Real Madrid, Manchester City first two teams to reach next round

BERLIN — Real Madrid and Manchester City became the first teams to reach the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday with victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla.

Madrid had substitute Nacho Fernandez to thank for a hard-fought 1-0 win over previously unbeaten PSG which broke Barcelona’s group-stage record of 18 games unbeaten.

City won 3-1 in Seville to move top of Group D on nine points, one ahead of Juventus, which eliminated Borussia Moenchengladbach with a 1-1 draw.

Manchester United moved top of Group B thanks to a 1-0 home win over CSKA Moscow, and Benfica took advantage of Atletico Madrid’s scoreless draw at Astana by beating Galatasaray 2-1 at home to move atop Group C.

Here’s a closer look at the games in each group:

Group A

Nacho scored two minutes after coming on for Real Madrid against PSG, capitalising on a mistake from goalkeeper Kevin Trapp to score from a tight angle after Toni Kroos’ initial effort was deflected way off target. Trapp came out from his goal but was caught flat-footed when Nacho dinked the ball inside the far post.

That’s the way football is,” PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. “We should have been more effective, but sometimes you score and sometimes you don’t. The thing that bothers me the most is that Real Madrid scored the way it did. That play could have been avoided.”

The win gave Madrid 10 points from four matches, while PSG, which had more efforts and possession, remained on seven points.

“We delivered our best match of the season,” former Madrid winger Angel di Maria said. “An outstanding display. We made a mistake and were punished. We played 10 times better than Real.”

“We suffered a lot in the first half, they worked the ball very well,” Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez said. “We improved in the second half but we have to reflect on the things that we didn’t do well today.”

Shakhtar Donetsk, which defeated Malmo 4-0 in Ukraine, reached three points, the same as the Swedish club.

Group B

Wayne Rooney ended Manchester United’s 404-minute goal drought, clinching a 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow and sending the team top of the group.

“It is unbelievable because we created at least 12 chances tonight and had to wait a long time,” United manager Louis van Gaal told BT Sport.

“Before that they could have scored and then it is a different match. I am happy. We played well.”

Since scoring in the Russian capital in last month’s 1-1 draw, United had gone through three domestic games without hitting the net — with Rooney particularly profligate.

The United captain squandered a golden chance in front of goal at Old Trafford before meeting Jesse Lingard’s cross with a header in the 79th minute.

United now have a one-point lead at the top of Group B over PSV Eindhoven, who beat Wolfsburg 2-0 after Juergen Locadia and Luuk de Jong scored in the second half.

Group C

Central defender Luisao’s 67th-minute winner for Benfica over Galatasaray put the Portuguese club two points clear of Atletico with two games to play. Galatasaray is third with four points.

Raul Jimenez chipped the ball into the visitors’ penalty area for Luisao to poke it into the net from close range. The Brazilian’s goal put Benfica back into the lead after Lukas Podolski leveled the score in the 58th minute, canceling out Jonas’ 52nd-minute opener.

Fernando Torres, who was looking for his 100th goal for Atletico, almost reached the landmark after the half hour mark, but poked his shot wide after capitalising on a defensive mistake from the Kazakh side.

Roared on by a passionate capacity crowd, Astana grew in stature as the first half wore on and finished the stronger of the two teams, yet they were unable to seriously test Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera spectacularly denied Nicolas Gaitan twice in the last 15 minutes before the Argentine striker was shown his second yellow card and sent off with five minutes left.

Yasin Oztekin squandered a chance to equalize, missing an open goal during a goalmouth scramble in added time.

Group D

Raheem Sterling scored his first Champions League goal to help Manchester City seal its place in the round of 16 with a dominant 3-1 win at Sevilla.

The 20-year-old forward scored in the eighth minute and helped Fernandinho double the advantage three minutes later.

Sevilla’s Benoit Tremoulinas scored in the 25th minute, only for former Sevilla forward Jesus Navas to set up Wilfried Bony for City’s third in the 36th minute.

City moved first in Group D with nine points, one ahead of Juventus. Sevilla has three and can’t overtake City because of their head-to-head record.

Stephan Lichtsteiner scored one month after undergoing heart surgery to give 10-man Juventus a 1-1 draw at ‘Gladbach.

Juventus had Brazilian midfielder Hernanes sent off for a reckless two-footed lunge on Alvaro Dominguez in the second half and needed veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to keep the home side at bay later on.

“It was a positive game given the circumstances,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters. “We started well, then risked and conceded a goal. Then we seemed to have the game in hand until the sending off.”

“But I would like to see an improvement, because this is about developing character and technique. We should not be getting in trouble at the first sign of pressure. We have to read the game differently then, stretch it out.”