Tag: Bayern Munich

Manchester United have signed Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich, the Premier League club announced Tuesday.

Fees for the pair were not disclosed by the English giants, but British media reports estimated the duo had arrived at Old Trafford for a combined £60 million ($77 million, 70 million euros).

Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt, 25, will now join up again with United manager Erik ten Hag, having played under him at Dutch side Ajax, after agreeing a five-year contract with the option of another year.

“As soon as I heard that Manchester United wanted me, I felt an excitement about the opportunity of a new challenge at such an historic club,” said De Ligt.

“In the conversations that followed, I was impressed by the vision that the football leadership set out and the role they saw for me in it.

“Erik ten Hag shaped the early stages of my career so he knows how to get the best out of me and I cannot wait to work with him again.”

De Ligt has already won league titles in three different countries with Ajax (Netherlands), Juventus (Italy) and Bayern (Germany).

He added: “I know what it takes to succeed at the highest level, and I’m determined to continue that record at this special club.”

Matthijs de Ligt bolsters United’s central defence following the departure of Raphael Varane, with fellow summer transfer window arrival Leny Yoro in danger of being sidelined for up to three months with a foot injury sustained against Arsenal in pre-season.

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Noussair Mazraoui, 26, also played under Ten Hag at Ajax, winning three league titles with the Dutch club and another with Bayern.

The full-back has also made 28 appearances for Morocco and reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

He has signed a four-year deal with the option of a further year and his arrival comes on the day that full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s departure to Premier League rivals West Ham was confirmed.

“It’s an incredible feeling to be a Manchester United player, and I cannot wait to walk out at Old Trafford wearing the red shirt,” said Mazraoui.

“I know that I’m joining the club at an exciting time; everyone I’ve spoken to has the same ambition for us to win trophies together and I can feel the determination to achieve that.”

The new arrivals are set to be available for United’s season opener against Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday, with the Red Devils desperate to improve on last season’s eighth-place finish.

That left United a huge 31 points adrift of champions Manchester City.

They did beat their local rivals in the FA Cup final before returning to Wembley last weekend to lose to Pep Guardiola’s side on penalties in the Community Shield.

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Bayern Munich on Thursday finally secured the signing of Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha from Fulham for a reported fee of 49 million euros ($53 million) after coming close to acquiring him last year.

The 28-year-old, who spent two years at Fulham after arriving from Sporting Lisbon in 2022 for 22 million euros, signed a four-year contract.

Bayern Munich had been poised to sign Palhinha in 2023, the defensive midfielder had even posed in the club’s strip, but the deal fell through just before the transfer window closed when Fulham failed to find a replacement.

In a statement, Palhinha said it was “one of the happiest days of my life,” adding “this is a dream come true for me… I want to enjoy success with Bayern and win titles.”

Sporting director Max Eberl said the player was “highly sought after by Bayern even last summer –- and rightly so. It was important that we never lost touch”

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Palhinha, who has scored twice in 31 international appearances, took part in Portugal’s Euro 2024 campaign which ended at the hands of France in the quarter-finals.

His signing is Bayern’s third major arrival of the summer, as the club continues a summer rebuild after a first season without a trophy since 2012.

Forward Michael Olise and centre-back Hiroki Ito have already joined the club, alongside manager Vincent Kompany who was appointed coach at the end of last season.

Kompany will be tasked with returning Bayern to the top of the German football tree after their streak of 11 straight Bundesliga titles was broken last season.

Bayern were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Champions League by eventual winners Real Madrid, while Bayer Leverkusen won the league and cup double under manager Xabi Alonso.

Kompany will have the added pressure if the  Champions League final is to be held at Bayern’s Allianz Arena next season.

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Bayern Munich’s long search to fill their vacant head coaching position is over with the German giants naming Vincent Kompany as manager in a shock move on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old Belgian, a surprise choice with his Burnley side relegated from the Premier League this season, has penned a three-year deal at the Allianz Arena.

Normally in contention for the biggest names in the business, Bayern have been searching for months but have been knocked back by several candidates after their first trophyless season for 12 years.

After failed attempts to lure Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann and Austria’s Ralf Rangnick, Bayern tried to hold onto Thomas Tuchel, who had agreed in February to leave in the summer.

