Champions League: Manchester United, Juventus secure place in round of 16

Manchester United and Juventus were among the sides to clinch a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.

United, Juventus, Roma and Basel all went through with victories in their final group games, but Atletico Madrid, beaten finalists in 2014 and 2016, were eliminated. Jose Mourinho’s United side came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 at Old Trafford as they reach the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013-’14.

Only a heavy defeat could have eliminated United in Group A, but Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford scored two minutes apart in the second half to seal victory at Old Trafford, where they are unbeaten in 40 games in all competitions now.

CSKA had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time, a shot from the Brazilian Vitinho going in off the back of Alan Dzagoev. “I’m really happy because we don’t want to qualify with a defeat, we don’t want to qualify with a bad performance,” said Mourinho.

CSKA drop into the Europa League, while Basel reached the last 16 for the third time this decade, the Swiss champions beating Benfica 2-0 in Lisbon with goals from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Dimitri Oberlin.

Juventus cruise

The Italian champions go through behind Barcelona, who rounded off their group phase by easing to a 2-0 win at home against Sporting Lisbon. Juan Cuadrado and Federico Bernardeschi scored in either half as Juventus sealed a berth in the Champions League knockout rounds on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Olympiakos in Piraeus.

Colombian international Cuadrado turned in Alex Sandro’s cross after 15 minutes with Italian Bernardeschi getting the second in the final minute as last year’s finalists advanced to the last 16 for the fourth straight year.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side needed to win to assure their berth even though a draw or even defeat would have been sufficient for the six-time defending Serie A champions depending on the other Group D result.