Champions League | Napoli and Benfica reach last 16 after Besiktas crumbles

Benfica’s head coach Rui Vitoria (left), walks at the end of the Champions League group B soccer

In the only group where qualification for the Champions League knockout stages was still to be decided, Besiktas crumbled under the pressure, allowing Napoli and Benfica to progress.

Napoli and Benfica had eight points going into their Group B match, one more than Besiktas, which was playing at already eliminated Dynamo Kiev.

However, the Turkish side fell to a shock 6-0 defeat in a match which saw it finish with nine men. Napoli won 2-1 at Benfica to win a Champions League group for the first time.

“We had already been burned once by looking at the result of the other match,” said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri, whose team had squandered earlier chances to qualify for the last 16. “So, it really hardly mattered to us what was happening in Kiev. We wanted first place to make Napoli history.”

Elsewhere, Arsenal topped Group A following its 4-1 win at Basel after Paris Saint-Germain could only draw 2-2 at home to Ludogorets.

Atletico Madrid had already secured first place in Group D but lost its perfect record in a 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich. The final positions in Group C had already been decided and Barcelona beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0, while Manchester City drew 1-1 against Celtic.

It was meant to be a battle to advance in Lisbon but it turned out to be a shootout for top spot as Besiktas collapsed in Ukraine.

Napoli won 2-1 at Benfica but both teams qualified for the knockout stage after Besiktas fell to a surprise 6-0 thrashing at Dynamo Kiev.

Substitute Dries Mertens changed the match after coming on in the 57th. The Belgium international set up the opener for Jose Callejon on the hour mark before securing the win in the 79th.

Napoli gifted Benfica a consolation goal three minutes from time when Raul Albiol was caught napping, allowing Raul Jimenez to seize the moment and fire past Reina.

In Ukraine, Dynamo’s star winger Andriy Yarmolenko started the night’s torment for Besiktas with smart footwork on the byline and a cross to the far post for Artyom Besedin to score the ninth-minute opener.

Besiktas looked lively for the next 20 minutes until defender Andreas Beck was dismissed for a collision with Derlis Gonzalez, who was through on goal for Dynamo. Yarmolenko scored the resulting penalty and Vitaliy Buyalskiy soon made it 3-0 with a lobbed effort after a Besiktas defensive mix-up.

A deflected shot from Gonzalez provided Dynamo’s fourth in first-half stoppage time. Serhiy Sydorchuk and Junior Moraes added to the scoreline after Besiktas striker Vincent Aboubakar was red-carded for a second offense.