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Only rarely on top: Kevin Mbabu in a header duel against Renato Sanches
Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa
VfL Wolfsburg did not use their last chance to hibernate in the European Cup and were partially shown at home by Lille.
Manchester United could not win their home game either - but a victory with a B-Elf did not seem to have been the top priority.
Not so at Benfica: The Lisbon team won against Dynamo Kiev thanks to a goal from a Dynamo home grown man.
VfL Wolfsburg's European Cup season ended prematurely. At home, Lower Saxony were subject to OSC Lille 0: 3 (0: 1). The team of coach Florian Kohfeldt not only missed the knockout phase, but as the bottom of the group also had to forego playing in the Europa League.
Due to the table constellation in Group G, it was clear in advance that Wolfsburg would have to play for victory. Kohfeldt changed his team to five positions, on the offensive, for example, Yannick Gerhardt and Luca Waldschmidt should cause danger. A hard-working VfL hardly created any real chances, however, but the first counterattack by the French champions sat right away: On the right side, Jonathan Ikoné made room for himself with his speed, his cross was used by the striker old star Burak Yilmaz for the lead (11th minute) .
In the second half, the game became a clear affair: Substitute Angel Gomes hung up for Jonathan David, the Canadian's shot ricocheted off the inside of the post and into the goal (72nd). The third goal was again the eye-catching Ikoné, this time Gomes was the executor (78th). Renato Steffen's goal came way too late for a Wolfsburg comeback (89th). Lille and RB Salzburg move into the round of 16, while the Austrians prevailed against Sevilla FC with a goal from Noah Okafor.
Ralf Rangnick spared a number of stars in his first Champions League game as head coach of Manchester United: More than half a dozen top players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes, were allowed to take time off against the Young Boys from Bern.
The rump squad did not come out over 1: 1 (1: 1) against the Swiss champions.
But that played only a minor role that evening: United were already certain as group winners before the last matchday, a revenge for the 1: 2 defeat in the first leg was not the top priority.
Mason Greenwood, one of the few remaining regular players, scored early to take the lead (9th), but after that YB was the slightly better team.
After a playback error by Donny van de Beek, Fabian Rieder slipped the ball into the net to equalize (42.).
So how did Rangnick react to the 1: 1? He switched - and brought in the inexperienced teenagers Teden Mengi and Shola Shoretire in the second half. Even the third goalkeeper Tom Heaton got his minutes and replaced Dean Henderson (68th) in a game with friendly character, who only played because David de Gea had been given a free evening. It won't get serious in Group F until 3 p.m. tomorrow: Then Atalanta Bergamo and FC Villarreal will play the second place in the round of 16 against each other, the game was postponed at short notice due to heavy snowfall.
In Group G, Benfica benefited from the defeat of FC Barcelona in the parallel game and secured their second place in the round of 16 behind FC Bayern Munich.
The prerequisite for this was a victory - and the fact that the Portuguese prevailed against Dynamo Kiev at home was also due to someone who can look back on ten years in the Dynamo jersey.
Roman Yaremchuk contributed the opening goal from close range (16th), the summer signing from KAA Gent had once made his professional debut in Kiev.
Gilberto increased (22nd) and decided the game so early.
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