By Korede James
Super Eagles stars Raphael Onyedika and Nathan Tella were on target for Club Brugge and Bayer Leverkusen respectively on matchday 8 of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, although their clubs had different results.
Onyedika’s goal was not enough as Club Brugge lost 3-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Nigeria international put Club Brugge 1-0 up in the 45th minute but in the 53rd minute Mateo Kovacic equalised for City.
An own goal by Joel Ordonez put Pep Guardiola’s men 2-1 up on 62 minutes and, with 13 minutes left, Savinho added the third goal.
City and Brugge finished in the 22nd and 24th positions and advanced to the play-offs for the round of 16.
In Germany, Tella scored in Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win against Sparta Prague.
With the victory, Leverkusen finished in sixth place and automatically qualified for the round of 16.
Florian Wirtz opened scoring in the 32nd minute while Tella added the second goal on 64 minutes.
Atalanta, without Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman, battled Barcelona to a 2-2 draw in Spain.
The result means Atalanta ended up in the play-offs while Barcelona had already secured automatic qualification into the first knockout round.
In other results, Real Madrid thrashed Brest 3-0, Benfica beat Juventus 2-0 away, PSV defeated Liverpool 3-2, Bayern Munich beat Slovan Bratislava 3-1 and Arsenal edged Girona 2-1.
European heavyweights Real Madrid, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will feature in the play-offs.
Other teams who will also be in the play-offs are Benfica, Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Brest, PSV and Celtic.
The eight teams that qualified automatically for the round of 16 are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa.
RESULTS
Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge
Bayern Munich 3-1 S. Bratislava
Inter Milan 3-0 Monaco
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Shakhtar
Juventus 0-2 Benfica
GNK Dinamo 2-1 AC Milan
Salzburg 1-4 Atletico Madrid
Lille 6-1 Feyenoord
Girona 1-2 Arsenal
Brest 0-3 Real Madrid
Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic
Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta
Leverkusen 2-0 Sparta Praha
Sporting CP 1-1 Bologna
PSV 3-2 Liverpool
Young Boys 0-1 Crvena Zvezda
Stuttgart 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain
Sturm Graz 1-0 RB Leipzig
TEAMS INTO ROUND OF 16
Liverpool
Barcelona
Arsenal
Inter Milan
Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen
Lille
Aston Villa
TEAMS FOR ROUND OF 16 PLAY-OFFS
Atalanta
Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
AC Milan
PSV
PSG
Benfica
AS Monaco
Brest
Feyenoord
Juventus
Celtic
Manchester City
Sporting Lisbon
Club Brugge
