Porto, Sevilla grab remaining Champions League knockout berths, Real held (Roundup)

Porto and Sevilla claimed the last two slots in the Champions League football knockout stage, while title holders Real Madrid will have to settle for a second-place ticket to the last 16.

Porto, a two-time Champions League winner, romped to a 5-0 win over English champions Leicester City here on Wednesday. Leicester were already guranteed the first place in Group G, reports Efe.

The Portuguese side climbed to 11 points, two ahead of third-placed Denmark's FC Copenhagen, who are headed to the second tier competition Europa League despite ending the group stage with a 2-0 triumph over hapless Club Brugge of Belgium also on Wednesday.

Sevilla started Wednesday in second place in Group H with 11 points, three points behind group winners Juventus, and faced an France's Olympique Lyon. Lyon needed to win by a margin of at least two goals to snatch the knockout stage berth from Sevilla.

The scoreless draw in Lyon was more than sufficient to vault Sevilla into the round of 16 for the first time in six years and consign Olympique to the Europa League.

Dinamo Zagreb fell 2-0 to Juventus to make it six losses out of six for the Croatian squad.

Wednesday's marquee contest featured Real Madrid in a battle with Germany's Borussia Dortmund to decide who would finish first in Group F.

French striker Karim Benzema scored two goals to give Madrid what looked like a comfortable lead at the their Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus answered for Dortmund to make the final score 2-2.

The outcome left the German club with 14 points and Real Madrid with 12.

Last-place Legia Warsaw upended Sporting Lisbon 1-0 to grab third place in the group and a ticket to the Europa League.

Monaco, the Group E toppers, suffered their only defeat of the group stage, falling 0-3 to Germany's Bayer Leverkusen, who finished second. England's Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat Russia's CSKA Moscow 3-1 to claim a slot in the Europa League.

The draw to determine the knockout stage pairings will take place next Monday.

--IANS

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