Manchester United produced a stunning late comeback to beat Juventus 2-1 on Wednesday in what could be a turning point in its Champions League campaign, while a Gabriel Jesus hat-trick helped Manchester City all but secure a last-16 berth.
Pep Guardiola’s City crushed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 on a night which saw Real Madrid also win big, as Bayern Munich closed in on a place in the knockout stage.
Juventus was within seconds of confirming its spot in the last 16 after Cristiano Ronaldo put it ahead in Turin with a superb volley in the 65th minute.
The hosts had already hit the woodwork twice before that and should have been out of sight before Juan Mata equalised from an 86th-minute free-kick.
The turnaround was completed in the 90th minute when Leonardo Bonucci scored an own-goal. United is now two points behind the Italians in Group H. The result was a blow for Valencia, which is still two points behind in third after beating Young Boys 3-1 at Mestalla.
Farcical penalty
There was less drama at the Etihad Stadium, where City eased to its biggest win in the competition.
Goals from David Silva and Riyad Mahrez bookended the victory. In between there was a stunner from Raheem Sterling, who was also awarded a penalty for kicking his own foot into the turf in the box.
Jesus scored the spot-kick, the first of two penalties in his hat-trick. City will head to Lyon later this month requiring a draw to secure a last-16 place.
City would have been through already had Lyon not squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to 10-man Hoffenheim.
200 up for Benzema
Madrid had no trouble against Viktoria Plzen, with Karim Benzema scoring twice in a 5-0 win. Real was four ahead at the break, Benzema’s goals taking him to 200 for the club. Casemiro and Gareth Bale also netted in first half, and Toni Kroos completed the scoring.
Santiago Solari has now overseen three victories, all with clean sheets, since being put in charge of Madrid, and the Spaniards are level atop Group G with Roma.
The Italians won 2-1 away to CSKA Moscow, Kostas Manolas and Lorenzo Pellegrini scoring either side of Arnor Sigurdsson’s equaliser. CSKA still has a slim chance of qualifying, but Plzen is out.
Bayern requires just one more point to advance in Group E after Robert Lewandowski netted twice — the first a penalty — on his 100th European appearance in a 2-0 home win over AEK Athens, which is eliminated.
The results: Group E: Benfica 1 (Jonas 29) drew with Ajax 1 (Tadic 61); Bayern Munich 2 (Lewandowski 31, 71) bt AEK Athens 0. Group F: Lyon 2 (Fekir 19, Ndombele 28) drew with Hoffenheim 2 (Kramaric 65, Kaderabek 90+2); City 6 (D. Silva 13, Jesus 24-pen, 72-pen, 90+2, Sterling 49, Mahrez 84) bt Shakhtar Donetsk 0. Group G: CSKA Moscow 1 (Sigurdsson 50) lost to Roma 2 (Manolas 4, Pellegrini 59); Viktoria Plzen 0 lost to Real Madrid 5 (Benzema 21, 37, Casemiro 23, Bale 40, Kroos 67). Group H: Valencia 3 (Santi Mina 14, 42, Soler 56) bt Young Boys 1 (Assale 37); Juventus 1 (Ronaldo 65) lost to Manchester United 2 (Mata 86, Bonucci 90-og).