Paris Saint-Germain will not win the Champions League because they are "terrible at defending," according to former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi scored twice while Neymar was also on target in the thumping 7-2 victory over Maccabi Haifa at Parc des Princes. 

Despite progressing to the knockout stages with a match to spare, the Champions League trophy has remained elusive to PSG, who are yet to register a clean sheet in this season's competition after Abdoulaye Seck's brace for the visitors.

Schmeichel, who lifted the trophy with United in 1999, heaped praise on the attacking trio of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar after another devastating goalscoring display, but believes that defensive frailties will wreck any title ambitions.

"What was special about this game was the quality of the goals," he told CBS Sports Golazo. "You can't defend against that. These three guys up front, Mbappe, Neymar and Messi, when they play like that, there are no answers.

"I'm not sure when you talk about them winning the Champions League. I think the problem they have also showed today. When they're 3-0 up, all of a sudden, it's 4-2. They need to score a lot of goals to win games, and it's not always going to happen.

"I think they are terrible defending; that's also because of the three front players. When you are at the stadium, and you see how little they take part in defending.

"Everybody else, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, all those teams, it's 11 players attacking, it's 11 players defending. I think in modern-day football, that's what you need.

"That could be the problem in one game, one game against Man City, one game against Real Madrid, it's enough to get knocked out."

Thierry Henry feels Juventus have issues "from top to bottom" and sacking Massimiliano Allegri will not change their fortunes.

A 4-3 defeat to Benfica on Tuesday saw Juve crash out of the Champions League, while they will exit European competition entirely if Maccabi Haifa better their result in the final round of group-stage matches.

The Bianconeri's loss in Lisbon was their third in five games across all competitions, with Allegri's side down in eighth in Serie A and already 10 points behind leaders Napoli.

Juve's first group-stage elimination in the Champions League since 2013-14 increased pressure on Allegri, but former Bianconeri striker Henry believes replacing the coach will not change their situation.

"I wouldn't go there. As you know, I'm on the other side of the line now, so it is very difficult to call out a manager," he told CBS Sports.

"I think there is a lot of problems from top to bottom; it is not only at the bottom and on the field where things are not going well.

"I said it when [Andrea] Pirlo left, I said it when [Maurizio] Sarri left, he is not a bad coach.

"What is going on behind closed doors, we don't know. It takes time sometimes. It's not that if you just bring in Allegri, it is going to work.

"Where are you going to go? What is going to be the plan? Who are you going to bring in? You need to let people work for a little while to make change, to change who is going to leave, who is going to come and play in this system.

"We've seen it with [Mikel] Arteta [at Arsenal]; it took him two years to put a decent team on the field, and people were having a go.

"Are you going to stay with the man or are you not? Think about it carefully. They thought that bringing him [Allegri] in, things were going to change, and it hasn't happened yet."

Stefano Pioli will set his Milan side out to qualify for the Champions League round of 16 in style by beating Salzburg in a decisive San Siro showdown next week.

The Rossoneri moved above Salzburg into second place in Group E on Tuesday with a 4-0 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb at Stadion Maksimir.

Matteo Gabbia opened the scoring with his first Milan goal, heading in a Sandro Tonali free-kick, and the Serie A champions ran away with it in the second half.

Rafael Leao's solo strike doubled their lead, and Olivier Giroud added a third from the penalty spot before a bizarre Robert Ljubicic own goal completing the scoring, with Dinamo's hopes of qualifying emphatically dashed.

Milan now only need a point to advance along with group winners Chelsea, who beat Salzburg 2-1, but head coach Pioli will not be taking a cautious approach to such a crucial game against the champions of Austria at San Siro next Wednesday.

He said: "Two out of three results are not a double-edged sword. We are not mentally and tactically built to manage, we have to play our best to get the win."

The Rossoneri finished bottom of their group last season, and Pioli believes reaching the last 16 would show the strides they have made.

He added: "I think it is clear that our growth comes from qualification. We have to play with our mentality, and it is the next step, where we would show that we are doing better than last year.

"We must close the discussion next Wednesday without forgetting the championship. We need concentration for the league match against Torino [on Sunday]. Then we will have the time and attention necessary to take care of the next Champions League match in the best possible way."

