Liverpool, Spurs, PSG March On To Champions League Last 16

BELGRADE, Serbia- Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night on a night of high drama in Europe's premier club competition.

First-half goals from Edinson Cavani and Neymar set the French champions on their way, before a bullet header from Marquinhos, Kylian Mbappe's injury-time strike and Liverpool beating Napoli 1-0 ensured first place in the group after Marko Gobeljic pulled one back for the hosts early in the second half.

Thomas Tuchel's side finished the group stage on 11 points, two ahead of second-placed Liverpool and Napoli, who were eliminated due to their defeat at Anfield.

PSG had Red Star on the back foot from the start, and their blistering attacking trio of Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani didn't waste time in putting the away side ahead.

Just eight minutes were on the clock when Cavani tapped Mbappe's pass into an open goal, after the French teenage sensation met the excellent Marco Verratti's through ball, brushed Filip Stojkovic aside, before slipping a perfect pass for the Uruguayan.

Red Star captain Stojkovic had a torrid evening, and Neymar made light work of the 25-year-old on his way to a wonderful solo goal in the 31st minute, dribbling into the box and sitting down the hosts' keeper Milan Borjan before lifting the second into the net.

The Ligue 1 leaders should have been out of sight three minutes before the break, but Mbappe wasted an excellent chance to make it three, again bursting through past Stojkovic on the left only to fluff his shot into the side netting.

Red Star came out firing in the second half, and could have scored twice before Gobeljic smashed past Gianluigi Buffon in the 56th minute to set the Rajko Mitic stadium ablaze with noise.

However Marquinhos snuffed their enthusiasm out when he met Di Maria's beautiful deep free-kick to make sure of the three points with 17 minutes remaining.

Mbappe's neat finish as the final seconds ticked away and Liverpool's win were the icing on the cake for PSG.

Salah stunner

At Anfield, Mohamed Salah's first-half goal and a stunning late save from goalkeeper Alisson saw Liverpool edge into the knockout stage with a tense 1-0 win over Napoli.

Last year's runners-up Liverpool knew victory by two goals or a 1-0 triumph would put them through to the last 16 from Group C, and Salah's cool 34th-minute finish proved enough.

At Anfield,  Mohamed Salah's stunning solo effort saw Liverpool edge out Napoli for a place in the last 16 thanks to a 1-0 win.

Salah wriggled beyond two Napoli challenges before finishing from a narrow angle 11 minutes before the break on a night when only Liverpool's profligacy in front of goal cost them a more comfortable margin of victory.

And they were nearly made to pay in stoppage time when Alisson Becker produced a crucial save to deny Arkadiusz Milik a dramatic equaliser.

However, despite losing all three of their away games in Group C, three home wins at fortress Anfield were enough to see Liverpool through to the knockout stage on goals scored over the Italians in second place behind Paris Saint-Germain, who won 4-1 away to Red Star Belgrade to secure top spot.

Salah signalled his return to top form by scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Saturday that sent Liverpool to the top of the Premier League, and his 13th goal of the season saw luck shine on last season's Champions League finalists.

The Egyptian fluffed his first chance of the night when he miscontrolled Andrew Robertson's excellent cross with just David Ospina to beat.

Napoli were left aggrieved 15 minutes in when Virgil van Dijk was only shown a yellow card for a dangerous lunge on Dries Mertens.

Van Dijk did play the ball first, but his follow through took out the Belgian international and could easily have been punished with a red card by Slovenian referee Damir Skomina.

Napoli had not been beaten in Europe this season before travelling to England's north-west and showed the danger they posed when Marek Hamsik fired inches over from Mertens's cross.

Take control

However, Liverpool began to take control as the first half went on.

Sadio Mane had the ball in the net, but was rightly ruled offside before Salah broke the deadlock.

Salah outmuscled Mario Rui and skipped past Kalidou Koulibaly before squeezing the ball underneath Ospina from a narrow angle.

Had Liverpool conceded they would have had to win by two goals due to their 1-0 defeat in Naples, and the hosts failed to cash in on their dominance of the early stages of the second half to avoid a nervy ending.

