Real Madrid advances after beating Sporting 2-1

Cesar, who put Sporting ahead in their 2-1 loss at the Santiago Bernabeu in September, whipped a free-kick wide with Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas scrambling after Marcelo was booked for bringing down Martins – the hosts wanted a penalty but referee Willie Collum correctly ruled the contact took place just outside the box.

Bale has been influential for Madrid this season, performing easily as Cristiano Ronaldo struggled with form and fitness problems post Euro 2016, scoring seven goals in 15 appearances across all competitions.

Real Madrid ran out 2-1 winners against Sporting CP after Karim Benzema’s header with 3 minutes left on the clock ensured that they extended their unbeaten run to 30 games in all competitions.

Their 80-minute equaliser came out of the blue, with substitute Fabio Coentrao handling the ball while raising his arm to appeal for handball by Sporting forward Joel Campbell.

The result sees Los Blancos second in Group F with 11 points, two behind Borussia Dortmund, who quite remarkably defeated Poland’s Legia Warsaw 8-4 in the highest scoring Champions League game in history.

Ronaldo is alleged to have said: “If we see one another in Madrid, let’s see what I’m going to do”. The Spanish club has scored 25 goals in its last six away games.

“They’ll get more playing time than the rest of the squad, but the others will also get their share of minutes. Perhaps we lacked a bit of energy”.

Real now sit second in their group on 11 points, while Dortmund are first with 13 points.

Juventus have booked their ticket to the last 16 with a 3-1 over the Sevilla in Group H. Claudio Marchisio, Leonardo Bonucci and Mario Mandzukic all on target for the Old Lady.

Sevilla, with 10 points, will have to emerge from their final match against Lyon with atleast a draw to be assured of advancing. While the Portuguese side haven’t played as well since then, they’ve still shown that they’re a team that you have to take seriously, and they’re not going to go down without a fight in this match, especially not at home.

“[Isco’s] best position is No. 10 – that’s where he’s most comfortable”. We do not know because physically it is not easy for everyone. Against Atletico, it was the first time we’d used that system.

Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 at CSKA Moscow to secure a runner-up finish.

Zinedine Zidane has not lost a match since April and his side need to win if they want to top the group.