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Xavi’s men crash out of Champions League

Barcelona have been eliminated from the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Xavi’s side drop into the Europa League and will not appear in the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Already assured of top spot in Group E, first-half goals from Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane put Bayern well on the way to progressing with a 100 per cent record.

Jamal Musiala ensured that Julian Nagelsmann’s side did just that when he sealed the victory just after the hour mark in another routine victory for the hosts in this fixture.

To avoid elimination, Barca needed to win or hope that Benfica failed to beat Dynamo Kiev elsewhere in the final round of group fixtures.

Jordi Alba tested Manuel Neuer from distance, while Ousmane Dembele swept a shot over from Memphis Depay’s square ball.

But Barca fell behind in the 34th minute; Robert Lewandowski cleverly twisting and turning before crossing for Muller, whose looping header crossed the line before Ronald Araujo could volley clear.

Bayern doubled their lead just before the break with Sane’s powerful 30-yard strike completely perplexing Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Sane squandered a golden opportunity for his second goal shortly after the restart when somehow failing to turn the ball home from inside the six-yard box after Kingsley Coman cushioned Alphonso Davies’ cross into his path.

Bayern’s third goal did arrive in the 62nd minute as Musiala sealed the deal by slotting home following a strong run and cross by Davies.

Bayern will buoyantly march towards the knockout stages when the competition resumes in February, with the draw for the last 16 to take place on Monday.

With six wins from six, Nagelsmann’s side are one of only three teams to record maximum points during this season’s group phase – along with Liverpool and Ajax.

They have now scored two or more goals in each of their last 12 home matches in this competition, while it was also their fourth straight win over Barca, who must reset their focus to the Europa League after this humbling early exit.

It was a landmark day for Muller, who reached 50 Champions League goals with his clever first-half header.

That was Muller’s eighth strike in seven appearances against Barca – his highest tally against any opponent in the competition, and the most that any player has managed against the Catalan giants in the European Cup or Champions League.

Although he did brilliantly to provide the assist for Muller’s header, Lewandowski was not at his best on Wednesday. Not only did the talisman fail to register a single shot on goal before being replaced 13 minutes from time, but his tallies of 20 touches and 12 passes were the lowest recorded by any Bayern starter.

He subsequently missed the opportunity to become the first player to score 10 or more goals during the Champions League group stage on multiple occasions, as well as the second to find the net in 10 successive matches in the competition.

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JUDE BELLINGHAM UNDER INVESTIGATION BY GERMAN FA FOR REFEREE COMMENTS

Jude Bellingham is under investigation by the German Football Association for his comments about the referee after Borussia Dortmund’s defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Referee Felix Zwayer turned down Dortmund’s appeals for a penalty and later awarded Bayern a spot-kick after Mats Hummels was deemed to have handled in the area.

Emotions ran high at the end of ‘Der Klassiker’, which Bayern won 3-2, and Dortmund midfielder Bellingham, 18, questioned the appointment of Zwayer, who was banned for six months in 2005 for his part in a match-fixing scandal.

A statement on the German FA’s official website said: “The control committee of the German Football Association (DFB) has initiated an investigation against Jude Bellingham.

“After the Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich on Saturday, the Borussia Dortmund player said in a TV interview about referee Felix Zwayer: ‘You are giving a referee who has already fixed matches before the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?’

“As a first step, Bellingham was written to by the DFB control committee and asked to comment on his statement as soon as possible.

“After the opinion has been submitted and evaluated, the control committee will decide on the further progress of the procedure.”

Bellingham’s comments are also reportedly being investigated by German police.

Robert Lewandowski converted Bayern’s 77th-minute penalty to clinch them a 3-2 win at Signal Iduna Park, which lifted them four points clear of Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga table.

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FA CUP DRAW: GERRARD’S ASTONVILLA TO FACE MANCHESTER UNITED, HOLDERS LEICESTER HOST WATFORD

The FA Cup third-round draw was revealed on Monday, with Manchester United hosting Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa and title holders Leicester City welcoming former coach Claudio Ranieri and Watford among the more notable fixtures.

The matches to be played from Jan. 7-10, include teams from the Premier League and second-tier Championship. Replays will return to this season’s competition after being dropped for COVID-19 enforced reasons last term.

It will be Liverpool legend Gerrard’s first trip to Old Trafford since taking over as Villa manager.

