The parade of European powers advancing to the Champions League knockout stage yesterday was disrupted by Sporting Lisbon completing a stunning turnaround to join them.
Manchester City and Real Madrid are back in the round of 16 after beating teams they lost to in September.
Paris Saint-Germain also go through despite their 2-1 loss at City, for whom Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus scored after Kylian Mbappe had fired the visitors ahead early in the second half.
Madrid's 3-0 win at Sheriff Tiraspol - avenging a 2-1 home defeat to the champions of Moldova two months ago - included a goal for Karim Benzema hours after he was handed a suspended one-year jail term for his part in a blackmail plot. The result ensured Inter Milan also advanced from Group D by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0.
Three-time European champions Inter return to the round of 16 after a 10-year absence, though Sporting ended a 13-year wait by beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1 thanks to Pedro Goncalves who scored twice.
Sporting seemed overmatched in September when routed at home by Ajax then beaten in Dortmund, but three straight wins enabled the Portuguese to advance with a game to spare.
Ajax and Liverpool extended their dominating group-stage campaigns with fifth straight wins.
Liverpool cruised to a 2-0 win over Porto and moved an astonishing 10 points clear of the second-placed Portuguese team in Group B.
AC Milan are still in contention after an 87th-minute goal gave them a 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid. The goal left both teams on four points. Milan next host Liverpool and last-placed Atletico go to Porto.
![Nagoya's container-style huts are similar to the cabins used at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, says Kirsty Coventry.r]](https://image.hkstandard.com.hk/f/1024p0/0x0/100/none/a1f0ca5876544d43c82564cb5fce78cf/2026-09/huts.jpg)
