Perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo was not aware that Real Madrid’s match against Malmo FF was mostly meaningless.
More likely, he just did not care — especially with a record in reach.
Whatever the case, Ronaldo scored four goals and set up two others on Tuesday as Real routed Malmo 8-0, making him the first player with 10 goals or more in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Photo: Reuters
The Portugal striker reached 11 goals in six games, surpassing the nine scored by Luiz Adriano with Shakhtar Donetsk last season. Ronaldo also scored nine times in the 2013-2014 season group stage.
Real had already secured first place in Group A, but the convincing victory helped ease the pressure on coach Rafael Benitez and club president Florentino Perez.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United were relegated to the UEFA Europa League after losing 3-2 to VfL Wolfsburg, as the German side advanced to the round-of-16 for the first time.
Photo: AFP
The loss, coupled with PSV Eindhoven’s 2-1 home victory over CSKA Moscow, dropped United to third place in Group B.
Wolfsburg won the group and PSV also advanced.
Atletico Madrid topped Group C by beating SL Benfica 2-1 to leapfrog the Portuguese hosts, who finished second.
Photo: AP
In Group D, Manchester City scored three late goals in a five-minute period to defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-2 and finish top for the first time. Juventus, last season’s runners-up, wasted a chance to finish first with a 1-0 loss at Sevilla, but still advanced.
Group A
Ronaldo’s exploits overshadowed a hat-trick by Karim Benzema at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It was the second straight game in which Benzema scored at least two goals after a brace in the team’s 4-1 win over Getafe in La Liga on Saturday. Those were his first goals since being implicated in a blackmail case in relation to an alleged extortion scam over a sex tape featuring his French national teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
Mateo Kovacic also scored for Real.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lucas set each other up for goals as Paris Saint-Germain beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0.
PSG were already guaranteed to finish second behind Real.
Real advanced with 16 points and PSG with 13. Shakhtar finished third with three points and dropped into the Europa League, while Malmo came last, also with three points, but with only one goal scored and 21 conceded.
Group B
Central defender Naldo scored a brace as Wolfsburg advanced to the knockout stage for the first time when they beat three-time winners United 3-2. United dropped to third place in the group when PSV came from behind to beat CSKA 2-1 and join Wolfsburg in the round-of-16.
Wolfsburg won the group with 12 points and PSV finished with 10, two more than United, who now have to play in the Europa League. CSKA finished last with four points.
PSV advanced for the first time since 2006. Veteran defender Sergei Ignashevic converted a 76th-minute penalty to give CSKA the lead, but PSV captain Luuk de Jong equalized just two minutes later, and midfielder Davy Proepper’s low shot sealed the win in the 86th minute.
In Wolfsburg, Anthony Martial put United ahead in the 10th minute, but Naldo volleyed in the equalizer in the 14th. Vieirinha regained the lead for Wolfsburg in the 29th minute, before an own-goal by Joshua Guilavogui in the 82nd tied the score. However, two minutes later Naldo scored his second with a header to seal Wolfsburg’s victory.
Group C
Luciano Vietto scored one goal and set up another as Atletico won 2-1 at Benfica to win the group.
Playing at the same stadium where they lost the 2013-2014 final, Diego Simeone’s side avenged a 2-1 loss to Benfica from earlier this season.
Vietto passed for midfielder Saul Niguez to convert Atletico’s aggressive start into a goal after a half-hour, before he added a strike of his own early in the second half.
Benfica substitute Kostas Mitroglou halved the difference in the 75th minute.
Galatasaray SK were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Astana in the other Group C match. The Turkish side finished third and are to join the Europa League.
Atletico finished with 13 points, Benfica with 10, Galatasaray with five and Astana with four.
Group D
Raheem Sterling netted in the 80th and 81st minutes, while Wilfried Bony scored in the 85th to spark City’s late turnaround in a 4-2 win over Moenchengladbach
To qualify in first place, City also needed Juventus to lose in Sevilla and last season’s runners-up were beaten 1-0.
Sevilla secured a berth in the Europa League as Fernando Llorente scored against his former team.
On the two previous occasions City reached the knockout stage, they were runners-up in their group and drew Barcelona both times.
The English club are likely to get an easier draw in the last 16 this time.
City finished with 12 points, Juventus with 11, Sevilla with six and Moenchengladbach with five.
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