Manchester City defeated Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, while Arsenal maintained their perfect group stage record with a 3-0 victory at Club Brugge.
Erling Haaland scored his 34th goal for club and country this season, while Nico O’Reilly scored his first goal in the Champions League.
Rodrygo scored the only goal for Real, who were missing Kylian Mbappe.
It was a second successive home defeat for Real following their 2-0 reverse against Celta Vigo at the weekend and heaped more pressure on coach Xabi Alonso, whose side have won just two of their last eight in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Noni Madueke’s double helped Arsenal win a sixth straight Champions League match this season and close in on the last 16.
The Premier League leaders already have more points (18) than was needed last season to secure a top eight spot and direct qualification for the last 16, and they have two matches still to come.
UCL: Chelsea fall to Atalanta as Barcelona beat Frankfurt
Brugge had put the Gunners under fierce first-half pressure but they crumbled after the second goal as Gabriel Martinelli added to their misery, bending the ball around the goalkeeper from outside the box.
Elsewhere, reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were held to a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao but stayed third, behind only Arsenal and Bayern Munich, with City fourth.
Weston McKennie and Jonathan David scored the goals as Juventus overcame Pafos 2-0, while Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle shared a 2-2 draw, as did Borussia Dortmund and Bodo/Glimt.
Goals from Richard Rios and Leandro Barreiro gave Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s Napoli in a battle of the former Chelsea bosses.
Oscar Gloukh scored a brace as Ajax hit three late goals to claim a 4-2 win at Qarabag to finally open their account in the competition this season.
Victory took them off the bottom of the table and kept alive their slim hopes of making the play-offs, while Villarreal slumped to last position after a 3-2 home defeat to FC Copenhagen.
- Bulgarian prime minister resigns after mass protests - December 11, 2025
- FULL LIST: Super Eagles coach unveils 28-man squad for AFCON 2025 - December 11, 2025
- Bayelsa deputy governor dies at 60 - December 11, 2025
