Munich: The world's elite club competition is more or less on the track to get hotter as heavyweights of European football booked their respective berths in the knockout phases. Starting with German giants Bayern Munich's game against Benfica, we bring you a roundup of yesterday's fixtures played.
Bayern Munich romped to an emphatic 5-1 home win against Benfica on Tuesday to qualify for the Champions League last 16 and ease the pressure on coach Niko Kovac.
Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski both scored twice before Franck Ribery completed the rout at the Allianz Arena after Gedson Fernandes had netted Benfica's consolation.
Kovac's team shrugged off lacklustre league form -- winning just two and losing three of their last seven Bundesliga games -- with a convincing display.
This is the 11th season in succession Bayern have reached the last 16 of the Champions League. While Bayern sit just fifth in the Bundesliga, they are flying in Europe, having now chalked up four wins and a draw in the Champions League's group stage.
They need just a point at Ajax in a fortnight to win Group A, while the best Benfica can hope for is third and a place in the Europa League knock-out phase.
Bayern were unrecognisable from the team which leaked goals in a 3-3 draw with Bundesliga strugglers Fortuna Duesseldorf on Saturday.
Bayern went ahead after just 13 minutes when Robben produced a stunning piece of skill for his 30th Champions League goal.
There was nothing on when the Dutch veteran darted through three defenders on the right wing, cut inside another and hit the top left corner with a superb shot.
The 34-year-old doubled Bayern's lead by wrong-footing Benfica defenders German Conti and crashing his shot past Odysseas Vlachodimos on 30 minutes.
The third goal followed six minutes later when Lewandowski rose highest for a corner and steered his header into the net via the post. It was the Polish star striker's 50th Champions League goal.
It was 3-0 to Bayern at the break, but it could have been 5-0 as Vlachodimos had to twice palm shots away by Thomas Mueller and Lewandowski.
However, the defensive errors which have blighted their recent performances returned to haunt Bayern straight after the break.
Benfica boss Rui Vitoria brought on Portugal international Gedson Fernandes for the second half and the teenage midfielder took just 48 seconds to score.
Gedson sprinted onto a through pass and finished off a counter attack by slotting past Manuel Neuer to stun the hosts. Bayern restored their three-goal cushion just five minutes later when Lewandowski again headed home another Kimmich corner.
Ribery capped a gala night with an exchange of passes with David Alaba to slam home Bayern's fifth 13 minutes from time and claim his first Champions League goal for more than three years.
South Korean teenager Woo-Yeong Jeong, 19, came on for his senior Bayern Munich debut in the dying stages.
--AS Roma vs Real Madrid
Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid beat Roma on Tuesday to ensure they will go through top of their Champions League group despite a chaotic start to the season.
Bale scored one and then provided the cross that led to another as Lucas Vazquez wrapped up a clinical 2-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma squandered several chances in the first half, the best of them falling to Cengiz Under, who was guilty of a shocking miss from six yards, with the goal gaping.
Federico Fazio's mistake then gifted Bale the opener and Roma faded thereafter, allowing Madrid to bounce back from their shock defeat to Eibar last weekend by finishing top of Group G.
Both teams knew they had already qualified thanks to Viktoria Plzen beating CSKA Moscow in the early kick-off, making this a winner-takes-all contest for top spot.
Madrid seized it, showing once again their magic touch in the Champions League, where the team's problems in domestic competitions are seemingly never transferred.
They have gone more than eight hours without a goal this season, and two weeks without a permanent coach, but Santiago Solari still leads Real into the knock-out stages as group winners with one game to spare.
Solari might have felt relief after the disastrous display at Eibar on Saturday while the presure mounts for Roma coach Eusebio di Francesco. They have won only one of their last five Serie A games, and Antonio Conte was watching on in the crowd.
There have been a fair few winners from Solari's time at the helm but Isco has not been one of them. After not starting any of the new coach's first five games, he was not even included on the bench in Italy.
Marcos Llorente was parachuted in to fill the problem position in defensive midfield while Marco Asensio, yet to catch fire this season, dropped to the bench.
A breathless first half was dominated by Roma but Madrid had the first chance. Vazquez plucked Bale's cross out of the sky and cut back for Luka Modric, whose deflected shot was well saved by the foot of Robin Olsen.
