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Manchester United’s hopes of qualification to the knockout stages were seriously jeopardized, after the Red Devils played out a drab draw with PSV. Despite having sealed progress to the Round of 16, Manchester City will probably have to settle for second spot, following a 1-0 defeat against Juventus. Real Madrid threw away a 4-goal lead against Shakhtar Donetsk but hung on to win 4-3 and secure first place in Group A.
Manchester United are on the verge of a group stage exit, after a dreary goalless draw at Old Trafford against a resolute PSV. It was a fourth scoreless draw for Louis van Gaal’s men, as the home side lacked creativity and tempo, despite the returns of Anthony Martial and club captain Wayne Rooney. Unied dominated possession but had no goal to show for it and the Dutch champions were a constant threat on the break and David De Gea was forced into a couple of good saves. In the opening stages, United pressed energetically but fizzled out in the final third, as the Red Devils failed to find the killer ball to split open a shaken PSV defence.
After the first 20 minutes, United’s energy diminished and meaningful chances were few and far between, although Martial had two shots on goal saved by Jeroen Zoet. Morgan Schneiderlin headed over from a Daley Blind corner, while academy product Anders Lingard saw his header go wide of the post. Lingard missed a glorious chance when failed to finish from Ashley Young’s deflected cross. Louis van Gaal threw on Young and Fellaini to break the deadlock but the long and hopeful crosses were to no avail, as the score remained unchanged.
After Wolfsburg’s win at CSKA Moscow, the Germans are top of Group B and United will visit the Volkswagen Arena, knowing that only a win will ensure qualification to the knockout stages, while PSV, a point behind United, will entertain the already eliminated Russians.
Manchester City visited Italian champions Juventus, having secured qualification with two games to spare, in a clash for top spot in Group D. Having bowed out in the Round of 16 in the past two editions to Barcelona, Manuel Pelligrini will be desperate to finish first, which will ensure that the Citizens will face easier opponents. Fernandinho sent his shot from close range flying over the bar in the opening stages and was left to rue his costly miss, when Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring in the 18th minute.
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Paul Pogba passed the ball on the left to Alex Sandro, who whipped in a cross and Mandzukic clinically touched it past Joe Hart, while the City players complained that the Croatian striker pulled Nicolas Otamendi in the build-up to the goal. In a rare lapse of concentration, Claudio Marchisio’s back pass to Gigi Buffon was misdirected and Sergio Aguero pounced upon the loose ball but the veteran shotstopper kept Aguero’s shot from the edge of the box with relative ease. Fernando had his header saved but it was Raheem Sterling who squandered a glorious chance in the dying stages of the encounter, when he failed to score in front of an empty net. With 10 minutes to go, Joe Hart limped off to give Pellegrini another thing to ponder over. In order to win the group, City must beat Borussia Monchengladbach, while Juventus only need a point against Sevilla to secure top spot.
After the Clasico humiliation, Real Madrid visited Lviv having already secured progress to the next round and Rafa Benitez retained only four players from their last outing against Barcelona. Real drew first blood in the 18th minute, when Luka Modric’s ball over the Shakhtar defence found Gareth, who touched it over the onrushing ‘keeper Pyatov to Ronaldo at the far post, who nodded into an empty net. Ronaldo turned provider for his side’s second, when he collected Raphael Varane’s long ball in the Shakhtar box and slipped in a ball to Luka Modric, who ghosted in the box to smash it home over Pyatov. The unlikely Dani Carvajal made it 3-0 a couple of minutes later, when he curled the ball into the top left with a left-footed shot.
In the 70th minute, Gareth Bale’s cross from the left met Ronaldo, who had his initial shot blocked but the Portuguese winger made no mistake on the rebound to make it 4-0. In the 77th minute, Casemiro conceded a penalty which was converted by Alex Teixeira to reduce the deficit but it didn’t look anything more than a consolation goal. Dentinho scored his side’s second, when he headed home at the far post after he was left unmarked during a corner routine. Teixeira got another one when, he finished from close range to give Rafa Benitez a real scare but his troops held on to secure all three points.
Other Results –
Group A
Malmo FF 0-5 Paris St Germain
Group C
FC Astana 2-2 SL Benfica
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Galatasaray
Group D
Borussia Monchengladbach 4-2 Sevilla
