The last night of this season’s Champions League group stage offered a huge surprise as last season’s finalists Manchester United and their neighbouring rivals City both crashed out of the competition. But it was a night to remember for Serie A side Napoli and Basel who progressed to the knock-out stages.
Manchester United were eliminated from the group phase for only the third time in 16 years following a stunning 2-1 loss at Swiss champions Basel.
Six years to the day since they last bade farewell at the group stage, following a 2-1 loss at Benfica, last year’s beaten finalists were undone by goals in each half from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei.
Despite needing just a point to go through from Group C, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side fell to their first away defeat in the group phase in five years, but not before Phil Jones’ late goal had given them a vain glimmer of hope.
Victory allowed Basel to book their place in the last 16 for the first time since 2002-03, while for United, who had reached three of the last four finals, there is the unwelcome consolation of the Europa League.
At the Etihad Stadium, David Silva and Yaya Toure’s goals earned Manchester City a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich but it was not enough to prevent them from being eliminated from the competition.
The Premier League leaders went into the match knowing the only way they could progress into the knockout phase was to beat Bayern, who had already finished top of Group A, and for Napoli to fail to beat Villarreal.
Silva opened the scoring shortly before half-time at Eastlands and Toure scored a second just after the start of the second period.
But Napoli’s 2-0 victory at Villarreal, courtesy of second half goals from Gokhan Inler and Marek Hamsik, means Roberto Mancini’s team will now have to combine their push for the Premier League title with a place in the Europa League.
CSKA Moscow sneaked into the knock-out stages as Vasili Berezutsky scored three minutes from time to give the Russians a 2-1 victory at Inter.
With Trabzonspor holding Lille to a goalless draw in France, CSKA leap-frogged the pair to remain in Europe’s premier club competition.
Seydou Doumbia had given the visitors the lead before Esteban Cambiasso equalised but Berezutsky had the last word.
The hosts had already won the group but this defeat, coupled with a 1-0 home loss to Udinese at the weekend, will have increased the pressure on coach Claudio Ranieri with his side down in 16th in Serie A.
Gomis hits four
Bafetimbi Gomis struck four times as Lyon routed 10-man Dinamo Zagreb and completed a remarkable nine-goal swing to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League ahead of Group D rivals Ajax.
With Ajax losing to group winners Real Madrid, the French side still had a mathematical chance of going through but were seven adrift on goal difference.
Real’s 3-0 win in Amsterdam did some of the work but a stunning six-goal showing in the second period against Dinamo was decisive.
Gomis scored a seven-minute hat-trick interrupted by half-time, while Maxime Gonalons, Lisandro Lopez and Jimmy Briand also found the net.
The hosts had actually taken the lead through Mateo Kovacic, despite Jerko Leko picking up a second yellow card after 28 minutes.
Summaries
Man. City 2
Silva 36; Y. Toure 52;
B. Munich 0
Villareal 0
Napoli 2
Inler 65; Hamsik 76;
Lille 0
Trabzonspor 0
Inter 1
Cambiasso 51;
CSKA Moscow 2
Doumbia 50; Berezutski 87;
Basel 2
Streller 9; Frei 84;
Man. United 1
Jones 89;
Benfica 1
Cardozo 7;
Otelul Galati 0
D. Zagreb 1
Kovacic 40;
Lyon 7
Gomis 45, 48; Gomis 52, 70; Gonalons 48; Lopez 64; Briand 76;
Ajax 0
Real Madrid 3
Callejon 14, 90; Higuain 42;
Group A
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Bayern Munich | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 13 |
| Napoli | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 11 |
| Man. City | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 10 |
| Villarreal | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
Man. City vs Napoli - 1-1
Villarreal vs Bayern Munich - 0-2
Bayern Munich vs Man. City - 2-0
Napoli vs Villarreal - 2-0
Napoli vs Bayern Munich - 1-1
Man. City vs Villarreal - 2-1
Bayern Munich vs Napoli - 3-2
Villarreal vs Man. City - 0-3
Napoli vs Man. City - 2-1
Bayern Munich vs Villarreal - 3-1
Man. City vs B. Munich - 2-0
Villarreal vs Napoli - 0-2
Group B
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Inter | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 10 |
| CSKA Moscow | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Trabzonspor | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Lille | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Lille vs CSKA Moscow - 2-2
Inter vs Trabzonspor - 0-1
Trabzonspor vs Lille - 1-1
CSKA Moscow vs Inter - 2-3
CSKA Moscow vs Trabzonspor - 3-0
Lille vs Inter - 0-1
Trabzonspor vs CSKA Moscow - 0-0
Inter vs Lille - 2-1
CSKA Moscow vs Lille - 0-2
Trabzonspor vs Inter - 1-1
Lille vs Trabzonspor - 0-0
Inter vs CSKA Moscow - 1-2
Group C
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Benfica | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Basel | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Man. United | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 9 |
| Otelul Galati | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
Basel vs Otelul Galati - 2-1
Benfica vs Man. United - 1-1
Man. United vs Basel - 3-3
Otelul Galati vs Benfica - 0-1
Otelul Galati vs Man. United - 0-2
Basel vs Benfica - 0-2
Man. United vs Otelul Galati - 2-0
Benfica vs Basel - 1-1
Otelul Galati vs Basel - 2-3
Man. United vs Benfica - 2-2
Basel vs Man. United - 2-1
Benfica vs Otelul Galati - 1-0
Group D
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Real Madrid | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 18 |
| Lyon | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Ajax | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 0 |
Dinamo Zagreb vs Real Madrid - 0-1
Ajax vs Lyon - 0-0
Lyon vs Dinamo Zagreb - 2-0
Real Madrid vs Ajax - 3-0
Real Madrid vs Lyon - 4-0
D. Zagreb vs Ajax - 0-2
Lyon vs Real Madrid - 0-2
Ajax vs Dinamo Zagreb - 4-0
Real Madrid vs D. Zagreb - 6-2
Lyon vs Ajax - 0-0
D. Zagreb vs Lyon - 1-7
Ajax vs Real Madrid - 0-3