Pioli praised centre-back Gabbia, who was rock solid at the heart of the Milan defence after coming in to replace the suspended Fikayo Tomori.

"I continue to be convinced of the strength of my group," he said. "I emphasise Matteo's seriousness, but also his skills. He has a sense of position, physicality and skill in aerial duels."

Timo Werner said RB Leipzig could not have played "much better than that" after defeating European champions Real Madrid to keep their Champions League fate in their control.

Werner scored what proved to be the winner in the second half, making it 3-1 after Vinicius Junior had pulled a goal back following first-half strikes from Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku.

Although Rodrygo netted a late penalty, becoming the youngest Madrid player to score from the spot in the Champions League, Leipzig earned a deserved victory to remain in the hunt for qualification.

Marco Rose's side will progress by avoiding defeat at third-placed Shakhtar Donetsk on the final matchday, and Werner hailed the efforts of his team against the reigning Spanish and European champions.

"I think we performed similar to the first match, but this time we scored! And once we take a lead, it's tough to play us, even for the Champions League winner," the striker said.

"If you lead Madrid by 2-1, you cannot play much better than that. We knew Madrid are strong on the ball and there would be phases where we are pushed back.

"Rose told us to be brave when in possession and that's what we did. Celtic would have done us a big favour by winning, but we still have achieved what we wanted.

"We have it in our own hands [to go through] and don't even need to win against Shakhtar now."

While Werner insisted the memorable victory showed the quality of Leipzig, David Alaba lamented the failings of Madrid, who were without the injured Federico Valverde, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

"We were lacking right from kick-off. Leipzig is a team with lots of intensity, very fast in transitions and we went down," the Los Blancos defender said.

"Of course, the players that were missing are very important for our game, real world-class players. Nevertheless, we have the quality to compensate for that and have shown that in the past. We have to do better than this."

Madrid were far from their usual high standards that guided them to domestic and continental glory as they fell to their fourth Champions League defeat in 2022, only in 2001 (five) have they lost more.

However, Carlo Ancelotti's side will still progress as Group F winners as long as they match RB Leipzig's result at Shakhtar Donetsk on the final matchday, when they host Celtic.

Erling Haaland was withdrawn at half-time in Manchester City's Champions League draw with Borussia Dortmund due to a fever and a knock to the foot.

City were held to a 0-0 draw at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday, with Haaland taken off at the break after an uncharacteristically quiet first half.

Pep Guardiola confirmed after the match that the Norway striker – and Joao Cancelo, who was also brought off at half-time – had been struggling before the game with a minor illness.

Haaland also received a blow to the foot, though Guardiola did not suggest his condition was of major concern, with the striker appearing jovial as he greeted his former Dortmund team-mates on the pitch at full-time.

"Erling didn't feel good, he had a little fever before the game, Joao as well," Guardiola told BT Sport.

"[Haaland] had a knock in the feet. That's why we changed it, and in that period we struggled a lot."

The draw was enough for City to secure their progress as Group G winners, with Dortmund also confirming qualification for the last 16.

However, City should have left with all three points.

Riyad Mahrez won a second-half penalty following a clumsy Emre Can foul but his resulting spot-kick was saved by Gregor Kobel.

That was the 25th occasion of City failing to convert a penalty since Guardiola took over in 2016 (out of a possible 80), more than any other Premier League side over the same period.

"Of course it's a problem. Since I'm here it's 24 or 25 penalties [missed], most of them in the Champions League," Guardiola said.

"It's too much. I always admire the courage, the responsibility [to take a penalty], but of course we miss a lot and it's a problem.

"We have to improve otherwise these little details, these margins in this competition, it's the difference [between success and failure]."

It was also Mahrez's third penalty failure in his past four attempts, though Guardiola is not going to stop him taking future spot-kicks.

"I admire the courage. Riyad, with the last penalties scored a lot last season in important moments, so in that situation I admire the courage," he added.

"If he feels [able] next time he has a penalty, he's going to take it. But of course we have to improve."

Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged "sooner or later" Real Madrid had to lose but Thibaut Courtois lamented Los Blancos' defensive concentration after a 3-2 defeat at RB Leipzig.

Madrid were without the injured Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric and fell two goals behind after strikes from Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku on Tuesday.