Tuchel however announced in May he “couldn’t agree on terms” to stay with the club and would “stick to the agreement we had in February”.

Instead, Bayern Munich have decided for Vincent Kompany, taking a risk on an inexperienced yet promising candidate in one of the biggest jobs in football.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of FC Bayern. It’s a great honour to be able to work for this club – FC Bayern is an institution in international football,” said Kompany in a club statement.

“I’m now looking forward to the basics: working with the players, building a team. Once the basis is right, success will follow.”

Burnley will reportedly receive £10 million ($13 million) in compensation for allowing their manager to leave.

“We understand the allure and prestige of a club like Bayern Munich and respect Vincent’s ambition to explore new opportunities,” Burnley said in a statement.

After a successful playing career where he captained Manchester City and the Belgian national team, Kompany returned to his first club Anderlecht to begin his managerial career.

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He moved to Burnley in 2022 and took them to the Premier League as second-division champions, before crashing back to earth over the past 12 months.

Yet, he crucially retained the support of his old coach at City Pep Guardiola, who advised his former club to go for Kompany due to his leadership qualities and determination to play an attacking brand of football.

“As a coach, you have to stand for what you are as a character,” added Kompany. “I love having the ball, being creative – but we also have to be aggressive and courageous on the pitch.”

Coaching instability has been a feature at Bayern over the past decade and a half, despite their consistent on-field success.

Guardiola, whose three-year spell in Bavaria ended in 2016, was the last Bayern coach to complete at least two full seasons.

Used to poaching the best talent from their Bundesliga rivals, Bayern were shunned by Alonso, as he decided to take Leverkusen into the Champions League next season.

However, recreating the Spaniard’s success in Germany looks to have been on the minds of the Bayern board.

Like Alonso, Kompany is a disciple of Guardiola and speaks German thanks to his spell as a player in Hamburg.

But his transition into coaching has not been as smooth as the Leverkusen boss.

He finished third and fourth in his two full seasons at Anderlecht before overseeing Burnley’s lowest-ever points tally in the English top-flight to finish second bottom of the Premier League this season.

Vincent Kompany, who is the same age as Bayern captain Manuel Neuer, now has a mammoth task ahead of him in reviving Bayern’s on-field fortunes, not to mention navigating the club’s complex backroom politics, which have derailed more experienced coaches.

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Real Madrid produced a spectacular comeback against Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League final on Wednesday with Joselu striking twice in the dying minutes, earning them a 2-1 win to progress 4-3 on aggregate.

Alphonso Davies smashed the visiting German giants ahead in the second half but record 14-time winners Madrid produced a sensational comeback with Joselu netting in the 88th and 91st minutes.

Spanish champions Real Madrid face another German side, Borussia Dortmund, in the Wembley final on June 1, after they stunned the team they call their “black beast”.

Journeyman striker and back-up option Joselu, on as a late substitute, wrote his name in Madrid’s history books with his last-gasp brace, giving Europe’s comeback kings another night to remember.

“There have been a lot of times we have looked dead and buried, but we have that mentality of never say die,” said Real midfielder Jude Bellingham.

“Joselu deserves it all, he has been an amazing squad member this season.”

Madrid had enjoyed the better of the match but it seemed Davies’ superb strike had set up a repeat of the 2013 all-German Champions League final in London.

Instead Joselu consigned Bayern Munich to a first trophyless season since 2012, his first goal coming after a handling error from Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who had superbly kept Madrid at bay until that point.

“(Before that) there were world class saves after world class saves, but that can happen, it’s football,” said Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel made three changes from the first leg, benching veteran Thomas Mueller and Leon Goretzka.

Dani Carvajal started for Madrid after missing the first leg suspended and was heavily involved as the hosts dominated the opening stages.

Rodrygo Goes was inches away from converting Carvajal’s low cross and the Spain defender then cleverly set up Vinicius Junior with a pass nutmegging a defender, and Manuel Neuer tipped the Brazilian’s shot against the post.

The rebound fell to Rodrygo but his effort was weak and with a desperate arm Neuer was able to claw it out to complete a fine double save.

