London: Nine-time winner Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain qualified on Wednesday for the round of 16 in the Champions League. Juventus kept alive their chances of reaching the knockout stage.
Madrid needed only a draw at home with Galatasaray to clinch the top spot in Group B. The Spanish power won 4-1 behind goals from Gareth Bale, Alvaro Arbeloa, Angel Di Maria and Isco.
Juventus won for the first time in the Champions League season and took second place in the same group with a 3-1 victory over Copenhagen. A draw at Galatasaray on Dec. 10 will be enough for the Italian champions to advance.
United qualified from Group A with a 5-0 romp at Bayer Leverkusen. PSG advanced from Group C by beating Olympiakos 2-1.
"To come to Germany and get such a good result - Leverkusen are second in the Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich - it gives an idea of where our performance and result stood," United coach David Moyes said.
On a day when all the big clubs won, defending champion Bayern Munich set a Champions League record by winning their 10th successive game in the competition with a 3-1 win at CSKA Moscow. They equaled Barcelona's 2002-03 record with nine in a row three weeks ago.
Bayern, the only team left in the tournament with a 100 percent record, overcame freezing temperatures to come out on top of an entertaining match. Bayern lead Group D with 15 points, three more than Manchester City after the Blues won 4-2 against last-place Viktoria Plzen. Bayern and City, who had already qualified, will be vying for the group supremacy in two weeks in Germany.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's absence and Sergio Ramos' sending off after just 26 minutes, Madrid played well in the second half, scoring three goals to add to Bale's opener.
Ramos was sent off for a foul on Umut Bulut, but Madrid looked unfazed as Bale opened the scoring with a free kick from 33 yards in the 37th minute. Bulut tied it right away but the Turkish club struggled in the second-half at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium as Madrid joined fellow Spanish teams Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the round of 16. Chelsea also advanced on Tuesday night despite losing 1-0 against Basel.
"The second half was very good. The coach made all the right changes. Many people say that we depend on players like Xabi Alonso or Cristiano Ronaldo but we showed we can win because of the way others play," said Arbeloa.
United played their most accomplished match of the season against Leverkusen team to claim their biggest away success since the Champions League format was introduced in 1992-93.
Playing without star striker Robin Van Persie and defender Nemanja Vidic, United had been expected to struggle against the German team. Instead, they cruised.
"That was a really tough evening for us," Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes said. "The second goal broke down our morale a bit although we actually had a decent start to the game. After the third goal, the game was over."
Antonio Valencia put United ahead in the 22nd minute, Emir Spahic's own goal in the 30th doubled United's lead and Jonny Evans got the third in the 65th. Chris Smalling steered home the fourth in the 77th and Nani completed the rout in the 88th.
United have 11 points before their final match against second-place Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat Real Sociedad 4-0 to move to eight points. Leverkusen have seven points while Real Sociedad have one point and are eliminated.
It was a good evening for the Manchester clubs as Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko scored in the final 12 minutes to earn City a 4-2 victory over Plzen, keeping alive the English team's slim hopes of finishing top of Group D.
In Moscow, Arjen Roben fired Bayern in front midway through the first-half before Mario Gotze made it 2-0 with a solo effort early in the second half. Keisuke Honda was a constant threat after the interval and converted a penalty in the 61st minute. But Thomas Muller also scored from the spot to restore a two-goal lead for Bayern four minutes later.
Vidal broke the deadlock for Juventus in the 28th minute from the penalty spot after Lars Jacobsen had handled in the area. Former Juventus defender Olof Mellberg equalized in the 56th before giving away a penalty four minutes later by bringing down Fernando Llorente. Vidal again converted and headed home two minutes later to complete his hat-trick.
At the Parc des Princes, Edinson Cavani scored in the final minute as 10-man PSG beat Olympiakos 2-1 to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners.
With PSG a man down for most of the second-half after midfielder Marco Verratti's sending off, Olympiakos looked to have done enough to seal a draw when center half Kostas Manolas equalised from close range in the 80th minute following a corner.
But Cavani ran onto substitute Adrien Rabiot's pass and finished with a powerful shot that beat goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in the seventh minute in his 100th appearance in the competition.
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