(Football news) A stunning 6-1 win for Benfica against Maccabi Haifa lifted the Portuguese side to the top of Champions League Group H ahead of their rivals Paris Saint-Germain. A plethora of goals from Goncalo Ramos, Petar Musa, Alex Grimaldo, Rafa Silva, Henrique Araujo and Joao Mario elevated Benfica to 14 points, level with PSG but with superior goal difference,having scored more away goals. Maccabi finished last in the Group with three points as Juventus ended up third in the table due to goal difference and will go into the Europa League. Maccabi put a commendable effort in a compelling first half.

Ramos struck first for Benfica with a towering header as Maccabi equalised through a penalty by Tjarron Chery and Benfica head coach Roger Schmidt was quick to react as he made two substitutions in the 32nd minute, replacing Fredrik Aursnes and Ramos with Musa and Chiquinho. After those changes Benfica completely dominated the match after halftime and finally converted one of their chances with a diving header by Musa as Grimaldo beautifully slotted in a long-range free kick for the third goal, Silva then went onto add a fourth goal and Araujo beat the offside trap in the 88th minute to grab the fifth goal. Benfica continued to go forward and deep into stoppage time Joao Mario produced an excellent strike that sent them into the last 16 as group winners.

"We came here to win the game first but as minutes passed and we kept scoring, we felt that the momentum was building in our favour and that we could make it happen," Ramos told Eleven Sports.

Kylian Mbappe scored the opener and then went on to set up the winner for Paris Saint-Germain as they beat Juventus 2-1 at the Allianz Stadium but still finished second in their group despite being unbeaten. PSG came into the match thinking that they just needed to win to ensure top spot in Group H as they entered the day level on points but ahead on goal difference over Benfica. Goals from Mbappe and Nuno Mendes looked to have sealed PSG the top spot but Benfica’s last minute sixth goal against Maccabi Haifa in a 6-1 defeat meant that they passed the Partisans on goal difference to advance as group winner on overall away goals scored.

With Benfica beating Maccabi Haifa, Juventus scraped through to secure a spot in the Europa League despite the defeat. The defeat ensured Juventus for the first lost five of their six Champions League group stage matches and prior to this season, they had only ever suffered five defeats in one Champions League season which was back in 2002-03, when they lost one game in the group stage and three in the second as well as one of their semifinal legs.

"We've beaten Juventus twice and we were very happy until the 92nd minute," PSG coach Christophe Galtier said after the match. "But if you want to go far in this competition, you have to beat big teams. Let's wait for the draw and see who we get in the round of 16. "When we were winning 7-2 last week [over Maccabi], we stopped playing at the 90th minute. We conceded too many goals from set-pieces, as we did against Haifa. If we'd conceded one goal fewer, we would have finished top of the group."

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