Real among six teams through as City crashed out

BERNE - Real Madrid and AC Milan led a procession of six teams into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday while big-spending Manchester City failed again on the European stage to further dent English soccer's standing.

AC Milan's Philippe Mexes celebrate his goal with Kevin-Prince Boateng during their Champions League Group C soccer match at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium in Brussels, Nov 21, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Milan qualified with a 3-1 win at Anderlecht, their goals including a spectacular overhead kick by Philippe Mexes which was a near carbon copy of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's extraordinary effort for Sweden against England last week.

Paris St Germain, Arsenal and Bundesliga pair Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 were the other teams to qualify with a match to spare as the competition continued on its predictable course.

It was the 13th consecutive occasion that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has led his side into the last 16.

Seven other sides - Malaga, Barcelona, Porto, Manchester United, Valencia, Bayern Munich and Shakhtar Donetsk - are already through, turning the final round of matches on Dec 4/5 into a damp squib with only three places up for grabs.

The group stage, where half the 32 teams progress, is often criticized as being a foregone conclusion for the top sides and this season's contest has gone pretty much to form.

None of the 13 qualifiers can be described as a major surprise although Shakhtar's progress in a group containing holders Chelsea and Juventus may have raised some eyebrows.

Chelsea, who sacked Roberto Di Matteo on Wednesday and replaced him temporarily with Rafa Benitez, lost 3-0 at Juve on Tuesday to stand on the brink of following Premier League champions City through the trapdoor as English riches prove not enough to dominate Europe this time.

Nine-time champions Real Madrid, who suffered the setback of a defeat at Dortmund on the way, went through with a 1-1 draw at City who were eliminated at the group stage for the second time in a row.

Karim Benzema gave Jose Mourinho's team the lead as they dominated the early stages and Sergio Aguero's 74th minute penalty was too late to save the hosts in Group D, even after Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off.

Manchester City's Matija Nastasic (R) is challenged by Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo during their Champions League Group D soccer match at The Etihad Stadium in Manchester, northern England, Nov 21, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

City manager Roberto Mancini said that winning the Champions League was not something that could be achieved overnight.

"If we think we can win a Champions League after two years, I think we are crazy," he told reporters. "We are a good team, but we made some mistakes."

But Real coach Jose Mourinho, whose side only go through as group runners-up to Dortmund, was non-plussed at his opponents' premature exit.

"We played a great game tonight, particularly in the first half and did enough to win the game by a reasonably comfortable margin, maybe by 2-0," he said.

"It is incredible when you look at the array of players they have here, it is incredible they have been eliminated from the group stages two years running."