COPENHAGEN: Manchester City are through to the Champions League last 16 with two group games to spare after drawing 0-0 at FC Copenhagen, despite playing the majority of the match with 10 men on Tuesday.
VAR took centre stage in an action-packed first half in Copenhagen. City thought they had taken the lead 11 minutes in with a goal-of-the-season contender from Rodri, only for the strike to be ruled out for handball in the build-up.
The video assistant referee stepped in again moments later to help City win a penalty for another handball, but Riyad Mahrez saw his spot kick saved by home goalkeeper Kamil Grabara.
A busy VAR then asked the referee to have another look at a foul by Sergio Gomez on the edge of the penalty area on the half hour mark, with the on-field official choosing to show the City full back a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
The 10 men more than held their own in the second half, but with Liverpool to come in the Premier League at the weekend and qualification for the knockout stage almost secured, City left top goal-scorer Erling Haaland on the bench and saw out the draw.
Top of Group G with 10 points from four matches, City are sure of a last-16 spot after Sevilla were held to a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, meaning Pep Guardiola's side will finish in the top two, while Copenhagen are bottom on two points.
A last-gasp header by Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger rescued a 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk and secured their place in the knockout stage, after the Ukrainian side had taken the lead.
Real hold a four-point lead in Group F over second-placed RB Leipzig, who won 2-0 at Celtic. Shakhtar slipped one place down to third, on five points.
In the last round of games Shakhtar host Leipzig, which means that despite the draw, Real cannot finish lower than second and advance to the last 16 ahead of their next group game at Leipzig on October 25.
Chelsea completed the double over AC Milan to top Group E with a 2-0 victory at San Siro, a match the hosts had to play the majority of with 10 men.
Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham came to the rescue to earn a 1-1 draw against visitors Sevilla in their Group G match that sent Manchester City through to the next round and made the Germans wait longer to qualify.
Paris St Germain were held to a 1-1 home draw by Benfica in their Group H clash on Tuesday, as the French side failed to win for the third game in a row in all competitions.
PSG's Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring with a first-half penalty before Joao Mario equalized with another spot kick in the 62nd minute to give the visitors a deserved share of the points.
Mbappe found the net with a bicycle kick four minutes from fulltime but his effort was ruled out for an obvious offside.
The result left PSG top of the group on eight points from four games, ahead of Benfica on goals scored.
Juventus are third on three points, ahead of Maccabi Haifa after they were stunned 2-0 by the Israeli team earlier on Tuesday.
RB Leipzig scored second-half goals through Timo Werner and substitute Emil Forsberg to earn a 2-0 win at Celtic in their Group F clash to end the home side's hopes of reaching the last 16. Agencies
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