Ranieri led Leicester to their improbable run to the Premier League title in 2015-16. Now manager at Watford, Raneiri and his side will visit the Foxes, who earned the Cup under Brendan Rodgers last May in a 2-1 win over Chelsea at Wembley.

West Ham United hosting Leeds United is the other tie featuring two Premier League teams.

Other notable matchups include Chelsea hosting non-league side Chesterfield, Shrewsbury Town visiting Anfield to take on Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur welcoming Morecambe, Arsenal traveling to Nottingham Forest, and Manchester City away to Swindon Town.

FA Cup third round draw in full:

Boreham Wood v AFC Wimbledon

Yeovil Town v Bournemouth

Stoke City v Leyton Orient

Swansea City v Southampton

Chelsea v Chesterfield Town

Liverpool v Shrewsbury Town

Cardiff City v Preston North End

Coventry City v Derby County

Burnley v Huddersfield Town

West Bromwich Albion v Brighton & Hove Albion

Kidderminster Harriers v Reading

Leicester City v Watford

Mansfield Town v Middlesbrough

Hartlepool United v Blackpool

Hull City v Everton

Bristol City v Fulham

Tottenham Hotspur v Morecambe

Millwall v Crystal Palace

Port Vale v Brentford

Swindon Town v Manchester City

Wigan Athletic v Blackburn Rovers

Luton Town v Harrogate Town

Birmingham City v Plymouth Argyle

Manchester United v Aston Villa

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Sheffield United

Newcastle United v Cambridge United

Barnsley v Ipswich Town or Barrow

Peterborough United v Bristol Rovers

West Ham United v Leeds United

Queens Park Rangers v Rotherham United

Charlton Athletic v Norwich City

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal

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ARTHUR MASUAKU’S LATE STUNNER HELPS WESTHAM TOPPLE CHELSEA

Arthur Masuaku’s bizarre late strike sent Chelsea spinning to a 3-2 defeat at West Ham in a rip-roaring London derby.

Thomas Tuchel’s pace setters led twice through a Thiago Silva header and a sublime goal from Mason Mount, but they were pegged back both times by a penalty from Manuel Lanzini and Jarrod Bowen’s strike.

And with four minutes remaining substitute Masuaku, lurking out on the left wing, swung a speculative effort towards the Chelsea goal which Blues keeper Edouard Mendy pushed inside his own near post.

It was a second costly error by Mendy, who had also given away the penalty after he failed to deal with a backpass.

Not that West Ham were complaining, having got back to winning ways after three games without a victory to ensure they will stay in the top four this weekend.

There was little sign of the drama to come when Chelsea made the breakthrough in the 28th minute, with the type of goal West Ham have become synonymous with this season.

Mount swung over a corner and Silva’s thumping downward header beat Lukasz Fabianski, who got a hand to the ball but could only touch it onto the inside of his far post.

Moments later veteran centre-half Silva got back to his day job, instinctively being in the right place at the right time to block Vladimir Coufal’s shot on the line.

But West Ham were gifted a route into the match when Mendy made an almighty mess of collecting a weak Jorginho backpass and, having been challenged by Bowen, brought the Hammers forward down.

West Ham have had their issues from the penalty spot this season but David Moyes resisted sending on Mark Noble – who missed after climbing off the bench against Manchester United – for this one, and Lanzini confidently dispatched it into the top left corner, sending Mendy the wrong way.

However, a minute before the break Chelsea went back in front after West Ham gave the ball away cheaply in midfield.

Mount had acres of space to gather Hakim Ziyech’s cross-field pass, but still opted to hit it first time for a spectacular fifth goal of the season.

Left-back Ben Johnson seemed to be carrying an injury as he was unable to track Mount’s run, and he was immediately substituted for Masuaku.

Kai Havertz did not come out for the second half, having come off worse in a collision with ex-Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma, with Romelu Lukaku – who has nine career goals against the Hammers to his name – sent on.

But it was West Ham who struck next in the 55th minute with a fine finish from Bowen, across an unsighted Mendy and into the far corner to equalise again.

An injury to Zouma forced a reshuffle for Moyes, who had started with a back five to match up with Chelsea’s, only to run out of defenders.

They reverted to four at the back with midfielder Pablo Fornals joining the action, and Bowen was agonisingly close to putting West Ham ahead when he could not quite get enough on Michail Antonio’s ball across goal.

Instead it was the unlikely figure of Masuaku who collected Antonio’s header, floated it goalwards and duly inflicted Chelsea’s second defeat of the season.

