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Lionel Messi has kept up his stellar pre-World Cup form to help Paris Saint-Germain become one of four teams to advance to the last 16 of the Champions League, alongside Chelsea, Benfica and Borussia Dortmund.
That makes more than half of the knockout lineup confirmed – five clubs had already gone through – with PSG one of the teams the others will look to avoid, especially with Messi in this mood.
And in the unlikely event the Argentine superstar has an off day, there is always Kylian Mbappe to worry about.
At opposite ends of their careers, the two forwards are tasked with guiding the French champions to a first Champions League title and they both scored twice in a 7-2 thrashing of Maccabi Haifa.
Neymar, the other member of the team’s stellar attacking trident, also scored in a victory that guaranteed PSG a top-two finish alongside Benfica in Group H.
“They all scored, they had a great match, they were decisive,” Paris defender Marquinhos said about the forward trio.
“When they play like this, it’s hard for the opposing team.”
Benfica beat Juventus 4-3, meaning the Italian giants have failed to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 2013/14.
Juventus did not go down without a fight, coming back from 4-1 down with less than 15 minutes to go.
“It’s difficult to find words now. We are really disappointed,” midfielder Manuel Locatelli said.
“In the last 20 minutes, we showed we can be a great team and we have to restart from that.”
In Austria, Kai Havertz netted perhaps the best goal of the 33 scored in the next-to-last round of group games, whipping a long-range shot in off the crossbar to earn Chelsea a 2-1 win at Salzburg and a first-place finish in Group E.
Chelsea put on a dazzling display in the first half in Austria, taking the lead in the 23rd minute through Mateo Kovacic’s instinctive left-footed finish, but they wasted several chances to double their advantage before the interval.
The English Premier League side were made to pay for their profligacy early in the second half as Junior Adamu prodded home the equaliser, only for Havertz to restore Chelsea’s lead with a superb curled strike into the top corner in the 64th minute.
A second-half goal from Rafael Leao helped Milan to a 4-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb to move into the group’s second spot and a possible return to the Champions League knockout stage for the first time in nine years for the seven-time champions.
They must avoid defeat at home to Salzburg next week to secure their spot in the last 16.
Dortmund joined Manchester City in advancing from Group G after drawing 0-0 with the English champions, who are now sure to finish in first place.
The German side succeeded where most have failed this season, keeping their former striker Erling Haaland off the scoresheet.
Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel saved a second-half penalty from Riyad Mahrez to earn the point they needed to be sure of finishing second.
Sevilla could not avoid another early elimination despite beating Copenhagen 3-0 to earn their first Champions League win of the season.
Already-qualified Real Madrid, the defending champions, lost 3-2 at Leipzig and must wait to seal top spot in Group F.
Madrid were previously unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions this season.
“It’s a loss, but it doesn’t hurt us too much,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
“We will have another opportunity to finish first. We have to move on.”
Leipzig are on the brink of advancing after moving three points clear of Shakhtar Donetsk, who drew 1-1 at Celtic to knock Ange Postecoglou’s Scottish champions out of European competition.
The result consigned Celtic to bottom of Group F whatever the result of their final game against Madrid in Spain next week, and blocked their escape route to the Europa League.
The Scottish champions needed to win to keep alive any hope of entering the Europa League knockout stages, and they got the perfect start when Giorgos Giakoumakis swept them into the lead 38 minutes into a tight first half.
However, Mykhailo Mudryk was a constant danger and the 21-year-old Ukraine international netted a brilliant counter-attack goal just before the hour mark.
The result means the visitors will play in European football beyond Christmas – in the Champions League if they beat RB Leipzig next week – while Celtic will bow out after their trip to face Real Madrid.
“We know the areas we have fallen short in this campaign and they are the areas we obviously need to improve in,” former Socceroos coach Postecoglou said.
“But that only comes with experience and learnings and improvement.
“That’s our task – to take what we learned this year and improve for next year.
“But we have to qualify again. We haven’t been in this competition for five years. If you do that it’s very hard to just come in and make an impact.
“Our job and my responsibility is to make sure we are there every year.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome but in terms of the players’ effort, I can’t ask any more of them.”
Shakhtar head coach Igor Jovicevic hailed his players after they moved on to six points ahead of Leipzig’s visit to Warsaw next week.
“We knew it was going to be a very difficult game because it’s at Celtic Park in front of 57,000 fans and it’s difficult for any team to play here,” the Croatian said.
“But we were brave and we gave one of our best performances.
“We demonstrated we can change during the game – we can attack, we can defend, we can counter-attack.
“The most important thing we demonstrated was the character – proper Ukrainian character. The character of fighters, fighters for freedom.
“We believe our players are heroes.”
In Spain Sevilla defeated Copenhagen 3-0 to earn their first Champions League win of the season, and their first at home, and keep alive their chance of advancing to the knockout stage.
However, a point for Borussia Dortmund at home to Manchester City later on Tuesday would end that hope.
Nevertheless, defeating Copenhagen did at least ensure a place in the Europa League with the Danish club now confirmed in last place in group G.
Youssef En-Nesyri, Isco Alarcón and Gonzalo Montiel scored second-half goals for Sevilla. Copenhagen twice hit the woodwork and remain the only team yet to score in the competition.
En-Nesyri opened the scoring in the 61st, Isco added to the lead with a curling shot from outside the area in the 88th and Montiel sealed the victory from close range two minutes into stoppage time.
Copenhagen defender David Khocholava was sent off for a hard foul late in stoppage time.
© AAP
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