Madrid, Sociedad into last 16; Rashford sees red
On a royally good evening for standout Spanish teams, Manchester United fell in another wild loss in the Champions League on Wednesday. Real Madrid and Real Sociedad advanced to the round of 16 with two games to spare after impressive home wins over Portuguese opponents, respectively 3-0 against Braga and 3-1 over Benfica. Bayern Munich and Inter Milan also won and will be in the knockout phase after getting key late goals from their talismanic strikers, Harry Kane and Lautaro Martínez. Kane scored in the 80th and 86th minutes in a 2-1 win over Galatasaray and Inter’s 1-0 win at Salzburg was sealed by Martínez’s penalty in the 85th. Manchester United's drama-filled season on and off the field continued in Denmark. A 4-3 loss at Copenhagen – the same result as United's opening game at Bayern – after twice letting leads slip left coach Erik ten Hag's team last in Group A. The three-time European champions seemed in total control with a two-goal lead after 28 minutes earned by US$80 million forward Rasmus Højlund, returning to face his former club. A red card for United forward Marcus Rashford in the 42th sparked the chaos to follow, which saw Copenhagen level the score in 13 minutes of first-half stoppage time because of two pauses in play, including a protester on the field. United led again when Bruno Fernandes scored from the penalty spot in the 69th but could not hang on. Lukas Lerager leveled in the 83rd before 17-year-old substitute Roony Bardghji won it in the 87th. The Kuwait-born, Sweden under-21 winger scored with a bouncing shot to lift the Danish champions into second place in the group standings, though with just four points. Galatasaray also have four points and host United, who have three, next on November 29. Arsenal took a four-point lead in Group B by comfortably beating Sevilla 2-0 while PSV Eindhoven rose from last place to second with their first win, 1-0 at home to Lens. In Madrid’s group, Napoli have a grip on second place despite failing to extend Union Berlin’s losing run in all competitions to 13 games. Napoli wasted a lead in a 1-1 draw that Union earned when Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana scored in the 52nd for his first goal in almost a year. A Champions League quarterfinalist in each of the past two seasons, Benfica are a total bust this season. The champions of Portugal sustained their fourth straight loss, leaving them no chance of reaching the knockout stage. (AFP)