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LUCAS MOURA SCORES A STUNNER AS SPURS THRASH NORWICH

A stunning goal from Lucas Moura helped Tottenham remain unbeaten in the Premier League under Antonio Conte as they beat Norwich 3-0.

Moura found the top corner from 25 yards after some impressive skill to open the scoring, with Davinson Sanchez and Son Heung-min adding further goals in the second half as Spurs made it four games without defeat in the league under the Italian.

That run has helped propel them back into the top-four race and they are now two points behind West Ham with a game in hand as the Conte effect begins to take hold in north London.

The obvious elephant in the room is Harry Kane’s lack of goals as the England captain has netted just once in 13 league games this season and he again missed chances he would have expected to score.

Norwich, who remain bottom after Newcastle’s win on Saturday, will be wondering how they lost the game so heavily as they missed big chances at key moments, but Dean Smith will take heart from their performance.

One of those fell to Teemu Pukki in only the third minute and things might have been different had he scored.

Adam Idah got in down the right and pulled it back perfectly for the Finland striker, but his shot was straight at Hugo Lloris and Spurs survived.

That proved important as the hosts got a foothold in the game and former Canary Oliver Skipp reminded Norwich fans why they loved him so much last season, with a driving run through the middle of the pitch but his shot was straight at Tim Krul.

Conte’s side found the breakthrough in the 10th minute with a goal of real quality.

After a nice piece of skill to round a Norwich defender, Moura then played a one-two with Son, turned his marker and thundered an unstoppable drive into the top corner from 20 yards.

That gave Spurs a solid base to build on but they could not find the quality to add to their scoreline.

Ben Davies might have converted at the far post after Son’s free-kick made it all the way through, while Kane inadvertently diverted Son’s shot wide.

Kane’s frustration in front of goal was growing as he missed another chance before the interval.

Moura’s ball set him free and he spotted Krul off his line, but his chip from 30 yards was wide of the target.

Norwich were very much in the game and should have equalised after a dominant start to the second half.

Brandon Williams got in down the left, pulled the ball back to Pukki, whose skewed shot fell straight to Idah, only for the Irishman to divert it wide from a golden position.

As is usual in the Premier League, the Canaries were made to pay as Tottenham doubled their lead in the 67th minute.

Kane’s quest to end his drought was thwarted again as Krul did brilliantly to claw away a low shot that looked destined for the bottom corner, but from the resulting corner, Sanchez smashed in a loose ball from close range.

It was 3-0 10 minutes later as Davies played a one-two with Skipp before teeing up Son, who fired into the bottom corner.

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RALF RANGNICK ERA STARTS WITH MAN UNITED VICTORY AGAINST CRYSTAL PALACE

The Ralf Rangnick era got off to a winning start as Fred fired Manchester United to a hard-fought victory against Crystal Palace.

Having watched Thursday’s 3-2 triumph against Arsenal from the stands, the 63-year-old interim manager was on the Old Trafford touchline for the first time when Patrick Vieira’s men came to town.

Rangnick’s reign – and first match as a manager in 925 days – began in victorious fashion on Sunday, when Fred proved the unlikely match-winner with a superb curling late effort that saw off Palace 1-0.

United’s third Premier League win in 10 matches also brought with it a first home clean sheet of the campaign on an afternoon when a superb start petered out, providing the German with plenty of food for thought.

The hosts began with impressive intensity and energy under their new boss, with Cristiano Ronaldo having a host of chances before their performance began to drift against hard-working Palace.

Alex Telles saw a free-kick skim the bar and Jordan Ayew went agonisingly close at the other end as United began to slip into familiar ways, only for Fred to produce a moment of magic to seal three points.

Rangnick stood in the technical area for the majority of his first match in charge. The German kept with the side that beat Arsenal but favoured a 4-2-2-2 formation as players pressed with more regularity and effectiveness.

That tweak, and the chance to impress Rangnick, saw the hosts start strongly, with Telles flashing an early shot wide before a Ronaldo cross-shot just evaded Bruno Fernandes.

David De Gea held onto a Wilfried Zaha snapshot on a rare Palace voyage forwards, before Ronaldo fired a free-kick over and then saw Marc Guehi recover well to get in a block on him after being found by Fernandes.

The 36-year-old star powered over a header from just inside the box and stung Vicente Guaita’s palms as United continued on the front foot.

