Benfica smash Maccabi Haifa 6-1 and push Paris Saint-Germain down to 2nd in CL thanks to unknown ruling

Benfica thrashed Maccabi Haifa 6-1 and the Portuguese and French teams ended level on 14 points, having drawn their two head-to-heads 1-1 and with a goal difference of nine.

Despite Paris Saint-Germain earning a  2-1 win at Juventus, the huge five-goal victory sees Benfica leapfrog PSG to take first place in Group H, thanks to a little unknown official UEFA ruling regarding points scored away from home.

Kylian Mbappe broke the deadlock in Turin on 13 minutes but the hosts levelled shortly before halftime through defender Leonardo Bonucci.

PSG sealed the win in the 69th minute when Mbappe found Mendes with an excellent cross between two Juve players for the substitute to score within one minute of coming on.

Manchester City teenager Rico Lewis has marked his first senior start with his maiden goal for the club as City came from behind to complete their commanding Champions League group stage with a 3-1 defeat of Sevilla.

City were already confirmed as Group G winners and Sevilla assured of third spot, and Pep Guardiola made seven changes to his starting line-up with 17-year-old right back Lewis seizing his opportunity at the Etihad Stadium.

Rafa Mir gave the Spanish visitors the lead in the 31st minute with a pinpoint header past City reserve keeper Stefan Ortega but Lewis levelled in the 52nd minute when lashed home a right-footed shot.

In doing so Lewis, aged 17 years and 346 days, became the youngest player to score on his first Champions League start, breaking the record held by Karim Benzema who was 17 years and 352 days when he scored for Lyon.

Argentine striker Julian Alvarez then put City ahead in the 73rd minute and Riyad Mahrez sealed the victory with a clinical finish.

City won the group with 14 points with Borussia Dortmund, who drew 1-1 at FC Copenhagen, also going through to the last 16 as runners-up.

At Stamford Bridge, Raheem Sterling ended his goal drought that was approaching two months to help Chelsea wrap up their group-stage campaign with a 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb.

The England forward equalised in the 18th minute with a well-taken finish that cancelled out Bruno Petkovic’s seventh-minute opener for the visitors from Croatia. Chelsea completed their recovery when Denis Zakaria — making his debut two months after joining on loan from Juventus — scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 30th after good work by Mason Mount.

Chelsea was already sure of advancing as Group E winners and finished three points ahead of AC Milan, who joined the Blues in the last 16 thanks to a 4-0 victory over Salzburg.

A second-half goal by defender Nuno Mendes earned Paris Saint-Germain a 2-1 win at Juventus but Benfica topped Group H thanks to more away goals scored in all games.

Real Madrid have beaten Celtic 5-1 to finish top of their Champions League group and end the misery for Ange Postecoglou’s side in their disappointing European campaign. 

Madrid bounced back from their first loss of the season against RB Leipzig last week with the easiest of triumphs.

Goals from Luka Modric, Rodrygo, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Jr and Federico Valverde – the first two from the penalty spot – ensured the holders topped Group F with 13 points, one ahead of second-placed Leipzig with both teams reaching the round of 16.

Celtic, though, ended up bottom of the table with just two points.

Modric and Rodrygo scored from the spot in the first half following handballs inside the box by Celtic defenders.

Asensio extended Real’s lead six minutes after the break with a nice volley from a Dani Carvajal cross and 10 minutes later, Valverde made a great run down the right and crossed for Vinicius to score with a close-range shot.

Valverde scored the fifth with an unstoppable long-range strike into the top-right corner.

It was Valverde’s fifth goal from outside the box this season in all competitions, more than any other player from Europe’s big five leagues.

Jota scored a consolation goal for Celtic, slotting a free kick into the top right corner five minutes from time. 

In the other early game, Christopher Nkunku scored one and set up another as RB Leipzig crushed Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0.

It sealed the Germans’ place in the knock-out stages while the Ukrainian outfit dropped down to the Europa League.