Champions League | Coutinho leads Liverpool to knock-outs, Ronaldo continues his CL form against Borussia Dortmund
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Philippe Coutinho’s hat-trick helped Liverpool become the fifth English team to enter the last 16 of the Champions League with a 7-0 victory over Spartak Moscow. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in all of his Real Madrid's CL matches as they got the better of Dortmund.
Liverpool 7 - 0 Spartak Moscow
In a game where Liverpool needed to avoid defeat to ensure a place in the knockout stage for the first time since 2008-09, the Brazilian forward started on the front foot from the outset and opened his scoring by converting from the spot in the fourth minute. He increased his tally to two with another attacking move in the 15th minute before Roberto Firmino entered the fore in the 18th minute to make the scoreline 3-0.
It was easy going for the Reds from there as Sadio Mane's sublime volley extended the lead n the 47th minute, however, the day clearly belonged to Coutinho who completed his first hat-trick for the club with a deflected shot in the 50th minute of the game. As if that was not enough to bury Spartak Moscow under the avalanche of goals, Mane decided to add more goal to his tally before new signing Mohamed Salah added a seventh late strike to end the game 7-0.
Real Madrid 3 - 2 Borussia Dortmund
Cristiano Ronaldo continued to create history in the Champions League as he became the first player to score in all six league group-stage matches that effectively ended Borussia Dortmund's miserable campaign with a 3-2 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday. Borja Mayoral scored Real's opener in the eighth minute of the game dinking Isco's flick-on over the onrushing Roman Burki. Four minutes later, it was Ronaldo who took one touch to control Mateo Kovacic's cutback and provided a sublime finish into the top-right corner.
However, Dortmund
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Manchester City
Manchester City's unbeaten streak ended after 29 matches as they went down to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1, although it didn't stop them from securing a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. Bernard scored the first goal for Shakhtar by bending a fine shot beyond Ederson's reach after Marlos did superbly to create space for him. Danilo was at fault once again, when Shakhtar extended their lead six minutes later as the ball went over the top from Marlos, leaving Ismaily clear to score a straightforward goal. Though City improved after the break, their only goal came through an injury-time penalty after Gabriel Jesus had been fouled by Bohdan Butko, which Sergio Aguero converted. The Ukrainian side managed to end City’s unbeaten record in 2017-18.
Other Results :
Maribor 1 - 1 Sevilla
Feyenoord 2 - 1 SSC Napoli
FC Porto 5 - 2 Monaco
RasenBallsport Leipzig 1 - 2 Besiktas
Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 0 APOEL Nicosia
