Pedro Fires Chelsea To Champions League Top Eight As Benfica Stun Real Madrid

João Pedro scored a brace to lead Chelsea to a 3-2 win over Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The victory was enough to seal Chelsea’s place in the top eight of the group phase of the competition.

Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for Chelsea from the penalty spot after Juan Jesus was penalised for handball in the 19th minute.

Vergara equalised for Napoli with a stunning strike in the 33rd minute before Hojlund turned the game around for Napoli in the 43rd minute to make it 2-1.

Chelsea came out of the second half with intent and purpose, João Pedro restored parity with a cracking finish from outside the box to make it 2-2.

The Brazilian forward added the winning goal in the 82nd minute to hand Chelsea the maximum points and a place in the next round.

The Blues finished sixth on the log with 16 points from eight matches.

Erling Haaland ended his goal drought to lead Manchester City to a 2-0 win over Galatasaray at the Etihad Stadium.

The victory was enough to seal the club’s place in the second round of the tournament after a dominant performance.

Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Rayan Cherki put the icing on the cake in the 29th minute

Barcelona recovered from a 1-0 deficit to earn a 4-2 victory thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, and Marcus Rashford.

The Blaugrana finished fifth with 16 points from eight matches.

Liverpool earned a 6-0 win over Qarabag after a brace from Alexander Mac Allister, Florien Wirtz, Mohammed Salah, and Hugo Ekitike, and Francisco Chiesa.

The Reds ended the first round in third place with 18 points from third with 18 points.

Tottenham defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 to finish in fourth position.

Inter Milan defeated Dortmund 2-0 to finish ninth on the log.

Arsenal recorded a 3-2 win over Kairat to maintain their first position with 24 points from eight matches.

Jamal Musiala and Harry Kane scored for Bayern Munich as they earned a 2-1 win over PSV to finish second

Bayer Leverkusen defeated Villarreal 3-0, Union Saint-Gilloise stunned Atalanta 1-0.

In another shocking result, Bodo/ Glimt defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Wando Metropolitano Stadium in Spain.

PSG and Newcastle United played out a 1-1 draw, while Club Brugge defeated Marseille 3-0.

Luis Enrique’s side finished in the 11th position with 14 points from eight matches.

Sporting Lisbon earned a 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao, while Olympiakos defeated Ajax 2-1 in Amsterdam.

Real Madrid suffered a 4-2 defeat to Benfica to finish ninth on the log.

The top 8 teams have qualified directly to the round of 16. Clubs finishing between 9th and 24th must negotiate a two-legged play-off to reach the knockouts.

The bottom 12 are eliminated entirely, with no second chance in the Europa League.