The 2020-21 edition of the UEFA Champions League saw its group stage being conducted in haste, in consecutive weeks. Nonetheless, Wednesday officially marked the end of the group stage, with the last round of matches.
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It happened to be a thrilling one, as some spots for the pre-quarters were up for grabs. While a few went all out to cement their place, some were surprisingly eliminated, as we take a look at it all in Wednesday's round-up.
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Group A: The group already had its first qualifier in the form of Bayern Munich decided, as they finished on top, while they beat Lokomotiv Moscow at home, 2-0. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid were in the race with both Lokomotiv and RCB Salzburg. Nonetheless, the former's loss to Bayern, followed by the latter's 0-2 home loss, made Atletico the second team from the group to qualify.
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Group B: This was one of the most open groups, with all the four in the race for the pre-quarters. While the pressure was upon record champions Real Madrid to perform, they did so with ease, by beating Borussia Monchengladbach at home, 2-0. However, the latter barely made it through, as Inter Milan settled for a goalless draw to Shakhtar Donetsk at home, finishing second.
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Group C: This group happened to be a dead rubber on Wednesday, as Manchester City and FC Porto had already sealed their respective spots, of first and second. Nonetheless, City beat Olympique de Marseille 2-0 at home, while Porto defeated Olympiacos 2-0 in the away clash.
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Group D: Another dead rubber group, as Liverpool and Atalanta had sealed their spots as well, for first and second, respectively. Nevertheless, Liverpool settled for a 1-1 away draw to Midtjylland, while Atalanta edged past Ajax 1-0 in their away clash.
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Europa League hoppers: As usual, the third-placed teams from the groups hop to the Round of 32 in the Europa League. From the groups mentioned above, Salzburg, Shakhtar, Olympiacos and Ajax have made the jump to the second-tire UEFA tournament, with the only notable and surpise miss out being Inter.
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