BERNE — Real Madrid and AC Milan led a procession of six teams into the Champions League last 16 Wednesday while big-spending Manchester City failed again on the European stage to further dent English soccer's standing. Milan qualified with a 3-1 win at Anderlecht, its 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. Nine-time champion Real Madrid, which suffered the setback of a defeat at Dortmund on the way, went through with a 1-1 draw at City which was eliminated at the group stage for the second time in a row. Karim Benzema gave Jose Mourinho's team the lead as it dominated the early stages and Sergio Aguero's 74th minute penalty was too late to save the host in Group D, even after Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off. Bundesliga champion Dortmund gave the evening's most impressive display as it trounced four-time European champion Ajax Amsterdam 4-1 away in the same group despite allowing its opponent much of the possession. Mario Goetze scored one goal and was involved in two others scored by Marco Reus and Roberto Lewandowski as Juergen Klopp's ruthlessly efficient side raced to a 3-0 halftime lead in Amsterdam. Lewandowski added the fourth before Daniel Hoesen pulled one back as once mighty Ajax, no longer able to compete with the financial clout of clubs from bigger leagues, fell at the group stage for the third season in a row. Seven-time champion AC Milan put its Serie A problems behind it as Stephan El Shaarawy, Mexes and Alexandre Pato scored in the second half at Anderlecht in Group C. The highlight came when Frenchman Mexes chested up the ball on the edge of the area and sent a dipping bicycle kick into the far corner of the net to surprise even Milan's unflappable coach Massimiliano Allegri. Malaga, which had already qualified from the group, guaranteed top spot with a 2-2 draw at Zenit St. Petersburg. Zenit's elimination followed a miserable group stage for itself and fellow Russians Spartak Moscow, who have mustered only two wins between them. Ezequiel Lavezzi scored his first goals for Paris St. Germain to help the big-spending Qatari-owned French side win 2-0 at Dynamo Kiev and qualify from Group A, joining Porto which was already though. The Portuguese side enjoyed a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb with Lucho Gonzalez, Joao Moutinho and Silvestre Varela sharing the goals. Arsenal's 2-0 win over Montpellier and Schalke's 1-0 defeat of Olympiakos Piraeus meant both sides progressed from Group B. A 30m strike from Austrian international Christian Fuchs in the 77th minute gave Schalke a deserved win against the Greeks. Jack Wilshere's first goal since returning from a long-term injury and a net-bulging Lukas Podolski thunderbolt gave Arsenal victory over the hugely disappointing French champion, which has mustered only one point. — Reuters