Bayern’s Serge Gnabry limped off injured with Davies replacing him before England captain Harry Kane’s first flash of danger.

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Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was alert to push Kane’s vicious long-range volley around the post.

Neuer palmed away a Vinicius free-kick as the teams ended a high-intensity, relentlessly frantic first half level.

The second period was just as fraught, with Davies’ cross deflecting onto the roof of Lunin’s goal.

Vinicius was unplayable down Madrid’s left and Rodrygo prodded his low cross agonisingly wide of the far post.

The 38-year-old Neuer made superb saves to deny both Brazilian forwards again before the hour mark as Madrid controlled the game and ratcheted up the pressure.

However just as in Munich, when Los Blancos were at their strongest, Bayern pounced.

Kane fed Davies and the Canada international cut inside from the left and smashed a shot beyond Lunin into the far top corner after 68 minutes.

Madrid thought they had levelled moments later through Nacho but after a VAR review the strike was ruled out as the defender had grabbed Joshua Kimmich’s face before shooting.

Tuchel took off Kane in the final stages to try and hold on to victory but it slipped through his fingers as Madrid produced more indelible European memories.

Neuer, who had been sublime to this point, fumbled what appeared a simple Vinicius strike and Joselu gratefully bundled home from close range.

With Bayern reeling Madrid struck again, decisively. It was Joselu once more, the striker on loan from second division side Espanyol, turning home after Antonio Rudiger cut the ball back to him.

The goal was ruled offside but officials overturned the decision after review, and after nearly 15 minutes of stoppage time, Madrid earned the chance to go for their 15th Champions League trophy.

Bayern were left raging at full-time after De Ligt netted but play had been stopped beforehand for an offside flag against Noussair Mazraoui.

“I don’t want to say that it’s always the referee’s mistake with Real Madrid, but that made the difference today,” grumbled De Ligt, saying play should have been allowed to continue.

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Bayern Munich midfielder Raphael Guerreiro has been ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg at Real Madrid due to an ankle injury.

On Sunday, Bayern Munich issued a statement saying Guerreiro would be missing for the “coming games” without specifying how long he would be on the sidelines.

“FC Bayern will have to make do without Raphael Guerreiro in the next few matches,” the statement said.

“The Portuguese sustained a ligament and capsule injury in his ankle in Saturday’s Bundesliga match away at Stuttgart, as confirmed by a scan by the FC Bayern medical department.”

Bayern Munich have two remaining Bundesliga matches along with Wednesday’s trip to Real Madrid and a possible Champions League final at Wembley.

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Guerreiro was subbed off after just 17 minutes with injury in Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Stuttgart, having attempted to block a shot. The 30-year-old left the stadium on crutches.

Bayern drew 2-2 at home in the first leg against the 14-time European champions.

A wing-back who can also play as a winger or a midfielder, Guerreiro has impressed in the Champions League.

He laid on Joshua Kimmich’s goal in Bayern’s 1-0 Champions League quarter-final win over Arsenal. Against Real in the first leg, Guerreiro was introduced at half-time and instantly sparked Bayern’s attack, with the side scoring two quick goals to take the lead.

The Portuguese is likely in a race against time to take part in Euro 2024, which starts on June 14.

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Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior scored a double, including an 83rd-minute equalising penalty, to snatch a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich on Tuesday that puts the Spanish side in the driving seat for the return leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Vinicius gave Real the lead after 24 minutes of the first leg but Bayern scored twice in four second-half minutes to wrestle back control, Leroy Sane with a stunning opener and Harry Kane converting a penalty.

Kim Min-jae fouled Rodrygo in the box with eight minutes remaining and Vinicius stepped up, drowning out a chorus of boos and whistles to blast home.

“In this competition, it’s important not to lose, and we’re here because we haven’t lost yet,” said Vinicius.

“I’m very happy that I was able score two goals, and now we need to have a magical night at home,” he added.

The draw makes Madrid favourites to progress in next week’s return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu but Bayern, who dominated large parts of the match, will still have hope of making it to the final at Wembley in June.

“It’s a good result for the second leg,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “But nothing has been decided yet.

