Celtic book place in Champions League knockout rounds as Real Madrid thrash Salzburg
Round-up: Brendan Rodgers’s side and the defending champions are both through to the play-off round at least with one more matchweek of fixtures in the league phase
An own goal five minutes from time gave Celtic a 1-0 victory over Young Boys in the Champions League and took the Scottish side past the competition’s group stage for the first time in 12 years.
The ball rebounded into the net off the shin of Young Boys captain Loris Benito after Celtic substitute Adam Idah had an effort save by goalkeeper Marvin Keller, ending a frustrating night for the Scottish side who missed a penalty and had two efforts ruled out for offside.
They are now guaranteed a place in the knockout round playoffs. Celtic looked headed for a draw that would have severely dented their hopes but their fortunes turned dramatically to the delight of the Celtic Park crowd.
They had endured a frustrating evening after Keller saved Arne Engels’s 41st-minute penalty and Kyogo Furuhashi twice had the ball in the net before being ruled offside.
Furuhashi also tucked away the ball after a breakaway in the 31st minute only for a VAR check to find Celtic captain Callum McGregor had won possession illegally with a foul on Cheikh Niasse in the build-up.
Young Boys remained without any points after seven matches in the new-look expanded group phase and were already eliminated before Wednesday's game.
But they came close to a share of the spoils as Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel made two superb stops to deny Darian Males and Mohamed Ali Camara with the last chance of the match.
Celtic had Daizen Maeda sent off in the 89th minute for a frustrated kick out at an opponent.
Holders Real Madrid hammered RB Salzburg 5-1 in a Champions League clash in the Spanish capital thanks to doubles from Brazilian forwards Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr either side of a goal by Kylian Mbappe.
Rodrygo opened the scoring with a tidy finish from a Vinicius cross in the 23rd minute and extended the home side's lead in the 34th, curling home a shot from inside the box after a brilliant back heel flick from Jude Bellingham.
Mbappe took advantage of a massive blunder by Salzburg goalkeeper and captain Janis Blaswich to score the third in the 48th minute, while Vinicius made two magnificent runs in the 55th and 77th minutes to extend Real's lead.
Mads Bidstrup scored the visitors' consolation goal in the 85th minute.
Last year's champions Real Madrid are 16th in the standings on 12 points and have secured qualification for the next round, but would need to win their last game at Brest and rely on other results to earn a top-eight finish and avoid a two-legged playoff.
Salzburg are 34th, third from bottom, eliminated from the competition with only three points from seven games.
Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez scored twice in the first half to steer the hosts to a stunning 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday and boost their chances of a top-eight finish.
The Mexico international fired them into the lead in the 21st minute with a deft shot before adding a second goal with a penalty in the ninth minute of first-half stoppage time.
Substitute Ayase Ueda killed off the game in the 89th after Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow had denied the Bavarians with a string of strong saves.
Feyenoord climbed above Bayern, who had 32 efforts towards goal and also hit the woodwork, into 11th place on 13 points. The Bavarians dropped to 15th on 12 points with their third defeat in seven matches.
There were victories for the two Milan clubs, with Inter successful in Prague against Sparta and their city rivals winning 1-0 against Girona at San Siro.
Earlier, RB Leipzig beat Sporting CP 2-1, while Shakhtar Donetsk kept themselves in contention to progress by beating Brest.
Reuters