LONDON (AP) - Five-time winner Liverpool, Italian champion Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid joined 10 other qualifiers for the last knockout phase of the Champions League on Wednesday. Chelsea still has work to do in the final round of games after a 1-1 tie with Bordeaux.
Steven Gerrard, coming off a groin injury, scored on a header in the 23rd minute to give Liverpool a 1-0 victory over Marseille. Atletico Madrid edged PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the other Group D game.
Inter was beaten 1-0 at home by Panathinaikos but still qualified. Its two nearest rivals, Panathinaikos and Anorthosis Famagusta, meet Dec. 9 and only one of the teams can finish above the Serie A leader.
Josu Sarriegi revived Panathinaikos' chances with the only goal at San Siro in the 69th minute. The Cypriot team Anorthosis, one of the surprises of the competition, squandered a two-goal lead and was held to a 2-2 tie by Werder Bremen to slip from second to third.
Chelsea appeared on course to join the other three qualifiers after Nicolas Anelka put the Blues ahead at Bordeaux. But Alou Diarra tied it in the 83rd and Chelsea's Frank Lampard was sent off near the end for two yellow cards.
AS Roma went top of Group A after winning 3-1 at CFR Cluj, helped by two goals by Matteo Brighi. The Italian team has nine points, Chelsea eight and Bordeaux seven going into the final round of games when Roma hosts the French team and Premier League leader Chelsea is at home to Romania's Cluj.
The last 16 already includes eight teams that have won European soccer's biggest club competition with three more spots still to fill.
Ten teams had already qualified — Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon from Group C, Manchester United and Villarreal from Group E, Lyon and Bayern Munich from Group F, Arsenal and FC Porto from Group G and Juventus and Real Madrid from Group H.
Barcelona won 5-2 at Sporting in a meeting of two clubs that had already qualified. Shakhtar Donetsk routed FC Basel 5-0 behind a hat trick by Jadson in another high-scoring Group C game. |