That marked the first time Madrid conceded twice in the first 20 minutes of a Champions League in a group stage match and just the fourth time in the competition in total.

Vinicius Junior pulled one back and Rodrygo scored a late consolation, but Timo Werner's strike inflicted a fourth Champions League defeat on Madrid in 2022, only in 2001 (five) have they suffered more.

However, Ancelotti refused to criticise Los Blancos – who sit top of LaLiga and remain favourites to win Group F – as he suggested a defeat was expected at some point.

"I'm not angry. It's a defeat, annoying, but it doesn't do much damage," the Madrid coach told Movistar. "Sooner or later it had to happen. Go on, you can't look back.

"I can't criticise a team that has done very well. From defeats, you learn more than ten wins in a row. We are very forceful at set-pieces, but we were not tonight."

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was far less forgiving in his assessment, lamenting Ancelotti's visitors for failing to defend two early set-pieces that brought goals for Gvardiol and Nkunku.

"It is what sometimes happens to us. We went out asleep, without intensity and you pay for it," the Belgium international added to Movistar. "The coach warned us and it still happened.

"We can't go out like that. We put in before the break. But in the second half the same, we missed a lot of passes.

"As a goalkeeper, you are noticing that we are not in the game. In many duels, we did not win. That happens in both goals, due to lack of intensity. We have to wake up.

"A bad day can happen but intensity cannot be missing. There are many on the bench and if you can't do it any more, you can't do it any more."

Madrid host Celtic on the final matchday and only have to match Leipzig's result at Shakhtar Donetsk to progress to the knockout stages as group winners.

Celtic's hopes of securing a spot in the Europa League knockout stages came to an end after a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk at Celtic Park.

The Bhoys needed a win in their penultimate Champions League group-stage match to have a chance of continental football in the new year, and Georgios Giakoumakis put the hosts ahead nine minutes before the break, tucking in after Liel Abada's shot was blocked.

But Mykhailo Mudryk's fine form in the competition continued when he smashed in a second-half equaliser from outside the box, his fifth goal involvement in five matches (three goals, two assists).

Both sides then squandered big opportunities for a winner, with Kyogo Furuhashi firing straight at Anatolii Trubin when one-on-one and Danylo Sikan somehow missing an open goal after Mudryk's square pass.

Furuhashi's missed chance was particularly costly for Celtic as they exited Europe, unable to finish anywhere other than bottom of Group F.

Yet a Sikan winner would also have had a huge impact on Shakhtar's ambitions, as they are third and now require a win against RB Leipzig in their final match to reach the Champions League last 16.

Matteo Gabbia scored his first goal for Milan as they thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 to move just a point away from the Champions League round of 16.

Chelsea's victory at Salzburg earlier on Tuesday gave Stefano Pioli's side the chance to go second in Group E and they grasped that opportunity with both hands.

Gabbia put them in front with a first-half header and they ran away with it in the second half, with Rafael Leao doubling their lead before Olivier Giroud added a third from the penalty spot.

Robert Ljubicic's bizarre own goal summed up Dinamo's night as their hopes of qualifying were emphatically ended, while Milan only need to avoid defeat in a decisive last group match against Salzburg next week to advance.

Simon Kjaer and Charles De Ketelaere had goal-bound shots blocked in a bright start from Milan, before Gabbia came to the rescue by nodding away a Mislav Orsic header that was looping in.

Dominik Livakovic palmed away a Giroud header and Josip Misic did superbly to get in the way of a shot from Ante Rebic that looked to be heading for the back of the net, but the Serie A champions were in front 39 minutes in.

The opening goal came from an unlikely source, as Gabbia punished slack defending by diving to head home a whipped Sandro Tonali free-kick from close range.

Leao gave Milan breathing space five minutes into the second half, showing great pace to drive into the penalty area from the left all too easily and capitalise on more poor defending with a clinical right-foot finish.

Milan were cruising and they had a third goal just before the hour mark, when Ljubicic upended Tonali and Giroud's spot-kick found the top-left corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Ljubicic when Giroud failed to make contact with the livewire Leao's cutback and the ball struck the midfielder on the shoulder before flying into the back of his own net.