“Bayern have high quality. They have players like Musiala or Sane who can hurt us.”

“It feels a bit strange,” said Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel.

“But the situation is very clear. Win in Madrid, then off to Wembley. The winner takes it all.

“We will be ready and we accept the fight. We will go to Madrid with self-confidence. We have to be brave.”

Before the match, the Bayern fans unveiled a giant banner depicting Franz Beckenbauer which spanned from the grass to the rafters. It was a fitting tribute on a night featuring the most-played fixture in European Cup history.

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Famed for their composure on the biggest of stages in this competition, 14-time winners Real struggled early on as Bayern dominated possession while spurred on by a ferocious home crowd.

Madrid’s success in this competition this season, including in their quarter-final win over Manchester City, has been built on absorbing pressure before striking.

The visitors repeated the trick for the opener, breaking Bayern’s dominance in a ruthlessly simple fashion while showing the hosts how easy scoring goals can be.

Toni Kroos collected the ball from a corner and drilled a defence-splitting pass along the ground which found Vinicius galloping in acres of space on the edge of the area.

Without a Bayern player in range, Vinicius calmly slotted the opener past a helpless Manuel Neuer, changing the complexion of the match completely.

Bayern, who have six European Cups of their own, were not awed and continued to push but could not break through; their best chance of the remainder of the half came through a free kick, with Kane finding a huge gap in the wall but blasting wide.

With Real seemingly in cruise control, Bayern grabbed hold of the match early in the second half, scoring twice in four minutes.

Eric Dier found Sane down the right flank. The Germany winger, who had missed several chances in the first half, dribbled into the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot. It was his first goal for Bayern in any competition since October.

The hosts’ next attack came down the left, with the ever-dangerous Jamal Musiala felled by Lucas Vazquez in the box. Referee Clement Turpin pointed straight to the spot and Kane duly sent Andriy Lunin the wrong way to take the lead.

With Bayern in control, Real went on the counter-attack and it was Kim’s turn to give away a clumsy penalty, with Vinicius confidently slotting in the equaliser.

“We have to continue with cool heads, rest until next week, and we will give everything to leave the Bernabeu qualified for London,” Vinicius said.

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Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel will seek to echo the spirit of 2021’s Champions League-winning run with Chelsea in Wednesday’s home quarter-final second leg against Arsenal. 

Bayern put aside their domestic struggles in the first leg, returning from London with a 2-2 draw, another Harry Kane goal against his old foes and the knowledge victory in Germany will see them through to the final four.

With Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen already in possession of the Bundesliga trophy, the Champions League is now the only focus for Tuchel’s Bayern.

Being able to concentrate only on Europe is a luxury few of the teams remaining in the Champions League have, particularly Arsenal who are in the midst of a tense Premier League title race.

Tuchel was free to make his focus on Europe obvious, making seven changes in Saturday’s hard-fought 2-0 home win over struggling Cologne.

Left out of the squad completely for the Cologne clash, captain Manuel Neuer and winger Leroy Sane were allowed to watch Saturday’s win from the comfort of the grandstand.

Bayern will however face Arsenal missing several first teamers.

Canada defender Alphonso Davies is suspended, while forwards Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are injured.

Tuchel would not be drawn on who would replace Davies on Wednesday, telling reporters after Saturday’s win over Cologne he may “do something crazy”.

Asked if one of Bayern’s centre-backs could make the shift out to left-back, Tuchel said with a smile “No, we want to win.”

While not quite at the level of self-described “overthinker” Pep Guardiola, Tuchel is known for his flexibility and a penchant for being tactically reactive, a perfect fit for knockout football.

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Despite winning leagues in France and Germany, Tuchel’s teams have shone brightest in cup competitions.

He announced himself as Dortmund coach by winning the 2017 German Cup, dispatching Bayern 3-2 in Munich in the semi-final on the way to the first major title of his career.

His only Champions League season with Dortmund was impressive but failed due to circumstances beyond his control.

Tuchel’s Dortmund were unbeaten in the group phase, finishing ahead of eventual champions Real Madrid.

Their campaign came undone in a quarter-final against Monaco with the club forced to play a day after a bomb blast shattered the windows of the team’s bus.

