Villarreal: Manchester United advanced to the knockout round of UEFA Champions League after registering a 2-0 victory over Villarreal. Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho powered Manchester through to the next round.
Chelsea blasted four past Juventus to join United in the round of 16. Whereas,FC Barcelona still in doubt with a goalless draw against Benfica at home in Camp Nou.
Michael Carrick’s interim tenure started on a good note. Also, Cristiano Ronaldo now has scored in each of the United’s last five Champions League matches. After a pretty poised first half, with neither team’s troubling their opposite goalkeepers. The real threat came from Villarreal when Manu Trigueros forced a magnificent save out of David de Gea on 59 minutes.
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford who were left on the bench, were brought in as the Spanish side looked to take control of the game. The deadlock was broken when Ronaldo grabbed on the defensive mix-up after Fred had tackled Etienne Capoue to put the ball over Geronimo Rulli.
Sancho, sealed the game on the 90th minute mark as he scored his much anticipated first goal in the United jersey. Elsewhere, fellow Premier League club, Chelsea had it easy against Juventus.
Trevor Chalobah opened the scoring for Chelsea, with Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner joining him on the scoresheet. The Italian side who won the first leg by 1-0, looked ordinary today as they had just eight shots on target compared to Chelsea’s 21.
Barcelona played a thrilling goalless draw as Xavi managed his first UCL match, after the derby win against Espanyol. The Catalan side was clearly the better side coming close to scoring a numerous times. Yusuf Demir’s long range shot hit the crossbar and Memphis Depay was denied by Nicholas Otamendi. Ronald Araujo almost scored a winner, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
To play in the next round, Barcelona face a daunting task of facing the group leader FC Bayern Munich at their home as Benfica will host Dynamo Kiev in Lisbon. FC Bayern Munich played Kiev, registering a 2-1 win as they remained unbeaten, with all victories in the UCL group stage.