Salah pulled his shot into the side-netting with a far better angle from the one he scored, while Milner and Van Dijk sent long-range efforts flying just wide of the target.

But Liverpool couldn't build on their advantage as Ospina made acrobatic saves to keep out Salah and Mane once more.

And they should have been made to pay on two occasions as firstly Jose Maria Callejon spooned over a glorious chance at the back post 12 minutes from time.

Mane missed another two sitters in front of the Kop to Jurgen Klopp's amazement.

But Liverpool lived to fight another day thanks to Alisson, who paid back some of his £67 million ($85 million) then-world record fee for a goalkeeper in July, by spreading himself bravely to block from Milik to keep his 12th clean sheet of the season.

Messi Missing

Tottenham came back from the brink as Lucas Moura's late equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw against Barcelona and sent them through to the last 16.

Lionel Messi was left out of a heavily-rotated Barca line-up at the Camp Nou but Ousmane Dembele's stunning early goal looked set to put Spurs out, until Moura intervened.

Mauricio Pochettino's side only had to match Inter Milan's result at home to PSV Eindhoven in Group B, which they did, as the Italians only managed a 1-1 draw themselves.

It made for a night of exhilarating drama, climaxing in the final five minutes when Tottenham must have wondered whether to push for a winner or hold on to what they had. 

At the final whistle, their players faced an anxious 30 seconds, only for a roar in one of the stadium's deepest corners to tell them the whistle had blown in Italy.

Barcelona's coach Ernesto Valverde may not be popular with Inter supporters after he rested several key players, including Messi, but his team already had first place wrapped up. 

Besides, Dembele scored a goal of which Messi would have been proud, his brilliant run and finish providing the perfect riposte to more reports of indiscipline from the 21-year-old this week.

When Barcelona crashed out in the quarter-finals in April, Valverde took much of the blame, the accusation that he failed to rotate his players in games of lesser importance.

Perhaps he listened, because while Messi's absence was the key point of relief for Tottenham, Jordi Alba and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, both excellent in recent weeks, were also left on the bench.

Spurs, though, were also unfamiliar, at right-back, where Kyle Walker-Peters made his Champions League debut and it was the 21-year-old's error in the sixth minute that gave Dembele a sniff.

He robbed the ball and tore away, brushing off Walker-Peters again before brilliantly dummying a late Harry Winks dive and finishing past Hugo Lloris. 

Pochettino said he would be kept aware of the score at the San Siro, so news may have reached him soon after that PSV had taken the lead.

Tottenham improved, peppering Barca's right side, as another break saw Danny Rose fire across the face of goal. Son Heung-min's lunge came up just short.

Son's best chance was still to come as he skipped away from Thomas Vermaelen's desperate challenge, which might have earned him a red card had Son tumbled. Instead, he powered on, only to see his shot meet Jasper Cillessen's leg.

Along with Dembele, Philippe Coutinho was Barca's biggest threat. He clipped the outside of Lloris' post with one bending effort before half-time and had another blocked by Walker-Peters just after. 

The stadium had risen to its feet as Messi began warming up but Tottenham continued to push early in the second half. Harry Kane blazed over, put off balance by a nudge in the back from Vermaelen. Rose pulled the ball back when he might have shot. 

Barca fans cheered like they had scored when Messi came on in the 64th minute but the chances kept coming at the end, where Moura, on as a substitute, failed to head in from five yards as Cillessen clawed the ball off the line. 

Inter equalised against PSV, leaving Tottenham needing a goal with 15 minutes to play. Instead, they were almost dead and buried, as Coutinho again hit the post.

Finally, they found a way through. Erik Lamela threaded Kane free and he crossed for Moura five yards out. This time he could not miss. 

Inter were still level but Spurs could hardly risk settling for a draw in case the Italians scored a winner. Kane's deadly disguised pass set Rose clear but he fired high. In the end, it mattered little as the whistle blew and Tottenham's players waited. Then they heard the cheers.