Champions League: Dortmund beat Monaco to take top spot in Group A

Borussia Dortmund qualified as first in Group A for the Round of 16 of the Champions League with a fluent 2-0 win over AS Monaco, helped by Atletico Madrid's draw in Bruges.

Borussia Dortmund did not have great problems here on Tuesday as Thierry Henry's Monaco team was already out of the competition, reports Efe.

The very young Monaco team could not oppose Dortmund from the start. Mario Goetze signalled the visitors' intentions with a shot that went just wide in the 3rd minute.

After a quarter of an hour a good group attacking action ended with a perfect pass from Maximilian Philipp to Portuguese Raphael Guerreiro who hit an empty goal for the 0-1.

It was a placid match for the German team, who without forcing excessively were the absolute owners of the match, but they gradually lost control and Monaco began to start believing in themselves, so much so that Diallo and Falcao, before the break, and Glik, shortly after returning from the locker room, were close to managing a draw.

Dortmund's performance dropped somewhat in the second half. Monaco disputed possessions and Monaco goalie Benaglio had little difficulty, especially as the few times the German team arrived in front of his goal they were not successful.

However, Monaco's lack of experience never jeopardised the victory of Borussia Dortmund, who cleared any doubt that might have existed after 88 minutes with the second goal, again by Raphael Guerreiro, which put the finishing touch to a good game.

--IANS

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