LONDON: Holders Real Madrid and 2013 finalists Borussia Dortmund eased into the last 16 of this season’s Champions League with two group games to spare on Tuesday.

Real beat an under-strength Liverpool 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu for their fourth straight win in Group ‘B’ thanks to a first-half Karim Benzema goal although Cristiano Ronaldo failed to equal the competition scoring record.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet repeatedly stopped Ronaldo scoring the goal he needs to match Real great Raul Gonzalez’s 71 career goals in Europe’s top club competition and also ended his 12-game scoring streak in all competitions.

“We have done our homework and we can now focus on La Liga, the King’s Cup and the Club World Cup,” Real captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas said in an interview with Spanish television.

“We are very pleased. We have had some very tough and difficult matches recently and once we went 1-0 ahead we controlled the game.”

Basel are second in the group after routing Ludogorets Razgrad 4-0.

Dortmund shrugged aside their dreadful domestic form to maintain their perfect record in Group ‘D’, crushing Galatasaray 4-1.

“That was very disciplined, the team had things under control from the first minute,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp. “We defended well and, when our tactical measures didn’t quite work, we compensated with passion and scored some great goals.”

The Germans seemed certain to be joined by group rivals Arsenal when the London club were up 3-0 against Anderlecht with 30 minutes to play.

However, Arsenal again showed the fragility that has marked the later years of coach Arsene Wenger’s lengthy reign and let the visiting Belgian champions level at 3-3 in the 90th.

Juventus earned a thrilling 3-2 win against Olympiakos, fighting back to score twice in a minute midway through the second half, to stay in contention in Group ‘A’. Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Malmo and still lead the group.

Group ‘C’ leaders Bayer Leverkusen won 2-1 at Zenit St. Petersburg to close in on qualification for the last 16, and Benfica avoided potential elimination by beating Monaco 1-0.

Despite a more spirited showing than in their 3-0 defeat to Real at Anfield two weeks ago, Benzema’s first-half winner condemned Liverpool to a third consecutive European defeat.

The France forward clipped a Marcelo cross high into the net from close range in the 27th minute for his fifth goal in this season’s competition, to maintain Real’s perfect record in the section with 12 points from four games.

Basel’s thrashing of Ludogorets Razgrad leaves them in pole position to join Real in the last 16.

The Swiss champion’s win was sparked by 17-year-old forward Breel Embolo scoring his first Champions League goal in the 34th minute.

Derlis Gonzalez, Shkelzen Gashi and Marek Suchy shared the other goals as Basel avenged their 1-0 defeat two weeks ago and moved to six points, three ahead of Liverpool and the Bulgarian champions.

Despite being down in the relegation zone in the Bundesliga, Dortmund are perfect in the Champions League and advanced to the knockout stage with two matches to spare for the first time.

Germany international Marco Reus, on the transfer wish-list of several leading European clubs, slotted in the first goal after 39 minutes.

Central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Ciro Immobile netted in the second half before Semih Kaya added an own goal with four minutes left as Dortmund made it four wins from four games.

Galatasaray, bottom of the group with one point, pulled one back through Hakan Balta’s header in the 70th minute but could do little to counter Dortmund’s attacking punch as the Germans moved five points ahead of Arsenal and odds-on to finish as group winners.

With only half an hour left, goals by captain Mikel Arteta from the penalty spot, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had put Arsenal in complete control at the Emirates Stadium.

Instead, two goals from Anthony Vanden Borre, the second from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute, hauled Anderlecht right back into the match before Aleksandar Mitrovic’s stoppage-time header completed the heroic comeback to put the Belgians on two points.

“You have to give them [Anderlecht] credit, they did fight until the end and we had a poor defensive performance from the first minute to the last today,” Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said. “We never felt comfortable and somewhere we got punished.”

There was drama in Turin, as Juve seemed all but eliminated from contention for the round of 16 when visiting Olympiakos took a surprise 2-1 lead in the 61st minute after withstanding waves of Italian pressure.

Andrea Pirlo had celebrated his 100th Champions League appearance by scoring from a characteristically effortless free kick on 21 minutes but Juve were stunned three minutes later when central defender Alberto Botia beat Gianluigi Buffon with a glancing header from a corner.

Delvin N’Dinga headed the Greeks in front but Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto scored an own goal in the 65th, and a minute later France midfielder Paul Pogba scored the winner although Juve may yet come to regret seeing Arturo Vidal have a late penalty saved if goal difference plays a part in deciding who goes through to the last 16.

“It was a very important match,” Pogba said. “We had to win and we did. Now everything depends on us.”

Atletico lead with nine points after Koke and Raul Garcia scored in Sweden against luckless Malmo. Olympiakos and Juventus have six each, and the Greeks now hold the edge in a head-to-head tiebreaker if the teams finish level on points next month.

Leverkusen eased to victory in Russia through second-half goals from South Korea forward Son Heung-min. Zenit got an 89th-minute consolation from Jose Salomon Rondon.

The Germans have nine points, four clear of Monaco in a tight Group ‘C’. Zenit are a point further back with Portuguese champions Benfica, who needed an 80th-minute goal from Brazilian striker Talisca to beat the French visitors.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2014