Dortmund’s decision to play led to a rift between Tuchel and Dortmund which never healed and he was fired just days after his side lifted the German Cup.

At Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, he made the finals of both the major and minor domestic cup competitions.

In Europe, Tuchel took PSG to the Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern.

The next season as Chelsea boss, he took over a side in disarray in January after the firing of club legend Frank Lampard.

He steadied the ship and took Chelsea to the Champions League final, where they beat Guardiola’s heavily favoured Manchester City to win the title for the second time.

While plenty stands in the way of another Champions League triumph, including one more potential meeting with Guardiola’s City on the way, Tuchel could be just four games away from Wembley glory.

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LEVERKUSEN: Bayer Leverkusen lifted the Bundesliga title for the first time in their 120-year history on Sunday, a 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen breaking the 11-year stranglehold of Bayern Munich on the German top flight.

Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen knew victory would secure the title with five games to spare, and there were no signs of nerves in a dominant performance.

A hat-trick from Florian Wirtz and goals from Victor Boniface and Granit Xhaka extended their unbeaten run to a stunning 43 games in all competitions.

Leverkusen’s maiden Bundesliga title, coming after five second-place finishes in their history, keeps their dream of a remarkable treble alive while shedding their unwanted ‘Neverkusen’ nickname for good.

With 10 minutes to go, the long-suffering fans began making their way to the sidelines and a few jumped the gun, storming the pitch with the match still ongoing.

Leverkusen’s players ushered the fans back and some obliged, albeit briefly, with the stands swiftly emptying on the 90-minute mark as tearful supporters made their way onto the turf to celebrate with the players.

Leverkusen are now on 79 points — the best tally after 29 games in the Bundesliga history — and are 16 clear of second-placed Bayern and third-placed Stuttgart.

“It’s impossible to describe. Personally, I can’t quite grasp what we did. I needed to go back to the changing room to clear my head,” Wirtz told DAZN.

“We’ve already started the party with the supporters.”

Wirtz, who moved from neighbouring Cologne at the age of 16 and grew up just 20 minutes away in Pulheim, told DAZN he “could not imagine what we would achieve at the start of the season”.

“It was when we started winning some matches, with a dominant style of play, that’s when I realised we could do a little better than just making the Champions League.”

The Leverkusen bus arrived at the stadium 90 minutes before kick-off, wading through a sea of fans clad in black and red on the way to the 30,000-capacity BayArena.

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Normally known as Bismarck Street, fans had stuck temporary signs saying ‘Xabi Alonso Street’ along the main road in honour of the club’s coach.

Alonso looked ahead to Thursday’s Europa League trip to London to face West Ham, making seven changes to his starting XI and benching stars Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo, the latter for the first time in the league this season.

Piero Hincapie, Grimaldo’s replacement, had an early effort at goal saved but it would be the fit-again Boniface, making his first start since mid-December, who put the home side in front.

With 22 minutes gone, Jonas Hofmann was felled in the box by Bremen’s Julian Malatini, with the referee pointing to the spot after VAR urged him to view the contact again on the monitor.

Boniface stepped up and nervelessly slotted the penalty past a helpless Michael Zetterer to send the home fans into raptures.

Hofmann was almost the provider again shortly before half-time, his pass finding Amine Adli who fired against the crossbar.

Bremen started the second half strongly but their hopes of spoiling the party were snuffed out on the 60-minute mark, Boniface finding Xhaka who unleashed a long-range rocket before slapping his badge in front of the ecstatic home fans.

Wirtz, who came on at half-time for Adli, replicated Xhaka’s effort eight minutes later from almost the same spot on the pitch.

Wirtz added another with seven minutes remaining before sealing his hat-trick in the 90th minute as Leverkusen rid themselves of their nearly men tag in style.

Earlier on Sunday, a 36th-minute goal from Ritsu Doan took Freiburg to a 1-0 win at Darmstadt, pushing the last-placed hosts closer to immediate relegation.

Winless since October and with only two victories all year, the loss leaves Darmstadt dead last, eight points from second-last and 13 points from safety with five games remaining.

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Veteran Bayern Munich attacker Thomas Mueller has extended his deal by one year to 2025, the Bavarian club announced on Tuesday. 

