Leverkusen down Monaco 3-0 in Champions League

German football club Bayer Leverkusen cruised 3-0 past Monaco to finish second following the last game of Champions League's group stage.

For the first time in Leverkusen's history, they completed the group stage unbeaten as goals from Vladen Yurchenko and Julian Brandt, as well as an own goal from Morgan de Sanctis were enough to seal the second place in Group E here on Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

The hosts secured a bright start on home soil as Javier Hernandez tested Monaco goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis with well-placed shot on target in the 7th minute. The goalkeeper remained in the thick of things as he defused the efforts from Julian Brandt and Stefan Kiessling as the match progressed.

Bayer Leverkusen's effort paid off with 30 minutes into the encounter as Vladen Yurchenko unleashed an unstoppable hammer from 20 meters into the top right corner to open the scoring.

The visitors from Monaco lacked in penetration and were unable to threat Leverkusen's defence. Meanwhile, Roger Schmidt's men should have doubled the lead before the break but Aleksandar Dragovic failed to make the most of his chance.

Bayer Leverkusen continued their powerful performance after the restart and doubled their advantage through Julian Brandt, who tapped home Hakan Calhanoglu's build up work from close range in the 48th minute.

Monaco were unable to put up some resistance as Abdou Diallo brought down Robbie Kruse inside the box to cause a foul play penalty in the 82nd minute. Leverkusen's Wendell stepped up and rattled the bar, from where the ball crossed the goal line via Morgan de Sanctis' back to triple the lead.

"It was our objective reap a victory on home soil," Bayer Leverkusen head coach Roger Schmidt said after the match. "We did not finish on top of the standings but we staged a good performance overall."

Despite the loss, Monaco concluded Group E atop the standings followed by Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur and CSKA Moscow.

--IANS

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