Champions League: Benzema brace fires Real Madrid into last 16

Two headed goals from Karim Benzema helped Real Madrid reach the Champions League knockout stages with a convincing 2-0 home win on Wednesday over Borussia Moenchengladbach, who also progressed to the last 16.

Benzema ghosted into the area unmarked to head home a floated cross from Lucas Vazquez in the ninth minute and rose again to score in the 32nd, this time powering a cross from Rodrygo through the hands of Swiss keeper Yann Sommer.

The German side was out-classed by the Spaniards but sneaked through from the group as Inter Milan drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the other game in Group B.

Zinedine Zidane's side finished top with 10 points while Gladbach came second with eight, pipping third-placed Shakhtar due to their better head-to-head record, while Inter came fourth with six.

Real's shock defeat to Shakhtar last week threatened their record of qualifying from their group for the last 23 years and piled renewed pressure on Zidane, who has won the trophy three times as coach but has had a difficult season in La Liga and in Europe. But as so often in the competition that forms such a large part of their identity, Madrid stood tall when it mattered most.

Neymar bagged a hat-trick as Paris St Germain topped Group H with a 5-1 home victory over Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, a day after the game was suspended amid an alleged racist incident.

The PSG and Basaksehir players, as well as the three field referees, took a knee before kick-off one day after both teams walked off in protest after the Turkish side had accused the assistant referee of using a racist word against their assistant coach Pierre Webo.

Neymar struck three times and Kylian Mbappe scored his first goals in the competition in a year as PSG, who had already qualified for the last 16, advanced from the group stage with 12 points, ahead of RB Leipzig thanks to their better head-to-head record against the German side.

 Sergio Aguero came off the bench to score for Manchester City as they cruised past Olympique Marseille 3-0 in Champions League Group C on Wednesday.The result means the French team finished bottom of the group and failed to make the Europa League spot despite third-placed Olympiakos losing 2-0 to group runners-up Porto.City were already assured of top spot and ahead of Saturday's Manchester derby rested keeper Ederson and gave a start to American back-up goalkeeper Zack Steffen.

Spaniard Ferran Torres put City ahead three minutes after the interval, firing home from close range after a strong run into the box from Riyad Mahrez.

Argentine striker Aguero, who has struggled after knee surgery in the off-season, came off the bench in the 67th minute and took just 10 minutes to score, poking home after Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda failed to hold Nathan Ake's header from a corner.

Substitute Raheem Sterling added the third with a tap-in in the final minute.

City finished on 16 points, a club record haul from the competition's group stage.

Brazilian Otavio and Colombian Mateus Uribe were on target for Porto as they beat Greek side Olympiakos 2-0.