LONDON: In the only group on Tuesday where qualification for the Champions League knockout stages was still to be decided, Besiktas crumbled under the pressure, allowing Napoli and Benfica to progress.

Napoli and Benfica had eight points going into their Group ‘B’ match, one more than Besiktas, who were playing at already eliminated Dynamo Kiev.

However, the Turkish side fell to a shock 6-0 defeat in a match which saw them finish with nine men. Napoli won 2-1 at Benfica to win a Champions League group for the first time.

“We had already been burned once by looking at the result of the other match,” said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri, whose team had squandered earlier chances to qualify for the last 16. “So, it really hardly mattered to us what was happening in Kiev. We wanted first place to make Napoli history.”

Elsewhere, Arsenal topped Group ‘A’ following their 4-1 win at Basel after Paris St Germain could only draw 2-2 at home to Ludogorets.

Atletico Madrid had already secured first place in Group ‘D’ but lost their perfect record in a 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich. The final positions in Group ‘C’ had already been decided and Barcelona beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0, while Manchester City drew 1-1 against Celtic.

It was meant to be a battle to advance in Lisbon but it turned out to be a shootout for top spot as Besiktas capitulated in Ukraine.

Napoli substitute Dries Mertens changed the match after coming on in the 57th. The Belgium international set up the opener for Jose Callejon on the hour mark before securing the win in the 79th.

Napoli gifted Benfica a consolation goal three minutes from time when Raul Albiol was caught napping, allowing Raul Jimenez to seize the moment and fire past Pepe Reina.

“We reached our objective, we wanted to win the group and we did it with a splendid performance here in Lisbon,” said Callejon.

In the group’s other game, Besiktas travelled to Ukraine hopeful of advancing after their rousing three-goal fightback on matchday five against Benfica, but the Turkish champions unravelled in a disastrous first half.

Dynamo’s star winger Andriy Yarmolenko started the night’s torment for Besiktas with smart footwork on the byline and a cross to the far post for Artyom Besedin to score the ninth-minute opener.

Besiktas looked lively for the next 20 minutes until defender Andreas Beck was dismissed for a collision with Derlis Gonzalez, who was through on goal for Dynamo.

Yarmolenko scored the resulting penalty and Vitaliy Buyalskiy soon made it 3-0 with a lobbed effort after a Besiktas defensive mix-up.

A deflected shot from Paraguayan Gonzalez provided Dynamo’s fourth in first-half stoppage time.

Frustrations boiled over as Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar was dismissed for a second yellow card on 56 minutes and a miserable evening grew even more humiliating with Serhiy Sydorchuk and Junior Moraes adding their names to the scoresheet.

“We are very, very upset and you can see it from every player’s face in the dressing room. We want to forget this game and want to represent Turkey in the best possible way in the Europa League now,” said Besiktas captain Oguzhan Ozyakup.

ARSENAL PINCH TOP SPOT

Lucas Perez grabbed his first hat-trick in an Arsenal shirt as Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal thumped Basel in Switzerland to pip French champions PSG to top spot in their group.

Hobbled by an ankle injury, Perez has played sparingly since his arrival from Deportivo la Coruna in August, but the Spaniard was gifted two simple finishes as the Gunners dominated at St. Jakob-Park.

The Spaniard slotted home his third on 47 minutes and Mesut Ozil’s delightful assist let Alex Iwobi score a fourth in the 53rd before Basel substitute Seydou Doumbia struck a consolation goal in the 78th.

Mistakes cost Unai Emery’s PSG dearly as they missed out on top spot following a late draw with Ludogorets, an unheralded Bulgarian side that had not won any of the previous five group games but claimed a memorable point at the Parc des Princes and a place in the Europa League.

Dutch forward Virgil Misidjan headed the Bulgarian outfit into an early advantage, but Edinson Cavani’s superb acrobatic effort brought PSG level on the hour.

A mistake from Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos allowed Jonathan Cafu to tee up Wanderson to put Ludogorets back on top, with Angel Di Maria’s stoppage-time strike not enough to prevent Arsenal climbing above PSG.

“It’s a disappointment. We played a good match at Arsenal [in November] and came back in first place. I think the team deserved to win, but that’s football,” said PSG coach Emery.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring in Barca’s win over Gladbach, but fell short of matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal record in the group stage of the Champions League.

Messi struck his 10th group-stage goal this season, one less than the 11 netted by Ronaldo with Real Madrid last season to set the record.

Turkey midfielder Arda Turan hit a quickfire second-half hat-trick.

Kelechi Iheanacho began his month-long stint as Sergio Aguero’s replacement by scoring City’s equaliser against Celtic at the Etihad Stadium.

Iheanacho drove a rising shot into the roof of the net in the eighth minute to cancel out terrific fourth-minute solo effort by winger Patrick Roberts, who is four months into his second straight season-long loan at Celtic from City.

Robert Lewandowski’s stunning first-half free-kick at the Allianz Arena ended Atletico’s bid for a perfect six group wins from six but the Spanish side still won the group, finishing with 15 points to Bayern’s 12.

Newcomers Rostov will continue their European adventure in the Europa League after finishing third in Group ‘D’ following a goalless draw at PSV Eindhoven.

Published in Dawn December 8th, 2016