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4 takeaways from Tuesday's Champions League action

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

For the majority of teams entering the final matchday of the Champions League group stage, their fates were already sealed.

Most knew if a knockout-round match was on the horizon, or if a Europa League birth awaited them in the New Year. Yet, there was still plenty of jostling as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, along with Napoli and Benfica were in action in the hope of notching top spot in their respective groups.

Bayern Munich's clash with Atletico Madrid was the marquee match of the day, but the result ultimately had no bearing on the outcome of either team's place in the group. Instead, European minnows Ludogorets and Dynamo Kyiv played decisive roles in deciding the the fate of some of the continent's biggest clubs.

Here are four takeaways from Tuesday's contests:

Dynamo shatters Besiktas' dream

In the end, Napoli's victory over Benfica did little to decide either team's Champions League fate beyond the group stage.

Both sides have Dynamo Kyiv to thank after the Ukrainian side - who entered the day with just two goals through five matches - demolished Besiktas 6-0 in a match that paved the way into the Round of 16 for both Napoli and Benfica.

Dynamo's win, however, didn't come without controversy as the home team went a man up after a questionable decision to send Andreas Beck off before subsequently awarding a penalty for the perceived foul, which appeared to take place outside the 18-yard box.

When halftime rolled around, the look on Fabricio Ramirez's face said it all as the Besiktas 'keeper struggled to contain his emotions after seeing four goals go by him in the opening 45 minutes:

PSG gifts Arsenal top spot after Ludogorets upset

While the result was never really in doubt in Switzerland, Arsene Wenger must have struggled to hide his joy when he peered up at the scoreboard in search of the PSG result while Arsenal was in the process of thumping Basel.

With Ludogorets enjoying a 1-0 advantage heading into the break, his grin surely widened by the time Arsenal secured a 4-1 win as the Bulgarian side pulled off the shocker of the day with a 2-2 draw against the French champions.

Given the north London side's history of finishing runners-up at this stage of the tournament, there's something to be said about the psychological boost finishing first will have on Arsenal after the club managed to secure top spot for the first time since the 2011-12 edition.

Did Patrick Roberts earn himself a place at City?

It just had to be Patrick Roberts.

While it's still early, the young Englishman may have given Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola something to think about next summer after his superb solo effort against his parent club gave Celtic a 1-0 lead inside the first five minutes.

Roberts's goal was cancelled out moments later by Kelechi Iheanacho as the two British sides played out a 1-1 draw. After the game, Guardiola was pleased to see his young midfield product performing well.

The result also happened to be the second time the Scottish outfit has managed to stump City after the pair produced a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg.

Messi, unsurprisingly, continues to wreak havoc

Lionel Messi's blistering scoring pace in the group stage continued Tuesday after the Argentine converted his 10th goal in five Champions League matches to help Barcelona secure a 4-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

The fact that Messi found the back of the net won't surprise anyone, but his all-time conversion rate in Champions League home games might:

But it was Arda Turan who stole the show on the evening, scoring his first hat trick in a Barcelona shirt during an utterly dominant display by the Catalans.

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