CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Dortmund hold Real as Porto, Sevilla make last 16

PARIS, France -- Borussia Dortmund set a new Champions League scoring record in a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid on Wednesday while FC Porto and Sevilla claimed the two remaining last-16 spots.

Dortmund made sure of top spot in Group F after fighting back from 2-0 down against defending champions Madrid, leaving the Spanish giants with theoretically a tougher draw to make the quarter-finals.

Marco Reus was the star of the late show at the Santiago Bernabeu, hitting the equaliser two minutes from time.

A double from Karim Benzema looked to have Real well set to leapfrog the Germans and secure a home game in the second leg of their last-16 tie.

However, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reduced the arrears before substitute Reus slid in to turn Aubameyang's dangerous low cross high into the net.

Dortmund scored 21 goals in their group campaign, the most for any team in a group stage in the history of the tournament.

"Real had some big chances in the second half, but we hoped for a lucky punch and we got it," said Reus.

"'Auba' was world-class with his pass and I was happy to get on the end of it -- the goal was 99 percent him and one from me."

Real coach Zinedine Zidane said his team should have killed off the game.

"We gave the game away by missing chances to score the third goal," said Zidane.

Sevilla made the last 16 for the first time in seven years after soaking up the pressure to draw 0-0 away to Lyon.

Lyon -- who lost 1-0 in Seville in September and trailed the Spaniards by three points -- needed to win by two clear goals to go through.

But they could not find a way through, with Corentin Tolisso and Mathieu Valbuena both hitting the woodwork.

"I am satisfied because we have put in enormous efforts to qualify against very important opponents," said Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli.

Table-topping Juventus defeated Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 with Gonzalo Higuain and Daniele Rugani on target. The Croatians finished their campaign having failed to score a single goal.

   
- Leicester claim unwanted record -

Leicester City, who had already made sure of top spot in Group G in their debut season in the competition, suffered their first loss of the campaign, 5-0 at Porto who went through as runners-up.

Porto, the 1987 and 2004 European champions, opened the scoring after just six minutes when Andre Silva headed in a corner from Jesus Corona.

Corona hit a spectacular second goal with a left-footed volley from a cross by Yacine Brahimi after being left unmarked in the area. Brahimi made it 3-0 with a cheeky backheel before the interval.

Silva added a fourth from the penalty spot on 64 minutes after Danny Drinkwater had hauled down the striker in the penalty area with Diogo Jota making it 5-0, the biggest Champions League defeat for an English club.

"We can lose, but I want us to show our character and our strength. We didn't do that well enough tonight," said Leicester coach Claudio Ranieri.

FC Copenhagen had harboured hopes of pipping Porto for second place but despite a 2-0 win at pointless Club Brugge, they had to settle for a Europa League place.

In Group E, Bayer Leverkusen, already assured of second spot, downed Monaco 3-0 but the win wasn't enough to overhaul the table-topping French side.

Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, came back from a goal down to defeat CSKA Moscow 3-1 and claim a Europa League place.

Alan Dzagoev put the Russians ahead after 33 minutes, but the lead lasted just five minutes until Dele Alli levelled from a Christian Eriksen cross to ensure that CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev's miserable Champions League record of failing to keep a clean sheet stretched to 39 games.

Harry Kane and an Akinfeev own-goal gave Spurs the three points.

England star Kane admitted that Tottenham need to improve their home form if they are to progress in future European adventures.

"You are playing the best teams in Europe so you can't rely on away results which we have done this season," said Kane.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

BUNDESLIGA: Dortmund sink Bayern to end champions' unbeaten run

DORTMUND - Borussia Dortmund ended Bayern Munich's unbeaten run, edging a 1-0 win on Saturday thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 12th goal of the season, cutting the gap between the champions and their biggest title rivals to three points.

Gabon international Aubameyang made the most of Dortmund's frenetic start, tapping in an 11th-minute assist from Mario Goetze, who was facing his former club for the first time since his move in the close season.

"It was a great feeling to score this goal," the forward told reporters. "It was great work from Lukasz Piszczek and Mario."

"I am very happy for our fans who supported us the entire game. They never stopped."

More than a quarter of the game had gone before Bayern, who drop to second in the Bundesliga, three points behind new leaders RB Leipzig, landed a shot on goal, but they were in command for the rest of the half, although they failed to beat keeper Roman Buerki.

They had the ball in the net 10 minutes after the restart but Franck Ribery's clever flick was ruled offside.

Xabi Alonso then hammered a shot against the crossbar as Bayern upped the pressure, virtually camped in the Dortmund half.

Aubameyang should have made it two for the hosts in the 71st minute when he pounced on an Alonso mistake and charged into the box, but Manuel Neuer stood his ground and palmed his shot wide.

Dortmund, whose win was only their second in the last nine Bundesliga encounters against Bayern, move up to third on 21 points, six behind Leipzig, who won 3-2 at Bayer Leverkusen on Friday night.