From there, the best chances belonged to the hosts as Raphael Varane seem to defy physics by diverting away from the boot of Patrik Schick and over his own bar.
Stephan El Shaarawy hobbled off and his replacement, Justin Kluivert shot over. Schick failed to connect from close range.
Madrid were hanging on, with one Roma assault leaving a handful of white shirts sprawled across the penalty area. Thibaut Courtois saved with his feet, Dani Carvajal blocked, before Aleksandar Kolorov fired off a trademark shot from range that whistled wide.
The worst miss of the half, and perhaps the season, was to come. Carvajal dallied in the corner, teeing up Nicolo Zaniolo to cross. At the back post, Madrid had not recovered, neither had Courtois, who was scrambling from the other side of the goal but
Under, under no pressure, blazed over. He trudged off at half-time and was consoled like he had missed a penalty, but it seemed inevitable Roma would pay for the error.
They did, twice in 12 minutes. First, Fazio compounded Olsen's poor clearance with an even worse header back, which landed at the feet of Bale and the Welshman made no mistake.
Then Bale was involved in the second, a clipped cross finding Karim Benzema, whose clever header down gave Vazquez a simple finish.
In between, Bale could have made it two himself when he set free on the break, as Roma lost momentum, shape and belief. Bale, Benzema and Modric were all taken off, rested for Valencia on Saturday, as an initially close contest became comfortable.
Juventus vs Valencia
Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal as Juventus eased into the knockout stages of the Champions League on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Valencia in their Group H clash.
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo provided the assist that allowed the Croatian World Cup runner-up to tap-in the winner just before the hour mark in Turin.
The win for the Italian champions, who only needed a point to ensure qualification, combined with Manchester United snatching a late 1-0 win over Young Boys at Old Trafford means Valencia crash out of the competition.
Ronaldo came out firing on all cylinders after his controversial red card during his first Champions League game for Juventus in Valencia back in September, which Massimiliano Allegri's side won 2-0 despite being down to ten men.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was in top form in the Allianz Stadium with chances in the first three minutes, with a powerful drive straight at Valencia's Brazilian goalkeeper Neto.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner skimmed the post after 25 minutes following good work between Paulo Dybala and Alex Sandro.
A clever Leonardo Bonucci backheel flip was picked up by Joao Cancelo whose curling effort flew past the post to the frustration of Ronaldo who had been position for the pass.
However the hosts could thank goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for going into the break 0-0 when his one-handed save stopped Mouctar Diakhaby's searing header.
Juventus piled on the pressure after the break with Neto denying Ronaldo from a free-kick.
But Mandzukic broke through in the 59th minute as Ronaldo shook off Gabriel with some fancy footwork and flashed a low shot across the face of goal that found the Croatian forward, who just had to finish off.
Valencia thought they had scored two minutes later but Diakhaby's header was ruled out and the defender penalised for handball.
The Spaniards could thank Neto for limiting the damage, clearing a curling Dybala shot and a late Ronaldo header.
Manchester United vs Young Boys
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho boasted about his Champions League record after Marouane Fellaini's injury time winner fired his side into the last 16 with a 1-0 win over Young Boys at Old Trafford.
The three-time European champions sealed their place in the knockout stages with a slice of fortune when Fellaini controlled the ball with his hand before firing into the far corner, provoking Mourinho to throw a box of water bottles to the ground in a mixture of joy and relief.
"For some of my lovers, for those who like stats, 14 seasons in the Champions League, 14 times qualify through the group phases," said Mourinho on his personal record as boss of Porto, Chelsea and Real Madrid as well as United.
"Never one of my teams stays behind the group phase. The season I didn't play Champions League, I won the Europa League."
But there was little for Mourinho to brag about from another laboured performance as United were on the verge of failing to score for a third consecutive European home game for the first time ever.
"The most important thing is to qualify," said Mourinho, who has had to withstand a barrage of criticism this season for United's poor results and insipid attacking football.
In keeping with United's struggles under Mourinho, it could have been even worse but for the brilliance of goalkeeper David de Gea, who produced a stunning save from Ulisses Garcia's deflected effort to deny Young Boys midway through the second-half.
"From my position, David's save -- only one save in the whole game -- but it looks a phenomenal save," said Mourinho.