James Tomkins blocked a goalbound Fred drive as sustained pressure continued.

Guaita stretched to tip away a low Fernandes effort, before Palace survived some penalty box pinball and a deflected Jadon Sancho effort looped just over.

But a break in play for treatment after Nathaniel Clyne’s foul on Fred allowed Palace to gather their thoughts and gain more control.

Ayew’s hopeful curling effort skipped just wide as the Eagles frustrated a United side that had settled into old patterns towards the end of the first half.

However, they had a big change in stoppage time as dogged play and good link up with Scott McTominay ended with Diogo Dalot flashing just across the face of goal.

It was an encouraging first half followed by a more cumbersome second period by United.

Cheikhou Kouyate saw a header blocked from a threatening set-piece from Conor Gallagher, who helped close down Marcus Rashford as the forward shaped to shoot.

Mason Greenwood replaced Sancho in a bid to inject new life into a performance that had become flat and somewhat sloppy.

An audacious free-kick nearly provided a 68th-minute opener. Guehi was booked for bringing down Rashford and Telles clipped the top of the crossbar from the resulting set-piece, which he hit well from an acute angle.

Greenwood swiped wide and Rangnick turned to Anthony Elanga to aid a performance that was now a far cry from the start of proceedings, with Palace going agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 75th minute.

Tomkins headed a fine corner to the far post, where Ayew could only direct across the face of goal from an acute angle.

It was a let-off punished in style three minutes later as Greenwood laid back to Fred, who curled a superb 20-yard effort beyond Guaita in front of the Stretford End.

The goal was met with a mixture of relief and joy by the Old Trafford faithful, who soon sung former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s name as well as that of ex-caretaker boss Michael Carrick.

Harry Maguire had to be bandaged up after a clash of heads and De Gea had to tip a threatening cross behind as Rangnick started his reign with victory.

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BERNARDO SILVA HITS BRACE AS MANCITY TAKE TOP SPOT WITH WATFORD WIN

Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League as Bernardo Silva scored twice in a 3-1 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road.

City made the most of Chelsea’s defeat at West Ham earlier in the day with a seventh straight win in all competitions.

Silva struck twice either side of half-time to put the game firmly beyond the Hornets and climb back above Liverpool, who had won 1-0 at Wolves.

The in-form Portugal star weaved past two defenders before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann to add to City’s advantage following Raheem Sterling’s opener.

The 27-year-old then followed up his first-half strike with a clever curled effort into the top corner for his side’s third.

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TOTTENHAM ENHANCE TOP-FOUR ASPIRATIONS WITH VICTORY OVER BRENTFORD

Tottenham put themselves back in the race for the top four with a 2-0 win over Brentford which extends their unbeaten Premier League record under Antonio Conte.

A first-half own goal by Sergi Canos and Son Heung-min’s second-half strike earned the victory which moved them into the top six, just two points behind West Ham with a game in hand, though Arsenal’s game with Manchester United had not finished.

Conte said that the Spurs job was his biggest challenge, but with two wins and a draw from his three games in charge, things are beginning to look up.

Keeping a clean sheet and playing with a clear structure, it was a good night for Spurs, blotted only by Harry Kane’s failure to register again.

The England captain has scored just one goal in 12 Premier League games this term and again spurned a chance he would have been expected to net.

Brentford, who had taken points off Liverpool and Arsenal this season, were never really in the game and have lost five of their last seven league games.

After Sunday’s trip to Burnley was called off an hour before kick-off due to heavy snow in Lancashire, Spurs had been stewing on the embarrassing Europa Conference League loss to Slovenian minnows NS Mura for a week.

They were keen to start on the front foot and could have opened the scoring in the opening 10 minutes as Kane played in Lucas Moura, but Alvaro Fernandez was equal to a fizzing shot at the near post.

It did not take long for them to break the deadlock, though there was some fortune involved.

Son sent in a wicked cross after a short corner that Pontus Jansson headed against team-mate Canos and the ball flew into the net.

Tottenham continued to look the more threatening team and only a fine stop from Fernandez, who got a strong hand to Son’s 20-yard shot, stopped them extending the lead.

The Bees goalkeeper was also busy from the resulting corner as he stopped Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s shot with his face.

Spurs had a chance to double their lead early in the second half but Kane’s struggles in front of goal continued as he shot straight at Fernandez when he would have been expected to bury it having been played through by Oliver Skipp.

