Champions League LIVE! Chelsea win; Liverpool and Man City build-up
Liverpool and Manchester City will tonight look to join Chelsea in the knockout stages as Manchester United bounced back with a 4-1 win against Istanbul Basaksehir at Old Trafford.
Consistency has been a problem for United, and they lost 2-1 to Basaksehir in Turkey on matchday three after beating PSG and RB Leipzig to blow the group wide open – but a thumping win at Old Trafford leaves them in pole position to reach the last-16.
United’s Premier League rivals Chelsea sealed qualification to the last-16 with a 2-1 victory over Rennes in France, Olivier Giroud popping up in injury with a vital header.
On Wednesday, Liverpool and Manchester City can join the Blues in the knockout stages with two games to spare. The Reds have Mohamed Salah back as they face Atalanta, while Pep Guardiola will look to make amends for a loss at Tottenham by beating Olympiacos.
Champions League fixtures tonight
5.55pm | Olympiacos vs Manchester City, Borussia Monchengladbach vs Shakhtar Donetsk
8pm | Atletico Madrid vs Lokomotiv Moscow, Bayern Munich vs Red Bull Salzburg, Inter Milan vs Real Madrid, Marseille vs Porto, Ajax vs Midtjylland, Liverpool vs Atalanta
Follow all the action on our LIVE match blog below…
Live updates
Mason thanks Cesc
Don’t show Declan Rice!
Lampard wants Giroud to stay
Frank Lampard insists Olivier Giroud still has a vital role to play at Chelsea.
The 34-year-old scored the winner in injury time and has been linked with a January transfer.
Asked if Giroud’s goal underlines just why Chelsea want him to stay at Stamford Bridge, Lampard said: “Yes, it does, and I’ve felt it first-hand, last year it was him or Tammy (Abraham) fighting for the number nine spot.
“Everybody kind of feels from the outside to be fair what a great professional he is and how highly regarded he is by his team-mates and myself.
“So for him to get a goal, you saw the reaction of his team-mates, he’s so professional in how he trains and looks after himself that age isn’t even a factor for him.
“He’s getting better with age if anything in terms of how he looks after himself. So he offers a lot for us and I keep saying it but the big schedule coming up and the way we play means I will rely on players.
“So thankfully for me he’s a player that always keeps the right attitude if he’s not playing regularly, and I know when I call upon him that he comes in as he did.”
Why Fernandes let Rashford take the pen
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes has explained why turned down the chance of scoring a hat-trick to let Marcus Rashford take a penalty against Istanbul Basaksehir.
“Of course every player wants a hat-trick, but after the game in the Premier League I told Rashford that he could take the next one,” Fernandes told BT Sport.
“Also, he’s one of the top scorers in the Champions League so it’s important for him to get the confidence.
“It doesn’t matter who takes the penalty as long as the team scores.”
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had no problem with Fernandes and Rashford sharing duties, adding: “Marcus is a very good penalty taker and Bruno is very confident, if Bruno wants to give it to Marcus then why not?
“Anthony Martial took one against Leipzig too – why not share it around?”
What Man United need
With PSG beating RB Leipzig in the other Group H game, United need just one point from their remaining two games to qualify.
Those matches are against Leipzig and PSG, mind…
Champions League results tonight
Dynamo Kyiv 0-3 Barcelona
Man United 4-1 Basaksehir
Full-time! Man United 4-1 Basaksehir
That’s the win for United. They started and ended strongly, sagged a bit in the middle, but got the job done.
GOAL! Man United 4-1 Basaksehir | Dan James, 91 mins
A big, big goal from Dan James! United break and Van de Beek releases Greenwood – he slides the ball across to James, who clips the ball to James to finish in the middle unmarked.
James has been the subject of much criticism in recent months, and that could be a huge moment in his United career.
Injury time
Four minutes of added time at Old Trafford.
Champions League latest scores
Dynamo Kyiv 0-4 Barcelona
Man United 3-0 Basaksehir
Martin Braithwaite has two for Barca, and they are home and dry.
85 mins: Maguire picks up a yellow card for time-wasting. This is not the position United expected to be in. They should see this out, but they’ve made it more difficult than it needed to be.
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