Sports

Juve beat Barça to win group; Man United eliminated

Sports Desk, Dec 8 (efe-epa).- Cristiano Ronaldo had a double Tuesday as Juventus topped Barcelona 3-0 to win Champions League Group G and Manchester United were eliminated by RB Leipzig while the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir was finally postponed after players walked off to protest an alleged racist remark by an official.

Juve, who made a poor start to the Champions campaign, entered the contest at Camp Nou needing to win by 3-1 or better to displace Barça in the top spot.

This marks the first time in 13 years that the Blaugrana are not advancing to the next round as group winners.

Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner who tormented Barcelona for years as the top striker for Real Madrid, drew a foul from Ronald Araujo and scored from the penalty spot to put the visitors ahead 1-0 in the 13th minute.

US international Wes McKennie scored seven minutes later and the Bianconeri went to the dressing room at half-time leading 2-0.

Early in the second half, a hand ball by Barça’s Clement Lenglet gave Ronaldo another chance from the spot and he converted for the 3-0.

Dynamo Kiev edged Ferencvaros 1-0 on a Denys Popov goal to finish third in the group with a chance to fight on in the Europa League.

In Group H, Match Day 6 began with PSG, Man United and RB Leipzig level on points at 9 and Basaksehir already eliminated.

Facing United in Leipzig, the Red Bulls stormed out to a 2-0 advantage on goals by Angeliño in the 2nd minute and Amadou Haidara in the 13th.

Justin Kluivert stretched the lead to 3-0 in the 69th minute and the situation was looking hopeless for United when Mason Greenwood went down in the Leizpig area after a collision with Ibrahima Konate and the referee pointed to the spot.

The ever-reliable Bruno Fernandes converted in the 80th minute and Paul Pogba scored two minutes later to bring the visitors within a goal, but the comeback ended there and Leipzig, with 12 points, are through to the next round.

What remains to be determined is whether the German squad will finish first or second in the group, as PSG, Champions League runners-up in 2020, must still complete their six match of the group stage.

In the 14th minute of Tuesday’s contest at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Romanian fourth official Sebastian Coltescu reacted to protests from a member of the Basaksehir coaching staff, former Cameroun international Pierre Webo, by signaling to referee and compatriot Ovidiu Alin Hategan to issue a red card.

When talking to Hategan, Coltescu used the Romanian word “negru” (black) to describe Webo, who challenged the referee over the fourth official’s language.

Hategan pulled out the red card anyway and the Basaksehir bench erupted, with Senegal’s Demba Ba in the lead.

Coltescu tried to explain that in Romanian, “negru” does not carry any negative racial connotations, but Ba was not mollified.

“You never say ‘this white guy’, you say ‘this guy’, so why when you mention … When you say ‘a black guy’, why do you have to say ‘this black guy’?”

By that point, Neymar and other PSG players had gotten involved and they joined their opponents in a walkout. After an abortive attempt to resume the match, UEFA decided to complete the game on Wednesday, when the French champions must win to wrest first place from Leipzig.

Borussia Dortmund took the top spot in Group F with a 2-1 victory over Zenit St. Petersburg.

Sebastian Driussi put Zenit up 1-0 with a goal in the 16th minute and the hosts held the lead until Lukasz Piszczek’s equalizer in the 68th minute. Axel Witsel scored 10 minutes later to secure all 3 points for Dortmund.

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