Today at 19:00 Lithuanian time, two matches of the penultimate round of the Champions League took place, where teams from Group A and Group C competed.
In Azerbaijan, London's "Chelsea" secured their third victory in this season's Champions League and a place in the next stage by defeating "Qarabag" 4-0.
The hosts' situation became unenviable in the 19th minute, when "Qarabag" captain Rashad Sadygov brought down Willian from behind in the penalty area. The match referee not only awarded an eleven-meter penalty, which Eden Hazard successfully converted, but also sent the defender off the field.
In the 36th minute, the visitors doubled their lead when Willian scored after a brilliant pass from E. Hazard.
"Qarabag's" problems continued in the second half: in the 71st minute, another foul against Willian was detected in the penalty area by the referee, and this time the eleven-meter penalty was successfully converted by Cesc Fabregas.
The opponents' defeat was sealed by the same Willian, who scored a precise shot from outside the penalty area in the 85th minute.
After this victory, "Chelsea" now has ten points and it is already clear that they will participate in the Champions League knockout stages, as "Atletico", currently in third place, no longer has any chance of catching up with the "Blues". It is precisely against this Madrid team that "Chelsea" will play their final Champions League group stage match.
In other matches, CSKA secured an important 2-0 victory against "Benfica" at home.
The Russian team took the lead in the 13th minute, as Georgi Schennikov scored from the penalty area after receiving the ball. After that goal, the visitors appealed to the referee for a possible offside, and their claims had a basis: in the replay of the episode, it was clearly seen that the Russian player was offside during the pass.
In the second half, the Moscow team managed to double their lead: in the 56th minute, the ball hit Jardel's foot after a pass from Vitinho, and it went into the visitors' goal.
With nine points in their account, CSKA temporarily rose to the second position in Group A and maintained the chance of advancing to the next stage on their own. However, in the final round, they will face "Manchester United", and in case of a defeat to this team, they will have to hope that "Basel" will collect less than three points in the remaining two games. Meanwhile, "Benfica", still without points, lost any chance of continuing the season in Europe and will bid farewell to European tournaments after the next match against "Basel".
Results:
CSKA 2 : 0 "Benfica"
13' [1 : 0] G. Schennikov
56' [2 : 0] Jardel (Own goal)
"Qarabag" 0 : 4 "Chelsea"
21' [0 : 1] E. Hazard (from the penalty spot)
36' [0 : 2] Willian
71' [0 : 3] C. Fabregas (from the penalty spot)
85' [0 : 4] Willian
19' R. Sadygov ("Qarabag") sent off from the field
