Napoli stunned Manchester City 2-1 at the San Paolo stadium last night to leave the English Premier League leaders’ Cham-pions League hopes in the balance.
Napoli now lead City by a point heading into the final Group A games in two weeks time in which the Italians will travel to pointless Villarreal while the English team will host already qualified group winners Bayern Munich.
Edinson Cavani scored a brace for the hosts either side of a Mario Balotelli tap-in.
Napoli were content to sit back and hit City on the counter and they almost scored a third when Vincent Kompany’s slip let in Ezequeil Lavezzi, who played despite his pregnant wife having been car-jacked at gun-point in the morning, but keeper Joe Hart stood tall to block his shot.
And the hosts went even closer after a mistake by Aleksandar Kolarov let in Marek Hamsik but although his shot beat Hart, it came back off the post and City survived, just, again.
France winger Franck Ribery scored twice as Bayern Munich booked their place in the next phase with a 3-1 win over Villarreal.
Bayern are now five points clear at the top and will win Group A regardless of their last game away to Manchester City.
This was Bayern’s fourth win in this season’s Euro campaign with only last month’s 1-1 draw at Napoli blotting their perfect record.
Munich’s Allianz Arena will host the final next May and the Bavarians have made no secret of their desire to win the Champions League for the first time since 2001.
“We are proud and happy to have achieved our goal before the end of the group phase,” said goal-scorer Mario Gomez.
“Franck Ribery was outstanding.”
Having fallen to a fifth straight defeat, Villarreal are now sure of elimination and even their dreams of finishing third, to secure a Europa League berth, are also dashed.
Manchester United’s hopes were also left hanging in the balance after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Portuguese rivals Benfica at Old Trafford.
Pablo Aimar punished some slack United play to secure a pre-cious point for Benfica after United had fought back from an early Phil Jones own goal to lead through strikes from Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Fletcher.
Although the result left Benfica and United level on nine points, the Portuguese will progress as winners of Group C if they beat Romanian whipping boys Otelul Galati in their final group game in Lisbon next month by virtue of their better head-to-head record with United.
United, meanwhile, face a tricky final game at Swiss side FC Basel, who can qualify for the last 16 at the expense of the English champions if they manage to defeat Alex Ferguson’s side.
Italy’s Inter guaranteed they will finish top of Group B after drawing 1-1 at Trabzonspor.
The 2010 champions had already qualified for the knockout stages prior to kick-off after Lille beat CSKA Moscow 2-0 in Moscow but the draw means Inter cannot be caught at the top as they lead Trabzonspor by four points with one match remaining.
The two sides fought out an entertaining first half with the visitors drawing first blood as Argentinian midfielder Ricardo Alvarez scored a great goal in the 18th minute.
Alvarez played a 1-2 with compatriot Gabriel Milito and then slotted it past goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.
However, the hosts didn’t have to wait long for the equaliser as veteran striker Halil Altintop saw his 25-yard effort fly into the net though it took a deflection off Inter defender Walter Samuel.
Real run riot
In Group D action, Real Madrid wrapped up top spot in emphatic fashion.
The Spanish giants stormed into a 3-0 lead over Dinamo Zagreb inside nine minutes with goals from Karim Benzema, Jose Callejon and Gonzalo Higuain, and Mesut Ozil made it four before 20 minutes were up in a frenzied start at the Bernabeu.
Callejon and Benzema struck again after the interval and Real could have had even more goals, while late strikes from Dinamo’s Fatos Beqiraj and Ivan Tomecak gave a merely cosmetic effect to the scoreline.
Ajax all but booked their place in the last 16 of the competition after a battling goalless draw on the road at Lyon.
Both sides had opportunities to win an entertaining encounter at Stade Gerland but at the final whistle it will have been the French side who were the more aggrieved, with the visitors indebted to two superb Kenneth Vermeer saves late on.
The result means the sides remain separated by three points heading into the final round of fixtures, with second-placed Ajax needing to avoid defeat at home to Group D winners Real Madrid on Matchday Six to be sure of progressing.
Summaries
Napoli 2
Cavani 17, 49;
Man. City 1
Balotelli 33;
B. Munich 3
Ribery 3, 69; Gomez 24;
Villarreal 1
De Guzman 50;
CSKA Moscow 0
Lille 2
Berezutski 49 og; Sow 64;
Trabzonspor 1
Altintop 23;
Inter 1
Alvarez 18;
Otelul Galati 2
Giurgiu 75; Antal 81;
Basel 3
F. Frei 10; A. Frei 14; Streller 37;
Man. United 2
Berbatov 30; Fletcher 59;
Benfica 2
Jones 3 og; Aimar 61;
Real Madrid 6
Benzema 2, 66; Callejon 6, 49; Higuain 9; Ozil 20;
D. Zagreb 2
Beqiraj 81; Tomecak 90;
Lyon 0
Ajax 0
Group A
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Bayern Munich | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 13 |
| Napoli | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| Man. City | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Villarreal | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 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
07/12/11: Man. City vs B. Munich
07/12/11: Villarreal vs Napoli
Group B
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Inter | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| Trabzonspor | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| CSKA Moscow | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| Lille | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
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
07/12/11: Lille vs Trabzonspor
07/12/11: Inter vs CSKA Moscow
Group C
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Benfica | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| Man. United | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 9 |
| Basel | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Otelul Galati | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 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
07/12/11: Basel vs Man. United
07/12/11: Benfica vs Otelul Galati
Group D
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Real Madrid | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 15 |
| Ajax | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Lyon | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 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
07/12/11: D. Zagreb vs Lyon
07/12/11: Ajax vs Real Madrid
Playing today
Group E
B. Leverkusen - Chelsea
Valencia - Genk
Group F
Arsenal - Marseille
Bor. Dortmund - Olympiakos
Group G
S. Donetsk - Porto
Zenit SP - Apoel - 18.00
Group H
Milan - Barcelona
Bate Borisov - Vik. Plzen - 19.00