skip to main content

Champions League round-up: Arsenal claim last-16 berth after seeing off Girona

Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri is flanked by team-mates Riccardo Calafiori and Raheem Sterling as he celebrates his goal against Girona
Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri is flanked by team-mates Riccardo Calafiori and Raheem Sterling as he celebrates his goal against Girona

Ethan Nwaneri scored on his full Champions League debut as Arsenal secured direct passage to the last 16 with a 2-1 win at Girona.

The 17-year-old winger became the second-youngest English goalscorer in the competition after Jude Bellingham when he cracked in what turned out to be the winner late in the first half, a superb curling effort into the corner as Arsenal recovered from going a goal down.

Stand-in goalkeeper Neto, in for the injured David Raya, had a debut to forget, with the Brazilian on loan from Bournemouth badly at fault for allowing former Tottenham forward Arnaut Danjuma to give the home side the lead after 28 minutes.

Girona had already been eliminated on their maiden Champions League campaign and squandered their lead soon after taking it, Thomas Partey fouled inside the box allowing Jorginho to level from the spot for Arsenal.

That set things up three minutes before half-time for Nwaneri to swing his left boot and score his sixth Arsenal goal, though the margin of victory could have been bigger had Raheem Sterling not missed a stoppage-time penalty.

Captain Lautaro Martinez netted a hat-trick to become Inter Milan's most prolific scorer in the Champions League as they eased to a 3-0 victory over the 10 men of Monaco at a raucous San Siro.

The victory ensured Inter finish fourth in the table and qualified directly for the round of 16 with 19 points from their eight games, while 17th-placed Monaco will feature in the knockout play-offs.

The home side started the game at a frenetic pace and were 2-0 up and a man to the good inside 16 minutes as Martinez struck a penalty and then supplied a low finish from Nicolo Barella's excellent pass.

Martinez secured his hat-trick in the second half to take his career tally of Champions League goals to 17, three more than Adriano.


WATCH: Last round of Champions League group phase


Holders Real Madrid made sure they would be seeded for Friday's play-off draw with a 3-0 away win over Brest.

Rodrygo scored the first and last goals after 26 and 78 minutes respectively while Jude Bellingham netted the second in the 56th following a smart pass from Lucas Vazquez.

Despite the loss, Brest will also feature in the two-legged play-offs as an unseeded team in their first European campaign.

Bayern Munich eased past Slovan Bratislava 3-1 but the Germans missed out on a top-eight finish and automatic qualification and will go into a play-off.

Goals from Thomas Muller, Harry Kane and Kingsley Coman saw them home but could only finish 12th overall in the standings, following a costly 3-0 loss to Feyenoord last week.

Harry Kane heads home for Bayern Munich in their 3-1 win over Bratislava

Lille gatecrashed the top eight of the standings and booked an unexpected place in the last 16 when they hammered hapless Feyenoord 6-1.

An early goal from Osame Sahraoui was followed by three own goals plus strikes from Jonathan David and Remy Cabella as the unfancied French club advanced to 16 points from their eight matches in the new-look, 36-team group competition.

Lille, fourth in Ligue 1 last season, had to come through two preliminary knockout rounds to reach the group phase, where they finished seventh after a surprisingly efficient campaign that saw them beat Atletico Madrid, Bologna and holders Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid booked their place in the last 16 after a decisive 4-0 win over RB Salzburg including a double from Antoine Griezmann.

Giuliano Simeone, son of coach Diego Simeone, put Atletico in front early, Griezmann scoring twice before the first half was out.

Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atletico won easily at home to RB Salzburg

Marcos Llorente rounded off the scoring shortly after the hour as the Spanish side cantered into the knockout stage, placing fifth overall in the table.

Benfica secured their place in the play-offs with a 2-0 win at Juventus, who were already assured of their play-off spot.

Benfica finished 16th in the standings, on 13 points, and will face either AS Monaco or Brest in the play-offs, while Juventus, on 12 points, ended up 20th and will meet AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven.

The opening goal came from Vangelis Pavlidis in the 16th minute and after the sides returned to the pitch after the interval to the sound of Metallica's Enter Sandman, Orkun Kokcu's goal 10 minutes from time sealed the win.

Paris St Germain secured a play-off spot as Ousmane Dembele played chief tormentor in a 4-1 away demolition of VfB Stuttgart.

Dembele netted a hat-trick and fellow France forward Bradley Barcola added another as PSG qualified for the play-offs as one of the eight seeded teams for Friday's draw after finishing 15th.

A goal in each half sent Bayer Leverkusen into the round of 16 on Wednesday with a comfortable 2-0 win over a toothless Sparta Prague side unable to offer much resistance to the German champions.

Goals either side of the break from Florian Wirtz and Nathan Tella assured the Bundesliga winners of victory, in a game where they utterly dominated possession throughout.

Europa League champions Atalanta missed out on an automatic place with a 2-2 draw at Barcelona on Wednesday, with Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo scoring for the already-qualified hosts.

Atalanta, who were missing one of their top strikers Ademola Lookman because of a knee injury, slipped down to ninth in the standings on 15 points.

AC Milan will have to play in the play-offs after missing out on an automatic last-16 spot with a 2-1 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, whose victory was not enough for them to progress.

Goals from Martin Baturina and Marko Pjaca propelled the Croatian side to victory, with Christian Pulisic equalising for the visitors, who had Yunus Musah sent off shortly before half-time.

Borussia Dortmund cruised into the knockout phase play-offs with a 3-1 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk, with Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy scoring two first-half goals as the Ukrainian side were eliminated.

Conrad Harder's second-half strike ensured Sporting's progress to the play-offs after the Portuguese side secured a 1-1 draw with Bologna.

Harder found the net from close range off a Joao Simoes pass in the 77th minute, cancelling out Tommaso Pobega's 21st-minute headed goal to bring Sporting back from the verge of elimination.

Guelor Kanga scored the only goal as FK Crvena Zvezda won 1-0 away to Young Boys, in a match where both sides were already eliminated, the Swiss outfit finishing bottom of the overall standings with eight losses from eight.

Sturm Graz beat RB Leipzig 1-0 at home in another game where neither team had a chance of qualification, Arjan Malic scoring the winner shortly before half-time.

Read Next