Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann, left, smiles after scoring his second goal during the Champions League Group C soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday November 25, 2015.
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Last season’s runners-up Juventus beat Manchester City 1-0 in Turin thanks to a Mario Mandzukic goal to join the English side in qualifying from Group D.
The Serie A champions, still unbeaten after five games, now top the group with 11 points and visit Sevilla in their final match. In the past two games they have scored six goals, so they are a force to be reckoned with in front of goal.
Already qualified for the knockout stages, Real’s win ensures they will finish top of Group A, while defeat ends Shakhtar’s slim qualifying hopes.
Against the run of play, Galatasaray could have taken the lead against the run of play in the 12th minute when Wesley Sneijder broke through the defence to have a clear shot on goal, but the Dutch international’s low shot was tipped away by Jan Oblak.
In Sweden, Zlatan Ibrahimovic crowned a triumphant homecoming with a second-half goal as Paris St Germain crushed Malmo 5-0 to book a place in the last 16.
Atletico Madrid have domestic momentum on their side as they seek to gain the point they need to book a place in the Champions League’s last-16 at Galatasaray’s expense on Wednesday.
In Group B, Manchester United was left frustrated by another lackluster performance in a 0-0 draw against PSV Eindhoven at Old Trafford.
United would have qualified with a win, but will now face the tougher task of claiming their place in the knockout round in their final match at VfL Wolfsburg on December 8.
The Uruguay worldwide added: “We want to continue our way in Europe now by collecting points from Astana in our last game”.
“The result is disappointing because I have still the feeling that we could have finished this game several times”, said United manager Louis van Gaal.
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On a night when Old Trafford marked 10 years since the death of United legend George Best, the hosts saw plenty of the ball but created few genuine chances, with Jesse Lingard hoisting their clearest opportunity over the bar mid-way through the second period.
