Zenit St Petersburg qualified for the Champions League last 16 yesterday when Artem Dzyuba’s double gave them a 2-0 win at Olympique Lyonnais, leaving the French club on the brink of elimination.
Dzyuba scored either side of the interval as Zenit stayed top of Group H with a maximum 12 points while Lyon are bottom on a single point.
From the same Group H, Belgian champions Gent stayed in the race for the second spot by beating an innocuous Valencia 1-0 at home.
Gent, who entered the Champions League for the first time this season, are now in third spot with four points. Valencia are second behind Zenit with six points.
Itching to forget their outing in Valencia, where they lost by scoring two own goals, Gent put pressure on the visitors with Laurent Depoitre having a first effort on goal in only the second minute.
Gent, currently leading the Belgian league, created many chances by thundering past Valencia’s flanks but it was a performance that was not reflected on the scoreboard after 45 minutes.
The much deserved goal came in the 49th minute when Sven Kums converted a penalty awarded after Antonio Barragan touched the ball.
Valencia, currently seventh in La Liga, played an uninspiring match, with Daniel Parejo’s free-kick in the 56th minute a rare attempt on goal.
Neymar... two goals for Barca.A Neymar double and a clinical finish from Luis Suarez handed Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 victory over BATE Borisov that put them on the verge of qualifying for the knock-out stages for the 12th consecutive season.
The Brazilian beat keeper Sergei Chernik with his spot-kick after 30 minutes following a foul on substitute Munir El Haddadi by Filip Mladenovic.
Neymar was the provider for Suarez who slotted home into the corner after 60 minutes. Suarez then crossed for Neymar to slide the ball home late on.
The pair have been the driving force behind Barca in the absence of the injured Lionel Messi and now have 13 goals between them from five games.
Fans turned up carrying Catalan flags and the UEFA anthem ahead of the kick-off was drowned out by whistles as they protested against a second fine for Barca, which they are appealing, for displaying political emblems.
Roma squandered a two-goal lead but recovered to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 following a late Miralem Pjanic penalty to move into second place behind Barcelona in Group E.
The Italian side moved on to five points, five behind the Catalans and one ahead of third-placed Leverkusen following their first win of the group stage.
Roma exposed the visitors’ defensive frailties with goals from Mohamed Salah and Edin Dzeko inside the first half hour, but Leverkusen levelled six minutes into the second period after a quickfire double from Admir Mehmedi and Javier Hernandez.
However, an 80th-minute penalty scored by Miralem Pjanic – following Omer Toprak’s goalline push on Salah – earned the visiting captain a red card and secured victory for the home side.
Bayern Munich dismantled Arsenal 5-1 in Group F after a sensational first-half performance to close on the knockout stages with two matches left.
The Bavarians, who struck three times in the first half through Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller and David Alaba, avenged their 2-0 loss in London last month – their only defeat this season – with a dominant performance that underlined their title aspirations.
Substitute Arjen Robben, who made his first appearance in the competition this season after a long injury break, added a fourth soon after coming on in the 55th minute and Mueller grabbed a late fifth.
Bayern Munich top the group on nine points.
Injury-hit Arsenal, woeful at the back and toothless up front, pulled a goal back through Olivier Giroud but are bottom on three points after their third loss, behind Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb.
Arsenal need to win their remaining two games to maintain their slim chances of reaching the last 16.
Willian winner
A stunning free-kick from Willian seven minutes from time gave Chelsea a nervy and hard-fought 2-1 Group G win over Dynamo Kiev to lift some of the gloom surrounding Stamford Bridge.
The English champions bossed the game throughout a largely one-sided first half and led at the break after Dynamo centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic headed into his own net after 34 minutes.
The same player then scored at the right end when he thundered in Dynamo’s equaliser before Willian stepped up to strike a brilliant free kick that gave Dynamo keeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy no chance of saving.
The result left Chelsea in second place on seven points, behind leaders Porto on 10. Dynamo have five points and Maccabi none.
