Magical Barca destroy Roma

Paris, November 25 

Holders Barcelona celebrated qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League with another stunning display, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi both scoring twice in a 6-1 win against Roma.

The Catalans and Bayern Munich both secured their places in the knockout draw and demonstrated once again why they are surely the best teams in Europe just now, with Bayern Munich crushing Olympiakos 4-0.

Fresh from crushing eternal rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu at the weekend, they then produced a performance that the Italians could not live with to secure top spot in the section.

Dani Alves set up Suarez to tap in the opener before Messi, captaining the side in his first start since returning from injury, made it two at the end of a superb move involving Neymar and Suarez.

Suarez struck again just before the interval with a sweet volley and the rout continued in the second half as Neymar, Suarez and Messi all combined to give Gerard Pique a tap-in. 

Neymar and Suarez then helped tee up Messi to get his second and Barca’s fifth on the hour and Adriano crashed in the sixth after Neymar’s penalty had been saved by Wojciech Szczesny. 

Roma’s misery was compounded when Edin Dzeko had a late penalty saved by Marc Andre ter Stegen, although Dzeko did pull one back with the last kick of the game.

Roma still have their destiny in their own hands, though — a win at home to BATE next month will see them finish second.

A draw between Bayern and Olympiakos in Germany would have taken both teams through but Pep Guardiola’s team showed no mercy for their visitors as they raced into a three-goal lead inside the first 20 minutes. 

Douglas Costa got the opener and Robert Lewandowski scored his 28th goal in 25 games before Thomas Mueller tapped in the third.

Holger Badstuber was sent off early in the second half on his return after his latest lengthy lay-off but Kingsley Coman added a fourth.

Arsenal, Chelsea win big

While that win saw Bayern secure top spot in Group F, Arsenal kept their hopes alive by beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Mesut Ozil headed the Premier League side ahead and Alexis Sanchez added a brace, meaning the Gunners can still qualify for the last 16, provided they win at Olympiakos next month by at least a two-goal margin or by winning by a one-goal margin having scored three or more goals.

The situation appears rather more straightforward for Chelsea, who cruised to a 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel with Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma on target. — AFP