Liverpool FC around team manager Jürgen Klopp moved into the Champions League round of 16 prematurely.
The Reds confidently defeated the Spanish champions Atlético Madrid 2-0 (2-0) and secured first place in the table in Group B.
Manchester City meanwhile made a big step towards the knockout phase.
Pep Guardiola's team won against Club Bruges 4: 1 (1: 1) and jumped to the top of the table in Group A.
Real Madrid are also on course for the round of 16 thanks to the anniversary goal of double goalscorer Karim Benzema. The Spanish record champions prevailed against Shakhtar Donetsk with 2: 1 (1: 1). Benzema initiated the victory with the 1000th Champions League goal for the Madrilenians, who took the lead in Group D with nine points ahead of Inter Milan (7). The Italian champions jumped to second place in the table after a 3: 1 (0: 0) against the Moldovan surprise team Sheriff Tiraspol.
Inter's city rivals AC Milan, on the other hand, are threatened with premature end. Milan scored their first point in the premier class with the 1: 1 (0: 1) against FC Porto, but remained bottom of the table in Group B. For Porto, with five points on the account, the door to the round of 16 is still open. In Dortmund Group C, Sporting Lisbon kept their chances of the round of 16 with a convincing 4-0 (3-0) win over Besiktas Istanbul. The Portuguese caught up with BVB with six points.
Diego Jota (13th) and Sadio Mane (21st) scored the goals for Liverpool, who were outnumbered for almost an hour after the red card against Madrid's Felipe (36th). Atletico slipped to third place. Manchester City struggled against the Belgians despite an early lead by Phil Foden (16th), an own goal by John Stones (18th) brought Bruges back into the game immediately. But Riyad Mahrez (54th), Raheem Sterling (72nd) and Gabriel Jesus (90th + 2) led the English champions to victory, who are now one point ahead of Paris St. Germain (8) and five ahead of Bruges (4) .
Benzema cracked the 1000-goal mark in the 14th minute, after a pass from Vinicius Junior the French only had to push in.
Fernando equalized in the meantime (39th).
Benzema finally secured the victory for Madrid, with former international Toni Kroos in the starting line-up (61st).
In Lisbon, Pedro Goncalves (31st, 38th), Paulinho (41st) and Pablo Sarabia (56th) met against the more pointless Turks, who were definitely eliminated as the bottom of the table.