Real Madrid, Man City qualify for Champions knockout stage

Real Madrid and Manchester City secured contrasting victories to book berths in the Champions League round of 16 with victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla, respectively.

But the similarities ended there, as Madrid won 1-0 despite being clearly outplayed by PSG, while travelling Man City rolled over Sevilla 3-1 on Tuesday, reports Efe.

Real Madrid, who were the better team last month in a scoreless draw with the French side in Paris, owed their victory at home more to luck than quality.

The much anticipated duel between Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo and PSG top striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic fizzled out, as neither man could score.

Real's goalkeeper, Costa Rican international Keylor Navas, maintained his perfect record in the Champions League with four clean sheets from four matches.

Each side lost a player to injury in the first half, Marco Verrati for PSG and Marcelo for Real Madrid, and it was the Brazilian's replacement, Nacho Fernandez, who scored the game's only goal with his first touch.

PSG continued to dominate possession and chances right up until the final whistle, with former Madrid winger Angel di Maria hitting the crossbar in the final minutes.

Real Madrid lead Group A with 10 points, three ahead of PSG, with two matches left in the group stage. Malmo and Shakhtar Donetsk have three points each after the Ukrainian club clobbered the Swedish side 4-0 on Tuesday in Lviv.

In Group D, Sevilla fans were stunned as Raheem Sterling scored in the 8th minute and Jesus Navas struck home three minutes later to give City what turned out to be an insurmountable lead.

Though Sevilla halved the margin with a goal by Benoit Tremoulinas in the 25th minute, Wilfried Bony replied for the visitors in the 36th minute and City made the advantage stand up to boost its point total to nine.

For Sevilla, with three points, the only faint glimmer of hope on Tuesday came from Germany, where Borussia Monchengladbach held Juventus, who have eight points, to a 1-1 draw.

Monchengladbach has two points.

Atletico Madrid, ineffectual in a 0-0 draw with Astana in the Kazakh capital, sits second in Group C with seven points, two behind Benfica, who beat Galatasaray 2-1 on Tuesday.

A draw with Galatasaray in Madrid in their next match will be enough to ensure Atletico a spot in the knockout stage, while the Turkish squad - with four points - faces a battle with Astana for third place.

Manchester United climbed into first place in Group B with a 1-0 home win over CSKA Moscow, leaving the Red Devils with seven points and the Russian side with four.

PSV Eindhoven thumped Wolfsburg 2-0 in Tuesday's other Group B match. Each club now has six points.