Benfica hammer Maccabi Haifa to win Group H, PSG finish 2nd

ANKARA

Portuguese football club Benfica hammered Israeli team Maccabi Haifa 6-1 in a UEFA Champions League match Wednesday to win Group H.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) meanwhile beat Juventus 2-1, but the French powerhouse finished second behind Benfica.

UEFA confirmed that the Lisbon club secured the top place in the group on goals scored away from home.

Both Benfica and PSG, Group H's best two clubs, reached the Champions League Round of 16, bagging 14 points each in six matches.

Benfica forward Goncalo Ramos scored the opener in the 20th minute at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, Israel. But six minutes later, Maccabi Haifa's Tjaronn Chery scored from the penalty spot to level the match.

Following an equal first half, Benfica stormed through the second 45 minutes.

Petar Musa, Alejandro Grimaldo, Rafa Silva, Henrique Araujo and Joao Mario were the scorers for the Eagles.

Meanwhile, PSG were handed an away win at Turin's Juventus Stadium to end this phase.

French star Kylian Mbappe and Portugal's Nuno Mendes scored for PSG, while Juventus' Italian veteran Leonardo Bonucci put the ball into PSG’s net.

Mbappe became the youngest player to have scored 40 goals in Champions League history, surpassing Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.

French forward Mbappe was 23 years and 317 days old when he reached this milestone Wednesday evening.

Messi, who is now playing for PSG, was 24 years and 130 days old when he netted his 40th Champions League goal in 2011. He was a Barcelona forward at the time.

One of the big clubs in Group H, Juventus upset their fans as the Italian team came third with three points to continue in the UEFA Europa League this season.

Maccabi Haifa were eliminated.

Napoli, Liverpool, Porto, Club Brugge, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, Eintracht Frankfurt, Chelsea, AC Milan, Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain are the teams who will play in the last 16.

Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona, Sporting, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla and Juventus marched to the Europa League.

Rangers, Atletico Madrid, Viktoria Plzen, Olympique Marseille, Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Copenhagen and Maccabi Haifa occupied the bottom of their groups to be eliminated.

The 2022-23 UEFA Champions League last 16 draw will be held on Monday, Nov. 7 in Nyon, Switzerland.

The two-legged Round of 16 will be played in February and March 2023.

Wednesday's results:

Real Madrid - Celtic: 5-1

Shakhtar Donetsk - RB Leipzig: 0-4

Chelsea - Dinamo Zagreb: 2-1

AC Milan - Salzburg: 4-0

Manchester City - Sevilla: 3-1

Copenhagen - Borussia Dortmund: 1-1

Juventus - Paris Saint-Germain: 1-2

Maccabi Haifa - Benfica: 1-6