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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2018 16

Dortmund top Champions League group after win at Moura rescues Spurs Monaco AFP | Monaco

orussia Dortmund qual- Tottenham qualify Bified as Group A win- • ners for the Champions for last 16 as late Moura No-one believed in League last 16 after beating earns draw at Barca us. People said it was Thierry Henry’s Monaco mission impossible 2-0 on Tuesday. provided but we are here. It is a Portugal’s Raphael Guer- the• pass that substitute massive achievement reiro scored twice to claim for the club all three points for the vis- used to itors as Atletico score in the 85th minute could only draw 0-0 at Club Brugge. AFP | key point of relief for Totten- Lucien Favre made ham, Jordi Alba and Marc-An- nine changes from Satur- dre ter Stegen, both excellent in day’s derby victory against ottenham came back from recent weeks, were also left on Schalke which contin - the brink in the Champi- the bench. ued their superb unbeat- Tons League on Tuesday Spurs, though, were also un- en start to the Bundesliga as Lucas Moura’s late equaliser familiar, at right-back, where season. salvaged a 1-1 draw against Bar- Kyle Walker-Peters made his “It’s a perfect evening. On celona and sent them through to Champions League debut and it the whole it was a deserved the last 16. was the 21-year-old’s error in the victory,” Favre said. was left out of sixth minute that gave Dembele Henry started four teen- a heavily-rotated Barca line-up a sniff. agers in a meaningless game at the but Ousmane Ousmane Dembele robbed Kyle Walker-Peters early in the first half before finishing neatly past to give He robbed the ball and tore for the strugglers Dembele’s stunning early goal Barcelona to lead away, brushing off Walker-Pe- who were guaranteed to fin- looked set to put Spurs out, until ters again before brilliantly ish bottom of the group for Moura intervened. At the final whistle, their play- rested several key players, in- ports of indiscipline from the dummying a late a second straight campaign Mauricio Pochettino’s side ers faced an agonising 30 sec- cluding Messi, but his team al- 21-year-old this week. dive and finishing past Hugo after defeat at Atletico in only had to match ’s onds, only for a roar in one of ready had first place wrapped “It was a great goal, the kind Lloris. round five. result at home to PSV Eindhoven the stadium’s deepest corners to up. only players with his talent can Pochettino said he would The former France striker in Group B, which they did, as tell them the whistle had blown “We qualified quickly and that score,” Valverde said. “We are be kept aware of the score at stated he used the fixture the Italians only managed a 1-1 in Italy. speaks for itself,” Valverde said. happy with him.” the San Siro, so news may have as a warm-up for Sunday’s draw themselves. “No-one believed in us,” On Messi, who came on shortly When Barcelona crashed out reached him soon after that PSV domestic trip to Lyon. It made for a night of exhila- Pochettino said. “People said it after the hour, he added: “It’s in the quarter-finals in April, had taken the lead. “Dortmund posed a real rating drama, climaxing in the was mission impossible but we good to keep him busy,” Valverde took much of the Tottenham improved, pepper- challenge. We’ll recover final five minutes when Tot- are here. It is a massive achieve- Besides, Dembele scored a blame, the accusation that he ing Barca’s right side, as anoth- quickly and prepare for tenham must have wondered ment for the club.” goal of which the Argentinian failed to rotate his players in er break saw Danny Rose fire Lyon,” he said. whether to push for a win - Barcelona’s coach Ernesto would have been proud, his bril- games of lesser importance. across the face of goal. Son He- “Right now we have a ner or hold on to what they Valverde may not be popular liant run and finish providing Perhaps he listened, because ung-min’s lunge came up just problem, to sort things out had. with Inter supporters after he the perfect riposte to more re- while Messi’s absence was the short. in Ligue 1.” PSG through after rout of Red Star

‘Humble’ PSG keeping• cool heads after making Champions League last 16

AFP | Belgrade, Serbia

aris Saint-Germain coach PThomas Tuchel said his side need to “stay humble” after they thumped Red Star Belgrade 4-1 on Tuesday and qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, finishing Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward (2ndR) vies with Red Star ahead of Liverpool and Napoli Belgrade’s Australian defender Milos Degenek to top a tight Group C. First-half goals from Edin- for PSG, with Tuesday’s beating Attacking trio triumph son Cavani and Neymar set the of Red Star coming after a cru- French champions on their way, cial 2-1 victory over Liverpool PSG had Red Star on the back before a bullet header from that put qualification in their foot from the start, and their , Kylian Mbappe’s hands. blistering attacking trio of Ney- injury-time strike and Liver- “We showed for a second mar, Mbappe and Cavani did pool beating Napoli 1-0 ensured time after the match against not waste time in putting the first place in the group after Liverpool that we are ready away side ahead. Marko Gobeljic pulled one back for this kind of match,” added Just eight minutes were on for the hosts early in the second Tuchel, whose side began the the clock when Cavani tapped half. group stage with a 3-2 defeat Mbappe’s pass into an open “We made mistakes, but I by the Reds at Anfield and then goal, after the French teenage really liked the reaction after struggled to contain Napoli in sensation met the excellent Belgrade’s goal. We controlled the two draws with the Italian ’s through ball, the match,” said Tuchel to RMC side. brushed Filip Stojkovic aside Sport after the win. However, PSG scored 10 and slipped a perfect pass for “We need to stay humble and goals in two games against Red the Uruguayan. have a professional attitude. We Star, who beat Liverpool and Red Star captain Stojkovic are improving and we are hard drew with Napoli in Belgrade had a torrid evening, and to beat.” -- dropped points that allowed Neymar made light work of PSG finished the group stage the Ligue 1 leaders to finish top. the 25-year-old on his way to on 11 points, two ahead of sec- “We are happy, we came for a wonderful solo goal in the ond-placed Liverpool and Na- qualification and we showed 31st minute, into the poli, who were eliminated due our intentions (with the win),” box and sitting down the hosts’ to their defeat at Anfield. said Mbappe, who also laid on keeper Milan Borjan before lift- Topping such a keenly-con- Cavani’s opener. ing the second into the net. tested group is a huge boost Asked about PSG’s chanc- The Ligue 1 leaders should for PSG, who have dominated es of winning the Champions have been out of sight three French football since being League, Mbappe added: “We minutes before the break, but taken over by Qatari investors need to see what we’ll have in Mbappe wasted an excellent but flattered to deceive on the front of us. The goal is to get chance to make it three, again continent. to the quarter-finals, but we’ll bursting through past Stojkovic Arrival in the knockout stage deal with what we are given in on the left only to fluff his shot comes after two straight wins the draw.” into the side netting.