The UEFA Champions League has only two berths remaining after Liverpool, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Valencia and Chelsea claimed their places in the Round of 16.
[ RECAPS: Salzburg 0-2 Liverpool | Chelsea 2-1 Lille ]
That group joins Juventus, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid in the next stage, with Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, and Bayer Leverkusen answering the bell on Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Slavia Prague
It was sloppy, and Lucien Favre’s men basically asked the Czechs to stay in the game, but 10-man Borussia Dortmund is onto the Round of 16 after Jadon Sancho and Julian Brandt scored at the Westfalenstadion. Slavia had leveled through Thomas Soucek when Brandt found the winner, which was put in question when Julian Weigl was sent off in the 77th minute.
Lyon 2-2 RB Leipzig
Close. Control. Memphis. Depay.
The former Manchester United winger delivered the goods late to seal a point against already-through RB Leipzig after the Bundesliga side built a 2-0 lead on a pair of first half penalties.
Houssem Aouar had pulled Lyon to within a goal just after halftime, allowing Memphis to do this.
Benfica 3-0 Zenit-Saint Petersburg
Three different goal scorers sent the Portuguese to the Europa League, its 10-man Russian visitors exiting European competition for the season.
Inter Milan 1-2 Barcelona
Ansu Fati turned 17 on Halloween. Forty days later, he became the youngest goal scorer in Champions League history while banishing a historic club to the Europa League.
Carles Perez scored for Barca before Antonio Conte’s men got an answer through Romelu Lukaku, but Inter could not find a winner in Italy.
Barca left Lionel Messi at home, didn’t use Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Sergio Busquets, and only used Luis Suarez and Frenkie de Jong as subs in the decision.
Fati now has three goals and an assist in approximately 500 senior minutes. Pretty nice goal, kid:
Ajax 0-1 Valencia
A draw at home was going to be enough for last season’s semifinalists, who did not get a draw at home despite a 17-8 advantage in shots. Rodrigo registered a classy goal to clinch Valencia the group.
Napoli 4-0 Genk
The Neapolitan side headed to the penalty spot twice against Maarten Vandevoordt, who set a new UCL standard as the youngest goalkeeper to start a match (17 years, 289 days). Arkadiusz Milik converted one of those penalties to complete his hat trick, while Dries Mertens scored the other in an otherwise even match.