Marcel Risse scored a stoppage-time winner as Cologne came from a goal down to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 and climb into fourth, ahead of Hertha Berlin, who dropped to fifth following a goalless draw at Augsburg. Both have also 21 points.

Gladbach, Champions League competitors this season, made it six games without a win after Risse thundered in a shot from a free kick with seconds left to play.

Bundesliga top scorer Anthony Modeste's 59th-minute goal -- his 12th of the campaign -- had cancelled out Lars Stindl's 32nd-minute lead for Gladbach.

Hertha failed to gain more ground on the top spots in a lacklustre encounter against Augsburg.

Schalke 04 earned a deserved 1-0 victory at VfL Wolfsburg thanks to Leon Goretzka's winner eight minutes from the end to leave the Wolves hovering two points above the relegation zone.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann,; Editing by Neville Dalton)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

BUNDESLIGA: Lewandowski hits two for Bayern to pass 'Auba'

BERLIN, Germany -- Robert Lewandowski netted twice on Sunday to overtake Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the Bundesliga's top scorer as leaders Bayern Munich won 3-1 at Augsburg.

Poland striker Lewandowski netted either side of half-time with Thomas Mueller securing the points for the Bundesliga leaders before Raul Bobadilla pulled a goal back for Augsburg late on.

Lewandowski now has 21 goals to his name this season, one more than Borussia Dortmund striker Aubameyang on 20. He has now scored eight of Bayern's last nine goals and has netted 31 times in all competitions.

Playing in front of Thiago Alcantara and Mueller, he showed clinical finishing on 15 minutes to open the scoring and calmly curled in his second on 62 minutes by converting Thiago's pass.

Mueller added the third on 78 minutes for his 15th league goal of the season, leaving him and Lewandowski with 36 goals between them in Germany's top flight this season.

Despite Bobadilla's late consolation, Bayern are eight points clear of Dortmund at the top of the table.

The win was a big boost for Bayern coach Pep Guardiola after he lost yet another defender on the eve of the Bavarian derby when Holger Badstuber fractured his ankle in training.

With Jerome Boateng, Medhi Benatia and Javi Martinez sidelined, it left Guardiola without a single fit centre-back as Badstuber underwent surgery on Saturday.

He misses the rest of the season after suffering his fourth major injury since 2012 including twice tearing his cruciate knee ligament.

"We have had a lot of injuries this season, but we all love Holger and it is incredible what has happened to him," said Guardiola.

The Spaniard, like the rest of the squad before the game, wore a t-shirt with a direct message to Badstuber: "We're with you - you'll manage it again (to come back)".

"We'll support him on his way back to fitness," said Guardiola solemnly.

He fielded a back four of Juan Bernat, David Alaba, Philipp Lahm and Joshua Kimmich -- all of whom are under five foot 11 inches (1.80m).

- Hamburg pull clear -

Earlier, Hamburg pulled clear of the relegation battle with a shock 3-2 comeback win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach to end their six-game winless streak.

US international Fabian Johnson gave the visitors an early lead before Gladbach defender Martin Hinteregger stabbed the ball into his own net from a corner on 38 minutes to equalise for Hamburg.

And just three minutes later, Artjoms Rudnevs finished a Hamburg counter-attack to make it 2-1 at the break.

Midfielder Ivo Ilicevic extended Hamburg's lead when he headed home from a corner with 10 minutes to go.

Brazilian striker Raffael gave Gladbach brief hope by making it 3-2 on 88 minutes.

On Saturday, Henrikh Mkhitaryan's second-half goal sealed second-placed Dortmund's 1-0 win over bottom side Hanover 96.

Aubameyang, who had a leg knock, missed his first league match of the season for Dortmund.

Wolfsburg warmed up for Wednesday's Champions League last 16, first leg at Gent with a 2-0 win at home to Ingolstadt, their first victory since knocking Manchester United out of the Champions League in December.

Wolfsburg won for the first time in six games but stay eighth after first-half goals by Germany midfielder Julian Draxler and defender Robin Knoche.

Bayer Leverkusen moved up to third with a 2-1 comeback win at Darmstadt.

On a heavy pitch, Sandro Wagner stabbed home to give Darmstadt an early lead, but Leverkusen drew level when Darmstadt defender Aytac Sulu headed into his own net on 62 minutes.

Julian Brandt started the move he finished by tapping in Leverkusen's winner on 77 minutes.

VfB Stuttgart's impressive form continued as they picked up their fifth straight league win to go 10th, beating Hertha Berlin 2-0.

Ivory Coast's Serey Die and winger Filip Kostic scored Stuttgart's goals as Hertha drop to fourth.

The youngest manager in Bundesliga history made his debut when Julian Nagelsmann, 28, was on Hoffenheim's bench for their 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen in a basement battle.

Nagelsmann took over after predecessor Huub Stevens resigned on Wednesday due to heart problems. The result leaves both teams in the bottom three.

Eintracht Frankfurt remain just above the relegation places after their 3-1 defeat at Cologne.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com