Real Madrid missed the chance to progress as Champions League Group F winners after RB Leipzig closed on the knockout stages with a 3-1 home win over the European champions.

A memorable victory ensured Marco Rose's side will now advance on the final matchday if they avoid defeat at third-placed Shakhtar Donetsk, while Madrid – facing Celtic at home – will top the group if they match Leipzig's result.

Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku struck in the opening 18 minutes on Tuesday before Vinicius Junior reduced the deficit, but Madrid struggled without Federico Valverde, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

Madrid so often produced late drama in last season's European success, yet Rodrygo's penalty was not enough to rescue a result as Leipzig substitute Timo Werner had already stretched the home lead further.

An acrobatic Andre Silva flick from Dominik Szoboszlai's inswinging corner forced a smart Thibaut Courtois save after 13 minutes, only for the unmarked Gvardiol to head in the rebound.

Nkunku whipped wide when Courtois inexplicably raced out of his area, but the forward made amends shortly after as he smashed a left-footed effort in off the underside of the crossbar.

Rodrygo was thwarted by a fine Janis Blaswich stop, yet the Leipzig goalkeeper was powerless to stop Vinicius heading in Marco Asensio's right-wing centre to pull a goal back.

Vinicius spurned a glorious opportunity to equalise in the closing stages as he poked wide with just Blaswich to beat, and Werner made the winger pay as he tapped home Mohamed Simakan's drilled cross.

That goal meant Rodrygo's late strike from the penalty spot was a mere consolation after he was felled by Nkunku.

Manchester City sealed their Champions League progress as group winners despite Riyad Mahrez missing a penalty and Erling Haaland being kept quiet on his return to Borussia Dortmund in a 0-0 draw.

Pep Guardiola's rode their luck at times on Tuesday and also wasted a glorious chance to claim victory at Signal Iduna Park, but they always knew a point would be enough to win Group G.

That did not always look a given, though. City could not handle Karim Adeyemi before half-time, the young forward teeing up team-mates three times and also missing a presentable chance of his own.

The away side looked brighter after Haaland's half-time withdrawal, but the Norwegian surely would have taken the penalty that Mahrez had saved; it had no bearing on City's main objective, however.

City's first fortunate escape came as Dortmund threatened in the 16th minute, Adeyemi hitting a feeble effort at Stefan Ortega after being released into the right side of the box.

He showed greater composure in a similar scenario a few moments later, opting to pass across the area to Giovanni Reyna, but the American's eventual shot was tame.

More good work from Adeyemi went unrewarded just past the half-hour mark, with Youssoufa Moukoko inexplicably missing the target from close range after latching on to a square pass.

Guardiola responded to City's lack of control by bringing Bernardo Silva on for Haaland.

The change had the desired effect, but it meant the lethal Haaland was unavailable for penalty duties after Emre Can clumsily fouled Mahrez, whose subsequent spot-kick was saved by Gregor Kobel.

A Julian Alvarez snapshot was also parried by Kobel, who ensured Dortmund held on to the point that takes them through.

Juventus were condemned to a humiliating Champions League exit by a 4-3 loss at Benfica on Wednesday, as Rafa Silva's brace helped the outstanding hosts seal their own place in the last 16. 

Massimiliano Allegri's team arrived at the Estadio da Luz requiring a win to stay in contention in Group C, but were distinctly second-best after Dusan Vlahovic cancelled out Antonio Silva's opener. 

Benfica stormed into a 3-1 lead by the halfway mark as Rafa added to Joao Mario's penalty with a glorious backheel, and the winger doubled up with another wonderful goal after the break. 

Late efforts from Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie ensured a grandstand finish, but it was too little, too late for Juventus as Roger Schmidt's men held firm.

It came as no surprise when Juventus fell behind after starting slowly, as the 18-year-old Silva met Enzo Fernandes' inviting cross with a glancing header to beat Wojciech Szczesny after 17 minutes.

The visitors levelled against the run of play when a VAR review overturned an offside call against Vlahovic four minutes later, but there was to be no such reprieve when Juan Cuadrado clumsily handled in his own area with 28 minutes gone.

Joao Mario picked out the top-left corner from the spot to re-establish Benfica's lead, then turned provider to tee up Rafa's flicked finish seven minutes later as the hosts threatened to run riot.

