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Champions League, day 5

All four Spanish teams are already through to the knock-out stage after Real Madrid picked up the point they needed in a 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Wednesday evening! Benzema gave Mourinho's side an early lead, and although Aguero equalized from the penalty spot after Arbeloa was sent off for fouling the striker with twenty minutes to go, Borussia Dortmund's win at Ajax meant that Madrid are sure to finish second in group D whatever the outcome in the last round of matches. Málaga had already sealed their place in the last sixteen, but they still needed a point at Zenit earlier in the evening to tie up top spot in group C. They seemed to be well on the way when Buonanotte and Seba Fernández put them two up with less than ten minutes on the clock, although second half strikes from Danny and Fayzulin meant they had to settle for a 2-2 draw in the end. (21.12.12)

Barcelona and Valencia will be joining Málaga in the knock-out stage after today's results. Barcelona kicked off early at Spartak Moscow with a 0-3 victory, Messi setting up Dani Alves for the opener and then adding two more himself before the break to take his total for the year to an incredible 80 goals. Tito Vilanova's side also ensured top spot of group G after Benfica beat Celtic later in the evening. Valencia meanwhile ensured their place in the last sixteen without kicking a ball after third placed BATE Borisov lost 0-2 to Lille in another match brought forward to a 6.00 pm (CET) kick-off. That result converted their tie later in the evening against Bayern Munich in to a decider for first place in group F, and although the Ches lost Barragán to a red card before half time, they took the lead through Feghouli late on. However Müller made it 1-1 a few minutes later to take his team ahead of Pellegrino's side on the head-to-head record. (20.11.12)

Manchester City 1 - Real Madrid 1

Real Madrid picked up the point they needed to make it through to the knock-out stage after drawing 1-1 with Manchester City on Wednesday evening. Benzema gave Mourinho's side an early lead, losing his marker Maicon before sweeping Di María's cross past Joe Hart from close to goal. And they could have gone further ahead later on in the first half, Khedira going close a couple of times and Ronaldo lobbing the keeper only for Nastasic to clear the ball off the line. Casillas only had one real save to make before the break, pushing Aguero's effort over the crossbar, but twenty minutes in to the second half he made the stop of the night, again from Aguero at point blank range. Ronaldo replied with a shot from outside of the area which caused Hart some problems, but a few minutes later Aguero fell under a challenge from Arbeloa in the area, and Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi awarded a penalty to City and showed a second yellow card to the full back. Aguero converted the spot-kick himself, and with the Premier League side needing a win to stay in the competition, Mancini threw everything forward. Mourinho closed ranks though to hold on to the draw, and with Borussia Dortmund taking Ajax out of the equation as well in the other group game, Madrid are now sure to finish second in group D whatever the outcome in the last round of matches. (21.11.12)

Zenit 2 - Málaga 2

Málaga already sealed their place in the last sixteen a fortnight ago, but they still needed a point at Zenit in the first match of Wednesday evening to tie up top spot in group C. They seemed to be well on the way when they scored twice with less than ten minutes on the clock, Buonanotte picking up a Seba Fernández cross to make himself space to beat Malafeev, and the veteran keeper giving the ball away to Santa Cruz a minute later for the striker to set up Fernández for the second. Zenit's big money signing missed a couple of chances, and Caballero pulled off a couple of excellent saves from Kerzakhov and Hubocan before the half time interval, but four minutes after the restart Danny got one back for the Saint Petersburg based side after combining with Hubocan. Málaga held on though until three minutes from the end, when an effort from Danny was scrambled clear only as far as Fayzulin, who found a gap inside the near post to fire home the equalizer. However any hope the Russian side had of winning the game ended when substitute Bystrov was sent off in injury time, and they now have to fight out third place with Anderlecht, Málaga's opponents in the last group game. (21.11.12)

Spartak Moscow 0 - Barcelona 3

Barcelona reserved their place in the next round of the competition after beating Unai Emery's Spartak Moscow 0-3 on a cold Tuesday evening. All three goals came before the break, with Pedro testing Dykan before Dani Alves opened the scoring on the quarter hour mark, the full back drilling a first time shot past the keeper after Messi won the ball back in the area. Suchy missed an easy chance to equalize at the other end, but soon afterwards Dykan could only push out Iniesta's shot as far as Messi, who clipped the ball back in to the net. Later in the first half Emenike failed to hit the target once again and Pedro had a penalty appeal turned down, and with six minutes to go to the break Pedro put Messi through for him to score his second of the evening, taking him level with Ruud Van Nistelrooy as the competition's second highest all-time goalscorer. With the game won Vilanova started to rest his key players after the break, but even so Fàbregas and Pedro could both have increased the lead had Dykan not been on his toes. There was a brief worry for the coach when Valdés was felled in a tackle, but the keeper recovered well enough to go on and save from Welliton. A fourth group win though for the Catalans, who are now sure of top spot of group G after Benfica beat Celtic later in the evening. (20.11.12)

Valencia 1 - Bayern Munich 1

Valencia ensured their place in the last sixteen without having to kick a ball after third placed BATE Borisov lost 0-2 to Lille in a match brought forward to a 6.00 pm (CET) kick-off. That result converted their tie later in the evening against Bayern Munich in to a decider for first place in group F, the Bundesliga side having the edge over the Ches on the head-to-head record after the game ended 1-1. Dante caused some problems for Guaita and his defence with a couple of early headers, and Feghouli tested Neuer for the first time with half an hour gone. A couple of minutes later though Pelegrino's side were left with ten men after Barragán was sent off for a hard tackle on Alaba, and Guaita had to be at his best to keep out Pizarro before the interval. After the restart Javi Martínez shot wide and Mandzukic hit the post, but Valencia replied with a couple of efforts from Soldado, and with a quarter of an hour to go Feghouli picked the ball up outside of the area and ran on to fire in a shot which deflected in to the net off the hand of Dante. The joy was short-lived though as Bayern equalized within five minutes, Müller finding the net after Mario Gómez played on Lahm's cross. The draw leaves both teams level on points, but the Spaniards can still finish top of the group if they can better Bayern's result on the last day in a fortnight's time. (20.11.12)