Heading into the final matches of the Champions League group stage, there was no set of games as appealing as the action in Group D. Tottenham entered Tuesday on top with eight points, but Sporting (seven), Eintracht Frankfurt (seven) and Marseille (six) all had a clear path to the round of 16.

Spurs had a difficult task, traveling to the Vélodrome in southern France but needing only a draw to go through. They also had to do it without manager Antonio Conte on the touchline because of a one-match ban.  

There have been very few bright spots for Juventus this season. On the back of the club’s humiliation in the Champions League midweek, a host of injuries forced manager Massimiliano Allegri’s hand as he utilized many of his younger players against Lecce. His faith was rewarded by Nicolò Fagioli, who scored a stunning goal to give the Bianconeri a 1-0 win. 

21-year-old Nicolò Fagioli delivering for Juve ☄️

BERLIN - The controversial VAR decision to rule out Harry Kane's stoppage-time winner against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday prevented Tottenham from progressing into the Champions League knockout stage as Group D winners with a match to spare.

Instead Antonio Conte's team now go into a final matchday with all four teams in the group, including Eintracht Frankfurt and Marseille, still in the running for a last 16 spot.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid will be back on the pitch for their LaLiga games this weekend, licking their wounds after disastrous midweek performances in the Champions League.

For the first time in history Spain had three teams knocked out of the top European tournament in the group stage, as Barcelona, Atlético and Sevilla failed miserably to advance past their groups to the round of 16.

Atlético Madrid missed a stoppage-time penalty in a 2-2 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday which ended their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stage.

Atlético Madrid penalty miss vs Bayer Leverkusen

Atletico spurned the chance to win the match when Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky saved Yannick Carrasco's spot kick before Saul Niguez's follow up strike hit the crossbar.

Chaos in Madrid!

Ajax is out of the Champions League. The Dutch team lost 3-0 against Liverpool at home on a night that only could be described as a nightmare for Mexican internationals Jorge Sánchez and Edson Álvarez.

Both started the game and helped to keep the Reds at bay during most of the first half. Sánchez even had a chance to put his name on the scoreboard, but Alisson easily controlled his shot.

Álvarez was not bad himself, showing off a few skills to explain why Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona are monitoring him.

After failing to advance beyond the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage last season, Chelsea made it two wins from two to start the 2022-23 campaign by hammering Albania's Vllaznia 8-0 at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday night.

With Real Madrid and PSG drawing 0-0 in the day's other match from Group A, Chelsea went top with six points followed by Real with four, PSG with one and Vllaznia on zero.

Chelsea's Woman of the Match was striker Sam Kerr with a four-goal haul. Pernille Harder also recorded a hat-trick and Kateřina Svitková got one for the Blues.

MILAN - Inter Milan sailed into the Champions League last 16 after an Edin Džeko double fired them to a 4-0 home win over Viktoria Plzeň in Group C on Wednesday, a result that eliminated Barcelona and relegated them to the Europa League.

The Italians moved up to 10 points with the win, six clear of Barça who were hosting Bayern Munich later on Wednesday. Even if Barça beat the Germans and win their final group game against Plzeň, Inter will still qualify with a better head-to-head record against the Catalans.