Matchday 6 of the UEFA Champions League kicked off on Tuesday night with almost all teams from Groups A through to D playing their final group stage fixtures.
Manchester City produced a stunning comeback to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Bayern Munich 3-2 at the Allianz Arena thanks to an inspired performance from James Milner.
The England midfielder headed into the path of David Silva to score City's first goal in the 28th minute after Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze had given Bayern a two-goal lead early in the piece.
Milner then won a penalty which was dispatched by Aleksandar Kolarov before firing home the eventual winner in the 62nd minute to allow City to join Bayern on 15 points at the top of Group D although the reigning European champions will claim top spot by virtue of goal difference.
In the other Group D fixture, Viktoria Plzen beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 in the Czech Republic although the Russians hung for a Europa League spot, also courtesy of the goal difference rule.
Real Madrid remained undefeated in their six preliminary outings by beating FC Copenhagen 2-0 in Denmark to finish well clear on top of Group B.
Luka Modric scored a stunning goal in the 25th minute, curling the ball over Copenhagen keeper Johan Wiland from outside the area, after working away from his marker with a neat little back heel. Cristiano Ronaldo managed to score his ninth of the group stage to round out the away win.
The other Group B fixture, between Galatasaray and Juventus, was called off after 31 minutes because of heavy snow falling in Istanbul and will now be completed on Wednesday afternoon. A draw would see Juve finish second while a Gala win would have the Turkish giants leapfrog the Italians and join Madrid in the knockout stages.
Manchester United bounced back from a two-match losing streak to edge Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 thanks to a 67th minute Phil Jones goal in order for them to finish top of Group A, four points clear of Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in Spain courtesy of Omer Toprak's early second-half goal.
And in Group C, Benfica upset group winners Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in Portugal but had to settle for the Europa League after Olympiakos made the most of Anderlecht having three men sent off to win 3-1 in Athens, enabling a second-placed finish by a goal difference of plus two to Benfica's evens.
The group stage section of the Champions League will be completed on Wednesday night with Groups E to H in action prior to Monday's Round of 16 draw.
2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage - Matchday 6
Group A
Manchester United (ENG): 1 (Phil Jones 67') Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR): 0 Old Trafford, Manchester, England - 75,000
Real Sociedad (SPN): 0 Bayer Leverkusen (GER): 1 (Omer Toprak 49') Anoeta, San Sebastian, Spain - 23,408
Group B
Galatasaray (TUR) v Juventus (ITA) - suspended after 31 minutes due to heavy snow. To be completed on Wednesday, December 11 at 13:00pm CET.
FC Copenhagen (DEN): 0 Real Madrid (SPN): 2 (Luka Modric 25', Cristiano Ronaldo 48') Parken Stadion, Copenhagen, Denmark - 37,241
Group C
Benfica (POR): 2 (Rodrigo Lima (p) 45', Nicolas Gaitan 59') Paris Saint-Germain (FRA): 1 (Edinson Cavani 37') Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal - 30,089
Olympiakos (GRE): 3 (Javier Saviola 33'/58', Alejandro Dominguez (p) 90+5') Anderlecht (BEL) 1 (Sacha Kljestan 39', red cards: Cheikhou Kouyate 49', Fabrice N'Sakala 88', Silvio Proto 90+3') Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens, Greece - 31,444
Group D
Bayern Munich (GER): 2 (Thomas Muller 5', Mario Gotze 12') Manchester City (ENG): 3 (David Silva 28', Aleksandar Kolarov (p) 58', James Milner 62') Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - 68,000
Viktoria Plzen (CZE): 2 (Daniel Kolar 76', Tomas Wagner 90') CSKA Moscow (RUS): 1 (Ahmed Musa 65', red cards: Alan Dzagoev 67', Pontius Wernbloom 90+3') Doosan Arena, Plzen, Czech Republic - 11,205
