Manchester City seal top spot, sending Messi, Mbappe and Neymar through in second
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar will be in the Champions League last 16, but they’ll enter the knockout rounds as an unseeded team and could face a very tough tie in February.
That’s because of Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, with the English side coming from behind to clinch top spot of Group A.
RB Leipzig’s win meant both sides were going through anyway, but there was a battle to go through as group winners.
City already led the group and were dominant in the first half, but a combination of Keylor Navas saves, Marquinhos blocks and the woodwork kept the Ligue 1 side in it.
Mbappe then scored right at the beginning of the second half, punishing City for their first half wastefulness. A neat team move ended with the ball reaching Mbappe inside the area and he finished through Ederson’s legs.
But, that sparked Manchester City back into life and they were the better side again over the rest of the game.
They pulled one back as substitute Gabriel Jesus did well to nudge a Kyle Walker cross on to Raheem Sterling, who produced the finish in the 63rd minute.
Then it was Gabriel himself who got the go-ahead goal in the 76th minute, after being beautifully teed up by Bernardo Silva.
PSG didn’t have an answer and Mauricio Pochettino has work to do, especially as his side are now likely to have a very tough last 16 draw.
