BRUGGE, Belgium (CP-AP) — Canadian international Stephen Eustaquio scored as Porto punished Club Brugge's defensive mistakes to hand the Belgian champion its first defeat in the Champions League this season and reach the knockout stage with a 4-0 win Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Canadian midfielder made it 3-0 in the 60th minute, knocking hme his own rebound after he was found unmarked by Porto striker Medhi Taremi.
It was his first Champions League goal.
Tajon Buchanan started for Brugge with fellow Canadian Cyle Larin on the bench.
Porto avenged its 4-0 home loss when the teams first met in Group B last month and advanced to the round of 16 after Atletico was held 2-2 by Leverkusen.
With one match left to play in the group phase, Porto moved one point behind group leader Brugge, which had already secured advancement before kickoff. Atletico stood third, five points off the pace, with Leverkusen lagging one point further back.
Brugge had not conceded a single goal in its four previous matches but was far from its best at Jan Breydelstadion, where Taremi completed a brace.
The Belgian side was overwhelmed from the start and Porto had its first chance in the sixth minute when Eustaquio found himself unmarked in the box but fluffed his shot over the bar.
Under pressure, Brugge lost almost all duels and struggled to clear its lines but Porto missed two more big chances within the opening 15 minutes through Taremi.
Brugge finally cracked in the 33rd minute after Brandon Mechele gave the ball away with a poor pass near the midfield line. Porto captain Otavio recovered it and picked out Taremi with a through ball, with the Iranian striker coolly converting from outside the box with a curled finish.
Brugge failed to produce a single shot on target in the first half. And when the hosts finally had a chance to get back in the match, they squandered it.
Porto conceded a penalty in the 49th but Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa parried away Vanaken’s attempt, only for the referee to order the kick to be taken again for an encroachment.
Noah Lang took it this time, and Costa made another save, screaming in delight.
That was a turning point, with Porto scoring three goals in 14 minutes afterwards.
Brazilian forward Evanilson doubled Porto’s lead in the 57th after another spell of naïve defending from the hosts, who failed to clear their box and were punished from close range. After Eustaquio's strike, Taremi scored his second from Otavio's assist in the 70th.
INTER MILAN 4, VIKTORIA PLZEN 0
MILAN (AP) — Inter Milan advanced to the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated Barcelona in the process.
Inter beat Viktoria Plzeň 4-0 on Wednesday to secure at least second spot in Group C with a match remaining, consigning Barcelona to its second straight group-stage elimination even before the Spanish club lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich later.
And, to cap a great night for Inter, the final goal was scored by Romelu Lukaku, four minutes after making his comeback as a late substitute following two months out with injury.
Edin Džeko scored two of Inter’s other goals, after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s opener.
Inzaghi was suspended for the match following his late red card in the 3-3 draw at Barcelona, so assistant Massimiliano Farris was on the touchline.
Plzeň managed to contain Inter’s attacking threat in the early stages although the home side had a triple chance to take the lead in the 25th minute.
Federico Dimarco’s angled shot was parried by Jindřich Staněk but the move continued. The goalkeeper pulled off another good stop to keep out Mkhitaryan’s header from point-blank range and Dimarco sent the follow-up into the sidenetting.
However, Inter broke the deadlock 10 minutes later when Alessandro Bastoni whipped in a cross from the left and Mkhitaryan headed in at the far post.
Inter doubled its lead three minutes from the break with a flowing team move. Dimarco ran onto Nicolò Barella's crossfield pass into the penalty area and dinked it across for an unmarked Džeko to tap in from three yards out for one of his simplest goals.
Mkhitaryan almost doubled his tally early in the second half but his scorcher from distance came off the right post.
Džeko did get a second in the 66th, driving into the bottom left corner after Lautaro Martínez had squared the ball across to him
It was Džeko’s 12th goal against Plzeň in 10 matches, and 11th in the last six.
Džeko was given a standing ovation when he went off but there was even more of a resounding reaction shortly afterwards, when Lukaku was brought on with seven minutes remaining.
However, the loudest cheer from a packed San Siro came four minutes later as the Belgian forward tucked the ball into the back of the net.
BAYERN MUNICH 3, BARCELONA 0
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The game hadn't even kicked off yet and Barcelona had already lost.
Barcelona was eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League for the second consecutive season on Wednesday even before a 3-0 loss at home against Bayern Munich in a game that proved meaningless after Inter Milan defeated Viktoria Plzen 4-0 in the earlier game.
Barcelona needed Inter to drop points, so it began its match at Camp Nou already out of contention as Bayern and Inter secured the top two places in Group C. Barcelona will finish third and earn a Europa League berth. Bayern had already advanced and will be the group winner.
Sadio Mané scored in the 10th minute, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting added to the lead in the 31st and Benjamin Pavard closed the scoring deep into stoppage time to give Bayern its fifth win in five group matches.
The failure to advance is yet another humbling setback for the Catalan club, and one that will likely prove costlier than last season as the team went on a spending spree to boost its squad in the hope of recovering some of that money with a deep run in the European competition.
Barcelona came up short again despite the addition of players such as Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Koundé in the offseason.
Lewandowski was held scoreless by his former club, which has now beaten Barcelona by a combined 11-0 in four group-stage meetings since the humiliating 8-2 win in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Champions League.
Barcelona had a penalty kick reversed by video review just before halftime, while Bayern had a goal called off for offside in the second half.
Barcelona fans tried to support the club during the match and most applauded the squad after the final whistle blew at Camp Nou. Some had booed when captain Sergio Busquets was substituted in the second half.
Barcelona, which couldn’t get a single shot on target, has won only one of its last seven Champions League matches.
It is the first time since 1999 that the Catalan club failed to advance to the knockout stage in consecutive years, coinciding with the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago.
Last year, Barcelona endured its worst Champions League campaign in about two decades, finishing behind Bayern and Benfica in its group while going through a dire financial situation in the aftermath of Messi’s departure.
This time, Barcelona didn’t even stay in contention into the final round of the group stage. After opening with a 5-1 win against Plzen at home, Barcelona lost 2-0 at Bayern and 1-0 at Inter. A 3-3 draw at home against Inter then meant it needed the Italian team to stumble in its final matches.
The home draw with Inter was followed by a 3-1 loss to rival Real Madrid in the first “clásico” of the season in the Spanish league. Barcelona has won nine of its 11 league matches but trails Madrid by three points at the top.
Barcelona will now be consigned to the second-tier Europa League, having lost in the quarterfinals of that competition last season to eventual champion Eintracht Frankfurt.