Summaries
Barcelona 3
Neymar 30p, 83; Suarez 60;
B. Borisov 0
Roma 3
Salah 2; Dzeko 29; Pjanic 80 pen;
B. Leverkusen 2
Mehmedi 46; Hernandez 51;
Red card: Toprak (BL) 79.
B. Munich 5
Lewandowski 10; Mueller 29, 89; Alaba 44; Robben 55;
Arsenal 1
Giroud 69;
Olympiakos 2
Pardo 65, 90;
D. Zagreb 1
Hodzic 21;
Missed penalty: Fortounis (O) 54.
Red card: Pivaric (DZ) 79.
Maccabi 1
Zahavi 75 pen;
Porto 3
Herrera 19; Andre 50; Layun 72;
Chelsea 2
Dragovic 34og; Willian 83;
Dynamo Kiev 1
Dragovic 78;
Lyon 0
Zenit SP 2
Dzyuba 25, 57;
Red cards: Gonalons (L) 72; Anyukov (Z) 89.
Ghent 1
Kums 49 pen;
Valencia 0
Group E
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Barcelona | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Roma | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 5 |
| B. Leverkusen | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 4 |
| B. Borisov | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 3 |
B. Leverkusen vs Bate Borisov - 4-1
Roma vs Barcelona - 1-1
Barcelona vs B. Leverkusen - 2-1
Bate Borisov vs Roma - 3-2
Bate Borisov vs Barcelona - 0-2
B. Leverkusen vs Roma - 4-4
Barcelona vs Bate Borisov - 3-0
Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen - 3-2
24-11-2015: B. Borisov vs B. L’kusen
24-11-2015: Barcelona vs Roma
09-12-2015: B. L’kusen vs Barcelona
09-12-2015: Roma vs B. Borisov
Group F
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| B. Munich | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 9 |
| Olympiakos | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| Arsenal | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 3 |
| D. Zagreb | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
D. Zagreb vs Arsenal - 2-1
Olympiakos vs Bayern Munich - 0-3
Bayern Munich vs D. Zagreb - 5-0
Arsenal vs Olympiakos - 2-3
Arsenal vs B. Munich - 2-0
D. Zagreb vs Olympiakos - 0-1
Bayern Munich vs Arsenal - 5-1
Olympiakos vs Dinamo Zagreb - 2-1
24-11-2015: Arsenal vs D. Zagreb
24-11-2015: B. Munich vs Olympiakos
09-12-2015: D. Zagreb vs B. Munich
09-12-2015: Olympiakos vs Arsenal
Group G
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Porto | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 10 |
| Chelsea | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 7 |
| D. Kiev | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Maccabi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
Dynamo Kiev vs Porto - 2-2
Chelsea vs Maccabi - 4-0
Mac. Tel Aviv vs D. Kiev - 0-2
Porto vs Chelsea - 2-1
Porto vs Maccabi Tel Aviv - 2-0
D. Kiev vs Chelsea - 0-0
Maccabi vs Porto - 1-3
Chelsea vs Dynamo Kiev - 2-1
24-11-2015: Porto vs D. Kiev
24-11-2015: Maccabi vs Chelsea
09-12-2015: D. Kiev vs Maccabi
09-12-2015: Chelsea vs Porto
Group H
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Zenit SP | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 12 |
| Valencia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Ghent | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Lyon | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Valencia vs Zenit SP - 2-3
Ghent vs Lyon - 1-1
Lyon vs Valencia - 0-1
Zenit SP vs Ghent - 2-1
Zenit SP vs Lyon - 3-1
Valencia vs Ghent - 2-1
Lyon vs Zenit SP - 0-2
Ghent vs Valencia - 1-0
24-11-2015: Zenit SP vs Valencia
24-11-2015: Lyon vs Ghent
09-12-2015: Valencia vs Lyon
09-12-2015: Ghent vs Zenit SP