"A save that the best goalkeeper in the world does and gives his team the possibility to win the match."
Mourinho made the bold decision to leave Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku on the bench and Alexis Sanchez out of his squad as his made six changes from a drab goalless draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Marcus Rashford was given his chance to start as centre-forward, but Mourinho was less than impressed with the 21-year-old just five minutes in when he dinked his finish over the bar with just goalkeeper David von Ballmoos to beat.
"This is the type of game where if you score in the first minute normally you go for a different kind of performance, but it is still very difficult for us to score," responded Mourinho when asked about his exasperated reaction when Rashford missed.
"If I saw my manager react like that, I would be absolutely livid!" Said former England striker Gary Lineker of Mourinho's response.
An initial flurry of excitement quickly died down as again Mourinho's men laboured to break down the Swiss champions, who they beat 3-0 in Bern back in September thanks to a Pogba double.
Mourinho's patience finally ran out as he summoned Pogba and Lukaku from the bench for the final quarter.
But it was De Gea who came to the Red Devils' rescue at the other end moments later with a remarkable save to claw Garcia's deflected shot off the line.
Christian Fassnacht then blazed over another glorious opportunity to give the visitors a famous win.
They were made to pay when Fellaini, was fortunate to not be seen controlling Lukaku's flick-on with his hand, fired the winner into the far corner.
"For me it was not handball," insisted Fellaini. "I controlled the ball, if it touched my hand it was not on purpose."
Olympique lyonnais vs Manchester City
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the Champions League poses a tougher challenge than any other competition after his side salvaged a 2-2 draw at Lyon on Tuesday to qualify for the knockout phase.
The Premier League leaders clinched a place in the last 16 for the sixth season in a row as headers from Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Aguero helped City twice recover after falling behind to goals from Maxwel Cornet.
City need a point from their final game at home to eliminated Hoffenheim to secure top spot in Group F, although they were fortunate to avoid a second defeat by Lyon -- the only team to score more than once against them this season.
"Today the Champions League showed me again that it's another different competition and especially for one reason. The players are better," said Guardiola.
"That's why every time we think about the Champions League and people say it's easy for Manchester City, they are really confused about this.
"Words are words. The people who say this never saw a game of Lyon, a game of Hoffenheim, or a game of Shakhtar."
City set a Premier League record with 100 points as they strolled to the title last term, and are again setting the pace this season having scored 40 times in 13 matches while conceding on just five occasions.
"You have time in the Premier League, you have 38 games. Here you have 90 minutes, 180 minutes -- you make mistakes and they punish you," said Guardiola.
Lyon already trail Paris Saint-Germain by 15 points in Ligue 1 after just 14 matches, but Bruno Genesio's side once again pushed City all the way having beaten them 2-1 in the reverse fixture in September.
"People say in France it's just PSG. But they don't know how tough it is in France. The league is so complicated, so good, so that's why I give a lot of credit for the result and the performance today," said Guardiola.
"I'm really impressed about the amount of good young talent here in France. Both (Lyon) holding midfielders (Houssem Aouar and Tanguy Ndombele) are exceptional.
"They're strong and they have vision. The people in front -- (Memphis) Depay, (Nabil) Fekir...it's a team that's well organised but that's typical in the Champions League."
"Now we can focus on the Premier League and other competitions and try to arrive in February with everyone fit and try to compete against the best 16 teams in Europe," he added.
- 'Proud' Genesio -
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Lyon need to avoid defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk in their final game to join City in the last 16 after the Ukrainians scored a stoppage-time winner to earn a 3-2 victory at Hoffenheim and keep their qualification hopes alive.
"I'm proud to see how my team performed tonight. They're one of the best teams in Europe," said Genesio.
"But there's also a bit of frustration that we didn't qualify tonight. There wasn't much in it, here or in Hoffenheim."
Lyon looked on course for another impressive win over City when Cornet scored his second goal to put Lyon 2-1 up with nine minutes to play, only for Aguero to level just two minutes later.
"The players put in a display of very high quality. When we conceded the second goal I think we were still a bit euphoric and that's what allowed them to score," admitted Genesio.
His team will conclude their group stage against Shakhtar on December 12 in Kharkiv.
"I see it as a final for qualification, but we go into it full of confidence because we're still unbeaten despite a lot of draws."