RB Leipzig smash Shakhtar to progress in Champions League

WARSAW: RB Leipzig advanced into the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League after beating Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 on the road here on Wednesday.

Marco Rose's side finished second in Group F with 12 points, just behind Real Madrid, while the Ukrainian outfit finished third and will drop into the UEFA Europa League.

The visitors needed just 10 minutes to take the lead when Timo Werner's shot was saved by Anatoliy Trubin, but Christopher Nkunku was in the right place to put the ball into the net, reports Xinhua.

Five minutes after the break, RB Leipzig doubled the lead. Mohamed Simakan's header seemed to be ineffective, but Andre Silva found the ball at the back post and tapped in from close range.

In the 62nd minute, Dominik Szoboszlai made it 3-0 as he collected a great pass from Nkunku to round the goalkeeper and fire the ball into the unguarded net.

The German team continued their momentum as Dani Olmo's shot took a deflection off Valeriy Bondar for an own goal by the Ukrainian defender.

Leipzig thus reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third time after the victory.

"We have worked hard for this. We didn't start this season's competition well, but we've been great since. Today we were very stable, well in command," said Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg.

"Since the first game against Shakhtar, we have been playing together better and we are now performing over the course of the entire 90 minutes. We really wanted to finish tonight without conceding," he added.