winner for Real.
Dortmund secured the group win with a game to play after swatting Poland’s Legia Warsaw 8-4 — a record goal fest for a Champions League encounter.
The Germans became one of an elite clique to notch five goals in a single Champions League half having led 5-2 at the interval. Marco Reus scored a hat-trick and Japanese star Shinji Kagawa netted a brace as Dortmund ran riot.
Two-times champions Juventus are through after defeating previous Group H leaders Sevilla, Europa League champions for the past three seasons, 3-1 in Spain.
Perennial challengers Barcelona and Manchester City will be hoping to book their tickets on Thursday with wins over Celtic and Borussia Moenchengladbach respectively.