Football: Man City, Schalke take final spots in knockouts

Samir Nasri of Manchester City. Photo / Getty Images

Manchester City and Schalke grabbed the final spots on offer in the knockout stage of the Champions League yesterday, while Lionel Messi helped Barcelona to secure first place in their group with a record-extending 75th goal in the competition.

City started the final round of group play in last place in Group E but finished second by beating Roma 2-0 away, with second-half goals by Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta lifting the English champions above their Italian opponents and CSKA Moscow. CSKA lost 3-0 at Bayern Munich.

Schalke ensured a clean sweep of four German representatives in the last 16 for the second straight season after their 1-0 win at Maribor sealed the runner-up spot in Group H. Sporting Lisbon needed a draw at Chelsea to finish second but lost 3-1.

Barcelona came from behind to beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 and leapfrog the French team to the top of Group F, with Messi leading the Spanish side's recovery before goals by the remainder of its all-star attacking trio - Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Ajax and Athletic Bilbao won to clinch Europa League berths for finishing third in their groups, joining Sporting and Roma in the knockout stage of the secondary competition.

The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League is made on Tuesday. City, along with PSG and Juventus, will arguably be the sides most group winners want to avoid.

Without four of their top players - the injured Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany, the suspended Yaya Toure and David Silva, who was on the bench - the Premier League champions qualified the hard way in the Italian capital.

Nasri smashed a rising shot in off the post from outside the area in the 60th minute before setting up right back Zabaleta for the second goal in the 88th minute. City also required a string of great saves from goalkeeper Joe Hart either side of halftime, while Martin Demichelis cleared a shot off the line when the score was 1-0.

Champions League Final 16
Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Bayern Munich (Germany), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Schalke 04 (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Chelsea (England), Arsenal (England), Manchester City (England), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Monaco (France), Porto (Portugal), Juventus (Italy), Basel (Switzerland), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)