Real win big; Jesus powers City
Santiago Solari continued his perfect start to life at Real Madrid as he oversaw a 5-0 demolition of Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic with Karim Benzema scoring twice in a 5-0 win, while a Gabriel Jesus hattrick helped Manchester City all but secure a last-16 berth.
Pep Guardiola's City crushed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 on a night when Bayern Munich closed in on a place in the knockout stage.
Real were four ahead at the break, Benzema's goals taking him to 200 for the club. Casemiro and Gareth Bale also netted in the first half, and Toni Kroos completed the scoring with a delicious chip.
Santiago Solari has now overseen three victories, all with clean sheets, since being put in charge of Madrid, and the Spaniards are level atop Group G with Roma.
The Italians won 2-1 away to CSKA Moscow, Kostas Manolas and Lorenzo Pellegrini scoring their goals either side of Arnor Sigurdsson's equaliser.
Speaking after the game, Solari said that he was not thinking about the future and hailed his team's performance and limitless potential.
"If you win 5-0 there will be applause. Every game is different and you have to continue working with humility, sacrifice and ambition in front of goal and think about the next game," Solari said. "They are capable of getting where they want to go. They don't have a limit. No roof. There will be games when the opposition do damage but it will be difficult for this team to not score. We have seen lovely goals and I enjoyed them."
However, when asked if the crisis at the Bernabeu was over, Solari responded: "The man who asks that doesn't know Madrid. We live in a permanent crisis, even the day after we win a Champions League title."
There was also no drama at the Etihad Stadium, where City -- whose financial dealings have come under scrutiny in a series of Football Leaks allegations -- eased to their biggest win in the competition.
Goals from David Silva and Riyad Mahrez bookended the victory. In between there was a stunner from Raheem Sterling, who was also awarded a penalty for kicking his own foot into the turf in the box.
Jesus scored the spot-kick, the first of two penalties in his hat-trick. City will head to Lyon later this month requiring a draw to secure a last-16 place.
"Unfortunately we haven't qualified, but we are so close and will try to maintain this level," said Guardiola, whose team play United on Sunday.
City would have been through already had Lyon not squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to 10-man Hoffenheim.
Meanwhile, Bayern require just one more point to advance in Group E after Robert Lewandowski netted twice -- the first a penalty -- on his 100th European appearance in a 2-0 home win over AEK Athens, who are eliminated.
Ajax remain well placed to progress too. They are second, four points clear of third-placed Benfica, after a 1-1 draw in Portugal. Jonas put Benfica ahead before Dusan Tadic equalised.
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