Champions League: Manchester City top group; Barcelona, Dortmund in last 16

LONDON: Manchester City's Julian Alvarez scored in the 87th minute as the European champions clawed their way back from two goals down to beat RB Leipzig 3-2 and clinch top spot in Champions League Group G on Tuesday with one round of matches remaining.

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden also netted in the second period after one of City's most underwhelming recent first-half performances to give Pep Guardiola's team 15 points after five games. Leipzig, who had also reached the last 16, have nine.

Haaland added another record to his bulging resume, becoming the fastest player to 40 Champions League goals. The striker became the quickest to 50 Premier League goals on Saturday.

Lois Openda pounced on a pair of City defensive blunders for both Leipzig goals, sprinting onto a long ball from goalkeeper Janis Blaswich that bounced over a lackadaisical Manuel Akanji in the 13th minute. He struck again with seemingly similar ease in the 33rd, spinning around Ruben Dias en route to scoring.

Haaland, who poured in five goals against Leipzig in a 7-0 rout in the Champions League last 16 in March, finally gave City fans something to cheer in the 54th minute when he ran onto a pass from Foden and struck a low left-foot shot into the net.

Three days after their 1-1 top-of-the-table Premier League draw with Liverpool, City looked like zombies through the first half, although they had a flurry of chances before the break, their best being Dias's header over the bar.

It was Guardiola's second comeback from a two-goal deficit in his Champions League managerial career after his Bayern Munich side rallied to beat Juventus in the 2016 quarter-finals.

City finish the group stage at Red Star Belgrade on December 13.

Young Boys, who are third on four points, secured a place in the Europa league knockout round playoffs with a 2-0 home win over Red Star. The Belgrade side are bottom with one point.

Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix scored in each half to earn Barcelona a 2-1 comeback win at home against Porto on Tues-day that booked their spot in the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time in three seasons.

The visitors wasted several chances before Pepe put them in front in the 30th minute with a close-range strike from a rebound, but Barca hit back quickly, with a fine curling shot into the top corner by Cancelo two minutes later.

Cancelo was excellent running down the left channel and teed up Joao Felix for a tidy first-time finish in the 57th minute to secure the win.

Barcelona are top of Group H on 12 points, three ahead Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk who will play each other on the final matchday to decide who will join Barca in the knockout stage.

Borussia Dortmund booked their spot in the Champions League last 16 by beating AC Milan 3-1 at the San Siro in a lively Group F clash on Tuesday.

Marco Reus, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Karim Adeyemi were all on target to help Dortmund top the group on 10 points, with Paris St Germain, who drew 1-1 against Newcastle United, second on seven.

Milan, bottom on five points from five games, can still secure a top-two finish if they win at Newcastle and Dortmund beat PSG in the final round of games next month.

Dortmund will be confirmed as group winners if they avoid a home defeat by PSG.

Two own goals plus a brilliant Mario Hermoso hooked volley gave Atletico Madrid a 3-1 win at Feyenoord on Tues-day and a place in the Champions League last 16 while eliminating the hosts.

Feyenoord's Lutsharel Geertruida put the ball into his own net after 14 minutes before Hermoso added a stunning second goal in the 57th, although Feyenoord pulled one back with 13 minutes left as Mats Wieffer headed home from a corner.

However, a second own goal four minutes later, this time from Santiago Gimenez, wrapped up the points for Atletico who moved top in Group E and claimed a knockout-stage berth.

They have 11 points, one more than Lazio, who also reached the last 16 on Tuesday by beating Celtic 2-0 in Rome, with their spot guaranteed by Feyenoord's defeat.

Two late goals by captain Ciro Immobile earned Lazio a 2-0 home win over bottom side Celtic in Group E, putting the Italians in a strong position to reach the last 16 and ending the visitors' qualification hopes.

Second-half substitute Immobile opened the scoring for the hosts in the 82nd minute with a shot into the roof of the net from close range before doubling the advantage three minutes later with a low strike after cutting inside on to his left foot.

Shakhtar Donetsk defender Mykola Matviyenko's glancing header secured a 1-0 win over Royal Antwerp to keep alive their hopes of a last-16 Champions League spot.

The Ukrainians, who play in Hamburg, dominated the first half in the Group H clash, scoring in the 12th minute after Oleksandr Zubkov's cross headed was headed in by Matviyenko. Agencies

Also Read: Liverpool snatch late draw at Manchester City; Haaland shatters Premier League Record

Also Watch: