Champions League roundup: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid progress to the knockout stage as group leaders

Celtic 0-2 FC Barcelona

Barcelona secured top spot in Group C with a game to spare thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win at Celtic.

Luis Enrique’s side settled well on a chilly night in Glasgow and went ahead after 24 minutes when Leo Messi took Neymar’s neat lofted pass first time and fired low into the bottom corner. The goal was a club landmark, the 400th of the Luis Enrique era. Having taken the lead, the visitors looked in total control. Celtic started the second half strongly but Barcelona doubled their lead on 55 minutes, effectively putting the game to rest. Luis Suarez was felled in the box by Emilio Izaguirre and Messi stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the resulting penalty. Another goal, another landmark. It was the Argentine’s 100th goal for the club in international competitions.

Barcelona could have had more, such was their dominance of play, and Celtic had Craig Gordon, who pulled off a tremendous diving save to keep out Luis Suarez’s header mid-way through the second half, to thank for keeping the scoreline close.

Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach in the group’s other game ensures that Barcelona will go into Matchday 6 safe in the knowledge that they will qualify for the knockout stages as group leaders.

Atletico Madrid 2-0 PSV

A strong second-half showing by Atletico Madrid sealed a 2-0 win over PSV at the Vicente Calderon and, in the process, qualification for the knockout phase as Group D winners.

Diego Simeone’s side kicked off knowing that a draw would be enough to guarantee top spot after second-placed Bayern Munich lost 3-2 in the early kickoff against Rostov but PSV proved tricky to break down. The hosts could even have gone in behind at half-time but Gaston Pereiro shot straight at Oblak after Diego Godin’s slip had left him in a one-on-one with the keeper shortly before the break.

Atletico came out strongly in the second half, however, and took the lead after 55 minutes when Kevin Gameiro latched onto a pass from Tiago to fire low past Jeroen Zoet for his first Champions League goal of the campaign. Antoine Griezmann doubled Atletico’s lead eleven minutes later, equalling Luis Aragones as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in the Champions League/European Cup.

With both first and second place in Group D wrapped up, Atletico’s away trip to Bayern Munich on Matchday 6 becomes simply a formality.