Champions League Groups 2015: Top Scorers, Qualified Teams After Wednesday Games
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo fired himself to the top of the UEFA Champions League's top scorer's rankings on Wednesday, bagging a brace in Real Madrid's 4-3 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica all qualified for the next round of Europe's top club competition.
Atletico cruised to a 2-0 win over Galatasaray, Juventus held on for a 1-0 win over Manchester City, PSG crushed Malmo 5-0 and Benfica needed just a 2-2 draw against Astana.
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Here's a look at the results from Wednesday's matches:
| Astana | 2-2 | Benfica |
| CSKA Moscow | 0-2 | Wolfsburg |
| Malmo | 0-5 | PSG |
| Shakhtar | 3-4 | Real Madrid |
| Manchester United | 0-0 | PSV |
| Atletico Madrid | 2-0 | Galatasaray |
| Juventus | 1-0 | Manchester City |
| Borussia Monchengladbach | 4-2 | Sevilla |
The current group standings:
| Group A | |||||||||
| 1 | Real Madrid | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 13 |
| 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 10 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | -5 | 3 |
| 4 | Malmo FF | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 13 | -12 | 3 |
| Group B | |||||||||
| 1 | Wolfsburg | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 |
| 3 | PSV Eindhoven | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 4 |
| Group C | |||||||||
| 1 | Benfica | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 |
| 2 | Atletico Madrid | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 10 |
| 3 | Galatasaray | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 4 |
| 4 | FC Astana | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 3 |
| Group D | |||||||||
| 1 | Juventus | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 11 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 9 |
| 3 | Borussia M.Gladbach | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 5 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 3 |
Here's a list of all the teams that have qualified for the knockout stages:
| A | Real Madrid |
| A | PSG |
| C | Benfica |
| C | Atletico Madrid |
| D | Juventus |
| D | Manchester City |
| E | Barcelona |
| F | Bayern Munich |
| H | Zenit St. Petersburg |
The current Champions League top scorers:
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 7 |
| 2 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 5 |
| 2 | Thomas Muller | Bayern Munich | 5 |
| 2 | Luis Suarez | Barcelona | 5 |
| 2 | Artem Dzyuba | Zenit | 5 |
| 6 | Willian | Chelsea | 4 |
| 6 | Javier Hernandez | Bayer Leverkusen | 4 |
| 6 | Admir Mehmedi | Bayer Leverkusen | 4 |
| 6 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 4 |
| 10 | Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal | 3 |
Ronaldo opened the scoring in Ukraine against Shakhtar Donetsk to give him his sixth Champions League goal of the season, and he added a seventh that would ultimately prove vital. The hosts put together a fantastic rally in the final minutes that saw them close the gap to 4-3, but they ran out of time chasing an equaliser.
Per ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, Ronaldo played a huge part in the win:
The Portugal international combined well with Gareth Bale, using their athleticism to pull the Shakhtar Donetsk defence apart repeatedly on the counter attack. Some shaky defending meant the end of the match was far more exciting than it should have been, but the two star forwards were hardly to blame.
Real had already qualified for the next round, and they were joined by PSG on Wednesday. The gap between the top teams and the bottom-feeders is quite massive in Group A, and Les Parisiens showed why, beating Malmo 5-0 on their own pitch.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored against his former club, tying a PSG legend for European goals in the process, per Bleacher Report's Jonathan Johnson:
The Swede has been playing for the Ligue 1 champions since 2012―the fact he's been able to tie the record so quickly is nothing short of remarkable.
Italian champions Juventus also booked passage into the next round, beating Manchester City 1-0 in frigid conditions in Turin. Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal of the first half after some wonderful work from Paul Pogba and a delightful cross from Alex Sandro.
Pogba and Sandro both put together impressive performances, but once again, Juventus' biggest hero was veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who made several sensational saves. Tancredi Palmeri of beIN Sports was almost at a loss for words:
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegri wasn't too happy with the officiating, however, and he believed Mandzukic clearly fouled Nicolas Otamendi to find space for the goal, per Andy Hampson of the Press Association:
Juventus now have the lead in Group D and need only a draw at Sevilla to top the group. City have already qualified and will face Borussia Monchengladbach on the final matchday. The Germans won't hold back as they try and secure UEFA Europa League football.
Antoine Griezmann continued his fine season by scoring both goals in Atletico's win over Galatasaray, doubling his tally in the competition.
Per Sky Sports' Laure James, he celebrated in a special way:
The France international may have joined the Atleti as a winger, but he has transformed into a full-blown striker and showed it with his first goal, diving into the box at just the right time before powering a header into the net.
Two goals from Raul Jimenez saw Benfica qualify alongside Atletico in Group C, as the Portuguese side drew with Astana. Benfica and Atletico will go head-to-head on the final matchday, with the top spot in the group on the line.
