Group F
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has become the joint top scorer in Champions League history with his goals against Ajax in Amsterdam on Wednesday.
The Argentine has now tied the previous record of 71 set by Raúl, taking his personal tally to 71 in 90 appearances in the competition. Raúl took 142 matches to reach his tally
Messi opened the scoring against the Dutch side in the 36th minute, then tapped home his second from close range with 14 minutes to go to make it 2-0.
The Barcelona forward joins Raúl on 71 goals, just one goal ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 70.
Paris Saint Germain, however, remained top of Group F on 10 points thanks to a second minute Edinson Cavani goal against Apoel Nicosia.
Barcelona are second on nine points, seven ahead of Ajax and eight in front of Apoel.
Group E
Manchester City’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage were dealt a severe blow after Seydou Doumbia’s brace and two red cards subjected them to a humiliating 2-1 defeat by CSKA Moscow at the Etihad Stadium.
Doumbia twice capitalised on woeful defending to score, the first inside two minutes, either side of a sweet strike by Yaya Touré who was later sent off. Halftime substitute Fernandinho was sent off midway through the second half before Touré followed after lashing out at a CSKA player to complete a dreadful night for City who have taken two points from four Group E games.
Russia’s CSKA, who were banned from selling tickets for the game following repeated bad behaviour from their supporters, have four points, level with AS Roma and eight behind Bayern Munich who beat the Italian side 2-0.
Bayern qualified for the last 16 with goals from Franck Ribery and Mario Götze.
Frenchman Ribery slotted in seven minutes before the break and Götze volleyed in midway through the second half as the impressive Bavarians notched their fourth win in four matches.
Undefeated in the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup this season, Bayern secured top spot with two games left to play, sitting on maximum 12 points.
Group G
Chelsea must wait to secure qualification from Champions League Group G after Eden Hazard missed a late penalty in a 1-1 draw against minnows Maribor.
The Slovenians were unrecognisable from the side beaten 6-0 by Chelsea two weeks ago and claimed a deserved lead when Agim Ibraimi curled in a beautiful shot into the top corner five minutes into the second half.
Chelsea boss José Mourinho had already reacted to a poor first-half showing by his side at the Stadion Ljudskivrt by making a double substitution at half-time, introducing striker Diego Costa and Oscar.
Luka Zahovic missed a fine chance to double the advantage and enhance Maribor’s claims of inflicting Chelsea’s first defeat of the season, before Nemanja Matic’s close-range effort 17 minutes from time which saved the Blues’ blushes.
Maribor goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic saved well from Hazard and Costa, who had the ball in the net after 79 minutes, only for the strike to be ruled out for offside. Hazard was then fouled for an 86th minute spot-kick, but the Belgian’s effort was too central and Handanovic saved.
Schalke remain top on eight points, three ahead of Schalke 04 who lost 3-2 away to Sporting. The Portuguese side moved into third on four points, one ahead of Maribor.
Group H
A second-half Jackson Martinez strike set Porto on their way to a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao to secure a place in the last 16, while the hopes of the Basque side were extinguished.
Martinez, who missed a penalty at the end of the first half, was less forgiving after the break and bundled the ball home from close range on 56 minutes. Yacine Brahimi wrapped up the points with a simple goal with 17 minutes remaining when Athletic keeper Gorka Iraizoz failed to control a simple back pass.
Porto lead Group H with 10 points from four games while Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat BATE Borisov 5-0 are two points behind.
