Barcelona, Atletico sail into last 16
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Barcelona and Atletico Madrid led a Spanish armada into the Champions League last 16 with home wins on Wednesday and in-form Aaron Ramsey steadied Arsenal’s boat with a battling win against rocky Borussia Dortmund.
Barcelona met seven-time winner AC Milan at the Nou Camp but the stock of the faltering Italians has fallen so much that even an average display from the hosts sealed a 3-1 success in Group H, Lionel Messi scoring a penalty and a cheeky third.
La Liga rival Atletico put on a better display in its 4-0 cruise past Group G whipping boy Austria Vienna to glide into the knockout stages after four wins from four.
Miranda grabbed Atletico’s opener after 11 minutes before Raul Garcia rose athletically to head home the second, with Filipe Luis making it three for this term’s potential surprise package on halftime.
Diego Costa missed a penalty but added a fourth goal in the 82nd as Diego Simeone’s men made sure of top spot and equalled their biggest Champions League win in reaching the knockout stages for the first time since 2008/09.
“We knew it was very important to win today because of the result between Zenit and Porto. The team was great today and we deserved to reach the round of 16,” the forward said.
Zenit St Petersburg stayed as the favorite to take second place and qualify after Hulk scored the equalizer but also missed a spot kick in a 1-1 home draw with his former side Porto.
Arsenal grabbed swift revenge for last month’s home loss to Dortmund by snatching a 1-0 win at last term’s runner-up, Ramsey’s 62nd-minute header the latest in his purple patch of goals to leave Juergen Klopp’s third-placed side suddenly fretting.
Wales midfielder Ramsey netted his 11th goal of the season when he nodded in after good work by Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud.
Arsenal is top of Group F but level on points with Napoli, which overcame Olympique Marseille 3-2 at home thanks to Gonzalo Higuain’s double.
Added to a cracker from Gokhan Inler, who chested down a clearance on the edge of the area and volleyed home, it meant the pointless French side is out of last-16 contention.
Chelsea’s first goal in a 3-0 win over Schalke 04 was hardly a classic in contrast, with keeper Timo Hildebrand blasting his clearance against Samuel Eto’o and the ball flying in.
The Cameroonian slotted in a cool second after the break and Demba Ba also scored to put the Group E leader on the verge of qualification, with the Germans second and Basel third after a late equalizer in a 1-1 home draw with Steaua Bucharest.
Barcelona took the lead on the half hour after Ignazio Abate clumsily pulled back Neymar and Messi did the rest from the spot. Sergio Busquets then headed in Xavi’s free kick and although there was a hint of offside, he was left totally unmarked by the Milan defense.
World Player of the Year Messi snuffed Milan out when he ran through in the 83rd and finished with a deft chip.
Despite the loss, Milan stayed second in Group H as Ajax Amsterdam beat Celtic 1-0.
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