Manchester City have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League while Paris Saint-Germain progressed as holders thanks to their narrow 1-0 victory over Schalke. The French champions were held to a goalless draw in Germany on Wednesday and needed to beat second-tier Schalke in France, which they did with Lille 2-0 winners over Athletic Bilbao. PSG have eight points from five games and are top of Group C.
“We really had to fight hard to win,” Thomas Tuchel said. “We had too much to lose.”
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Kylian Mbappé is up to 21 goals for the season – more than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo put together – and Luis Suárez’s Champions League record for goals in a season is a goal every 53 minutes.
PSG also qualified as group winners in 2012 and they went through the whole way without losing a game, while Liverpool were knocked out at the same stage last season. They lead the way in Group E on seven points, but are without a win this season, having drawn their opening two games.
While Manchester City are bidding to reach the knockout stages for the first time, Liverpool’s progress was hardly a surprise given they were favourites to progress from Group E with a victory in their final group game against Maribor. Goals from Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino helped them to an emphatic 4-0 win, leaving them with 10 points and comfortably behind Sevilla on nine points.