Manchester rivals City and United have so far not taken their domestic form into Europe and will be among 15 teams attempting to win their first matches in the Champions League group stage this week.
Another Lionel Messi hat-trick lit up the Champions League yet again as Barcelona and AC Milan qualified for the last 16 with time to spare on Tuesday although it is APOEL Nicosia who are fast becoming the talk of the group stages.
Champions League holders Real Madrid will have to work around a string of injuries to key players in a tough match against CSKA Moscow, manager Julen Lopetegui said on Monday.
Celtic, who won Europe's premier club competition in 1967, set up a clash with Romanians Cluj in the next stage after a 2-0 win at Nomme Kalju completed a 7-0 aggregate rout of the Estonian champions.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan will face Arsenal in the standout last-16 tie in the Europa League after the draw was made in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Images from Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League group stage matches.
Seven-times champions AC Milan, knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in the last two seasons, were drawn against the Catalans again in the group stage of this season's competition on Friday.
Former Bayern Munich coach Flick takes over Germany to 2024
Pep Guardiola's ManchesterCity will play Romanian side Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League playoff round after the draw was made in Nyon on Friday.
Karim Benzema gave the European champions the lead in the 20th minute with an irresistible piece of control and finish after a pinpoint pass from Luka Modric.
Real coach Julen Lopetegui has come in for fierce criticism this season, having presided over a run of five games without a win -- the team going eight hours and one minute without scoring -- before Tuesday's unconvincing 2-1 triumph over Viktoria Plzen that saw the team whistled off the pitch by their own fans.
Former player and reserve team boss Santiago Solari has been put in caretaker charge after negotiations between the club and former Chelsea, Italy and Juventus boss Antonio Conte broke down on Monday, the club added.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Three time European champions Inter Milan were stunned 2-0 at home by Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Manchester United were floored by a late goal from Feyenoord as the Europa League group stage got underway on Thursday.
Stuttering Villarreal closed to within a point of the Champions League qualification places when a second-half Cedric Bakambu double secured a 2-1 comeback win at home to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday.
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Swiss club Sion on Thursday.
Last season's runners-up Liverpool, big-spending French league champions Paris St Germain and Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli were thrown together in the pick of the groups while holders Real Madrid must face last season's semi-finalists AS Roma.
Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
European champions Bayern Munich led the charge into the last 16 of the Champions League when they beat Viktoria Plzen 1-0 to chalk up a record-equalling ninth straight victory in the competition on Tuesday.
AS Roma suffered another European humiliation on Tuesday when they had two players sent off, lost 3-0 at home to Porto and missed out on the Champions League group stage.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo come face-to-face next month when Sweden meet Portugal in a World Cup playoff and they sharpened their claws with six goals between them on a thrilling night of Champions League action on Wednesday.
West Bromwich Albion have bolstered their defensive ranks by signing centre half Jonny Evans from Manchester United on a four-year deal.
(Reuters) - Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris St Germain reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday on a night when the goals flowed all over Europe with United the highest scorers in a 5-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
Real Madrid got their Champions League title defence off to a strong start on Wednesday by convincingly beating AS Roma 3-0 at home with goals from Isco, Gareth Bale and a stoppage-time strike from returning striker Mariano Diaz.
Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991 and reached the latter stages the following season, finished second in Group H behind Arsenal who crushed BATE Borisov 6-0.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The value of an in-form striker was underlined as Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao needed goals from pivotal front men to grab vital wins that booked places in the Europa League last 32 on Thursday.
Stephan El Shaarawy took a small step towards refuelling his career at Monaco when the AC Milan loanee came off the bench to rescue a late 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League's second round of group matches on Thursday.
Holders Bayern Munich eased past CSKA Moscow 3-1 on Wednesday to set a Champions League record with their 10th straight victory and underline their ambitions to become the first team to successfully defend the title.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney did not have the faintest idea who Anthony Martial was when the Monaco forward was linked with a move to Old Trafford earlier this week, according to team mate Morgan Schneiderlin.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect tournament record and advanced to his fifth China Open final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Andy Murray on Saturday.
Malta make Italy sweat, while Bale takes Wales closer to competition
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