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Celtic celebrate their birthday with win over Barca

Other News Materials 8 November 2012 01:54 (UTC +04:00)

Scottish club Celtic gave themselves the best birthday present on Wednesday as they stunned Barcelona 2-1 in a Champions League group stage match, dpa reported.

The result saw the Spanish side miss out on prematurely securing their place in the knock-out stage with two games to go in group G.

The only team to advance on Wednesday were Manchester United, who came back late through Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez to win 3-1 in Braga to maintain their 100 per cent record with four wins from four in group H.

Greek club Galatasaray, who won 3-1 in Cluj, are second with four points, with Cluj also on four. Braga have three.

United join Porto and Malaga, who on Tuesday advanced to the round of the last-16, as the only clubs who are guaranteed of a place in the knock-out stage.

In Glasgow, Celtic gave their fans plenty to cheer about as they scored twice from as many chances. Victor Wanyama opened the score midway through the first half with a header and Anthony Watt added a second on a counter attack with seven minutes to go.

Lionel Messi pulled one back in injury time for his side, but it was a case of too little, too late.

Celtic, who celebrate their 125th birthday this week, are second in the group on seven points - two behind Barcelona. Benfica Lisbon, who beat Spartak Moscow 2-0, are on four points.

Last year's finalists Bayern Munich were ruthlessly efficient at home against French club Lille, scoring five goals from their first six attempts on goal within 34 minutes.

Peruvian international Claudio Pizarro scored a hat-trick, with Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger scoring the others. Lille pulled one back through Salomon Kalou in the second half before Toni Kroos added a sixth for his side for a 6-1 victory.

The German club are second in group F on nine points - behind Valencia, who beat BATE Borisov 4-2, on goal difference.

Group E remains incredibly tight after Shakhtar Donetsk missed out on advancing to the next round after losing 3-2 at Chelsea. The Premier League club tops the group with seven points, while Donetsk are also on seven.

Serie A champions Juventus are third on six points after beating Danish club FC Nordsjaelland 4-0.

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