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Another record for Ronaldo

Galatasaray edge Juventus 1-0 in snow-hit encounter; Man United top group
Last Updated 11 December 2013, 17:08 IST

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo set a Champions League group phase scoring record on Tuesday as Bayer Leverkusen and Olympiakos Piraeus reached the last 16 and Juventus were knocked out by Galatasaray after their snow-hit match was completed on Wednesday.

Holders Bayern Munich's record-breaking run of 10 consecutive Champions League wins came to an unceremonious end  after Manchester City staged a memorable fightback after conceding two early goals to win 3-2 at the Allianz Arena.

However, Bayern still won Group D with City finishing in second place.

Prolific Ronaldo took his tally to nine for the campaign in Real's 2-0 win at FC Copenhagen, with the nine-times champions also setting an all-time record in European competitions by netting in 31 successive matches.

Ronaldo, in his first game back since sustaining a muscle strain on Nov 23, scored with a simple close-range finish three minutes after the break, Real's second after Luka Modric's delightful opener. A heavy loss looked on the cards for City when slack defending allowed Thomas Mueller and Mario Goetze to fire the German side 2-0 ahead after 12 minutes.

David Silva started the comeback with a simple finish to reduce the deficit by the break and James Milner won a penalty, converted by Aleksandar Kolarov, and side-footed the winner in a three-minute second-half spell.

Leverkusen's 1-0 win at Real Sociedad put them through as runners-up behind Manchester United in Group A.

The Bundesliga side's victory, earned by Oemer Toprak's second-half goal, lifted them above Shakhtar Donetsk into second after the Ukrainians lost 1-0 at United. Javier Saviola scored twice as Olympiakos pipped Benfica to second spot in Group C by beating visitors Anderlecht 3-1.

In an extraordinary match, the Belgians finished with eight men after the Greeks scored one penalty and had two saved by keeper Silvia Proto, including one from Saviola.
The Anderlecht stopper spoiled his night by getting sent off in stoppage-time, joining Cheikhou Kouyate and Fabrice N'Sakala in seeing red.

Benfica won 2-1 against group winners Paris St Germain, who rested top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but drop into the Europa League despite finishing on 10 points along with Olympiakos who enjoyed head-to-head superiority over the Lisbon club.

Galatasaray will join Group B winners Real Madrid in the knockout stage after Wesley Sneijder scored in the 85th-minute after being set up by a headed knock down from striker Didier Drogba, firing a low shot past Gianluigi Buffon in the Group B match.

Galatasaray's win lifted them above the Italian champions into second with seven points compared to six for Juve, who drop into the Europa League.

The game in Istanbul restarted in the 32nd minute on Wednesday after being abandoned due to heavy snowfall on Tuesday. Both teams struggled on a muddy pitch which made passing a major challenge, forcing them to hit long balls.  

After losing two successive Premier League games at Old Trafford, Manchester United stopped the rot thanks to a second-half Phil Jones goal at Old Trafford which sent Shakhtar into the Europa League.

Viktoria Plzen scored two late goals to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 to secure third place and a Europa League spot in Group D.

Substitute Tomas Wagner rifled home the winner in the 90th minute to send Plzen into the Europa League at the expense of CSKA. 

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(Published 11 December 2013, 17:08 IST)

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