Rafa needed just five minutes to double his tally after the restart, dinking another cultured finish beyond Szczesny after latching onto Alejandro Grimaldo's throughball.

Juventus then gave themselves hope with a quickfire double; first with Milik volleying home Samuel Iling-Junior's cross before McKennie converted following a goalmouth scramble with 11 minutes remaining.

However, Benfica missed the best chance of an end-to-end finish when Rafa crashed a shot against the post, leaving the hosts to celebrate a famous win.

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain marched through to the Champions League knockout stages with a 7-2 win over Maccabi Haifa.

Neymar was also on target to help Christophe Galtier's side book their place in the last 16 with a match to spare.

Sean Goldberg's own goal and a late Carlos Soler strike completed a commanding victory at Parc des Princes, where PSG remain unbeaten after 90 minutes since their 2-1 defeat by Manchester City in the 2020-21 semi-finals.

A pair of Abdoulaye Seck headers proved academic for Maccabi, whose attention turns to the fight for the Europa League after their elimination from Group H was confirmed.

PSG broke the deadlock in the 19th minute as a persistent Mbappe poked the ball to Messi, who delightfully prodded beyond Josh Cohen with the outside of his boot from 12 yards.

Mbappe doubled the lead from a similar position 13 minutes later; the France forward brilliantly curling into the far corner after the ball ricocheted kindly for him, and Neymar made it 3-0 when he tucked away Messi's throughball following a devastating counter.

The visitors pulled one back when Seck headed in Omer Atzili’s free-kick, but the hosts quickly restored their three-goal cushion as Messi swept home a trademark 20-yard effort.

Seck grabbed his second by looping a header over Gianluigi Donnarumma five minutes after the restart, becoming the first defender to score twice against PSG since Julian Palmieri for Bastia in January 2015.

The hosts soon regained control, however, as Mbappe superbly curled past Cohen from Achraf Hakimi's deep cross, before Goldberg turned Neymar's centre beyond his own goalkeeper.

The crossbar denied Messi a hat-trick, but the Argentina star provided a neat lay-off for Soler to round off a dominant display six minutes from time.

Stan Wawrinka rolled back the years for a glorious victory over Casper Ruud at the Swiss Indoors, joining fellow veteran Andy Murray in putting on a show in Basel.

Former world number one Murray pulled off a remarkable win over Russian Roman Safiullin, winning five games in a row from 4-1 behind in the final set.

But that was just a tease for the excitement that followed, as Wawrinka, who like Murray won three grand slam titles in his prime, felled second seed Ruud in straight sets.

The 37-year-old Swiss delighted his home crowd with a 6-4 6-4 victory over this season's French Open and US Open runner-up, serving nine aces as he defied a world ranking of 194th to produce some of his old magic.

Murray has fallen away from the elite ,too, but at 49th in the world he is not far away from rejoining that pack, although defeat looked to be beckoning against Safiullin.

The 35-year-old Scot fist-pumped with relief at recovering the break of serve that Safiullin snatched early in the decider, and Murray hit a service winner on his second match point to seal a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 success.

The victory for two-time Wimbledon winner Murray took him to 26 wins this season, the most he has had in a single campaign since pulling off an astounding 78 victories in 2016, the year he won at the All England Club for a second time, landed a second Olympic gold medal and finished top of the rankings.

Murray said of his win: "As the match went on, I started to dictate a few more points and served better."

Quoted on the ATP website, he added: "I changed the way I was returning a little bit, and when I did that, I was able to create a few more opportunities and frustrate him a little bit."

Pablo Carreno Busta scored a 6-2 6-1 win against Argentinian Sebastian Baez, with Alex Molcan, Dominic Stricker and Botic van de Zandschulp also advancing to the last-16 stage.

At the Vienna Open, Murray's fellow British players Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans both went through to the second round, Norrie beating Argentina's Pedro Cachin 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-1) and Evans fending off Germany's Oscar Otte 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

Canadian left-hander Denis Shapovalov beat Austrian wildcard Jurij Rodionov, but the home crowd had something to celebrate when former US Open champion Dominic Thiem continued his resurgence by eking out a 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) victory against American Tommy Paul, saving two match points.