“I’m happy my journey at FC Bayern is continuing. I want to play my part in us remaining successful, both as a team and the whole club,” Mueller said in a statement.

Thomas Mueller’s contract was set to expire at the end of this season.

Calling Mueller “quality and reliability personified”, Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund said the veteran was “a leader on and off the pitch, always a role model and incredibly valuable for the entire team”.

Despite wearing the captain’s armband several times this season, the 34-year-old has received less game time under coach Thomas Tuchel, enjoying just five league starts.

Mueller has become synonymous with the Bavarian giants and has been at Bayern for more than two decades, having joined as a 10-year-old in 2000 from village club TSV Paehl, located just 50 kilometres from Munich.

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A two-time Champions League winner, Thomas Mueller has won 12 Bundesliga titles with Bayern in a career spanning 684 games, scoring 237 goals and providing 261 assists.

Only former Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier has played more games for the club and only Gerd Mueller, with 568, and Robert Lewandowski, with 344, have more goals for the club.

For Germany, Mueller was first called up in March of 2010, where he played in a 1-0 defeat to Argentina.

Since then, the attacker has played 126 games, scoring 45 times and winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Mueller was left out of the Germany squad after their group-stage exit at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, with many expecting his time with the four-time World Cup winners was over.

However, he was recalled in September, scoring a goal in a 2-1 win over France, and looks likely to play a role in next year’s home European Championship under former Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann.

In November, Thomas Mueller’s captain and long-time teammate Manuel Neuer, 37, also extended his deal by a season to 2025.

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Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday and failed to even secure the consolation of a Europa League spot as Bayern Munich won 1-0 at Old Trafford.

United were toothless as Harry Kane and his Bayern teammates only needed one penetrating move to create Kingsley Coman’s winning goal.

Manchester United finished bottom of Group A as FC Copenhagen took the second qualifying spot behind Bayern Munich following their 1-0 win over Galatasaray in front of a delirious Danish crowd.

The defeat is sure to heap more pressure on Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, but the damage to his side was done earlier in the season when they failed to win three of their four games against Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

“We didn’t lose the campaign today. We had some good performances and also we made mistakes and individual errors from players,” Ten Hag said.

“Today the performance was good, we didn’t deserve to lose but we lost the game. The players gave everything.”

Kane meanwhile said he believes Bayern can make a strong run as they seek a seventh European crown in his first season in Germany.

“We have the ability to go far in this competition,” the England captain said.

“We have to keep improving. I feel we have another level we can achieve. That is the ambition, to go and win the Champions League.”

In contrast to the gloom in Manchester, there was joy in the Danish capital as FC Copenhagen qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for just the second time in their history.

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Lukas Lerager’s 58th-minute goal was enough to see off Galatasaray as the Danish side overcame the odds in a group few pundits had expected them to progress from.

“I think it is an extraordinary achievement that a Danish team can advance. The group was so strong and full of so many world stars,” Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup said.

Reigning Italian champions Napoli secured their place in the knockout phase by beating Sporting Braga 2-0 at home, with newly crowned African Player of the Year Victor Osimhen completing the job after Serdar Saatci’s own goal.

Napoli finished second behind Group C winners Real Madrid, who had already won the group even before they beat Union Berlin 3-2 in the German capital.

Kevin Volland put Union ahead, but Joselu scored twice for Real and although Alex Kral equalised, Dani Ceballos notched the winner for the 14-time European champions in the 89th minute.

Last year’s beaten finalists Inter Milan finished second after a goalless draw with Group D winners Real Sociedad.

In the early matches, a much-changed Arsenal were held 1-1 at Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven but still top Group B.

Eddie Nketiah fired a low shot into the corner to put Arsenal ahead, but Yorbe Vertessen curled in an equaliser.

Sevilla finished bottom of that group after Lens scored a late winner in a 2-1 victory in northern France.

It means the Spanish side won’t even have the chance to add to their seven Europa League titles, with Lens grabbing third place in the group and a Europa League place.

Benfica also secured a late ticket to the Europa League after they beat Salzburg 3-1 in Austria to clinch third place in Group D.

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