The important second goal eventually came in the 65th minute, courtesy of a lightning-quick counter-attack.

Kane sent Sergio Reguilon free down the left and his ball across goal was perfect for Son to tap in his first goal since mid-October.

It was his 75th Premier League goal for Spurs and it killed the game.

Brentford searched for a way back into it and Ivan Toney forced Hugo Lloris into a save with his feet but Conte’s side saw it out with ease.

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CRISTIANO RONALDO PASSES 800 CAREER GOALS AS MAN UTD DEFEAT ARSENAL

Cristiano Ronaldo reached 800 career goals as his brace secured Manchester United a much-needed victory against Arsenal as interim manager Ralf Rangnick saw his new side triumph from the stands.

A lot has changed at Old Trafford since their last home game 26 days ago, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer losing his job after that loss to Manchester City was compounded by a shocking defeat at Watford.

United coach Michael Carrick has steadied the ship during an unbeaten three-match caretaker stint that ended with an entertaining 3-2 victory against Arsenal at a bouncing Old Trafford.

It was only their second win in nine Premier League games and a timely shot in the arm ahead of Rangnick’s first game in charge against Crystal Palace this Sunday.

The German has signed a deal until the end of the season and Thursday’s match will have given him food for thought, having seen the quality and ongoing concerns first hand from the directors’ box.

Finding a way to keep clean sheets will be key if this season is to be a success for United, although there was little that could be done to prevent Emile Smith Rowe’s bizarre opener.

David De Gea was rolling around in pain when the Arsenal youngster struck, with the VAR instructing referee Martin Atkinson to award the goal as it was the Spaniard’s team-mate Fred that hurt the goalkeeper.

Bruno Fernandes, making his 100th United appearance, levelled before half-time, with Ronaldo turning home Marcus Rashford’s cross to bring up 800 goals for club and country early in the second half.

But Arsenal took just two minutes to bring this helter-skelter clash back level as Martin Odegaard found the net with a low finish – good work undone 16 minutes later by his rash challenge on Fred inside the box.

Atkinson awarded the penalty after the VAR advised he watch the pitchside monitor, with Ronaldo keeping his cool in front of the Stretford End to lash home what proved to be the winner.

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Benzema seals fifth straight LaLiga win

Real Madrid moved seven points clear at the summit of LaLiga as Karim Benzema’s solitary goal sealed a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

Benzema, who also scored in the 2-1 win over Sevilla at the weekend, struck in the 40th minute with his 12th league goal of the campaign – three more than anyone else in LaLiga.

Athletic created enough chances to claim at least a point at the Santiago Bernabeu, yet they were unable to find a way past Thibaut Courtois.

A fifth league win in a row lifted Carlo Ancelotti’s side well clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, although Diego Simeone’s men have a game in hand.

Unai Simon twice denied Benzema from close range inside the opening 15 minutes as Madrid started brightly.

Athletic grew into the game, though, and twice went close before the half-hour mark, Inaki Williams seeing an effort deflected narrowly wide and an unmarked Raul Garcia heading straight at Courtois.

Madrid went ahead five minutes before the interval, Benzema sliding into an empty net from Luka Modric’s mishit shot after Simon had thwarted Marco Asensio.

Toni Kroos whipped wide after a fine team move shortly after the restart, before Lucas Vazquez denied Dani Garcia a near-certain goal at the other end with a superb block.

Unai Nunez inexplicably headed wide from an inswinging free-kick with 20 minutes remaining, while Courtois raced off his line to deny Oihan Sancet as Athletic ultimately fell short of finding the leveller they deserved.

What does it mean? Madrid pushed all the way

Athletic’s tally of 18 shots is evidence that Madrid were far from their best, but Ancelotti’s men did just enough to seal maximum points against their spirited opponents.

The result means Los Blancos are now unbeaten in their last 13 LaLiga games against Athletic – their best such run against them in the top flight.

The superb Benzema has now scored 35 goals in 46 games for Madrid across all competitions in 2021, equalling his best goalscoring tally in a single calendar year for Los Blancos (35 goals in 50 games in 2019).

He sealed all three points against Sevilla on Sunday with a sublime strike, but Vinicius Junior had no such luck in front of goal here. The Brazil international made a game-high five key passes, but failed to have a single shot as Madrid largely toiled in attack.

Madrid travel to third-placed Real Sociedad on Saturday, while Athletic are next in action on Monday when they visit Getafe.