Liverpool, Inter and Atletico through; Chelsea made to wait
27/11/2008 16:45
Five-time winners Liverpool, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid advanced into
the Champions League last 16 while Chelsea must wait for the final group match
after a 1-1 draw at Girondins Bordeaux yesterday.
Captain Steven Gerrard
scored the only goal at Anfield against Olympique Marseille to send Liverpool
through. Atletico Madrid grabbed the other berth in Group D after a 2-1 home win
over PSV Eindhoven behind closed doors.
Inter safely progressed from Group B
despite a surprise 1-0 home defeat to Panathinaikos.
Chelsea still have to
work to join fellow Premier League sides in the last 16 as a 83-minute Alou
Diarra header cancelled out Nicolas Anelka's goal for Chelsea.
Roma went top
of Group A on nine points after a 3-1 win at CFR Cluj but still have to secure a
draw facing Bordeaux, now on seven, to get through. Chelsea, a point behind
Roma, will host Cluj.
Group C produced two big-scoring matches. Barcelona
beat Sporting 5-2 in a game of qualifiers to seal the top spot while Shakhtar
Donetsk secured a UEFA Cup place, available to the eight third-placed teams,
after a 5-0 home rout of Basel thanks to a Jadson hat-trick.
Panathinaikos
scored a shock winner against Inter on 69 minutes when Josu Sarriegi pounced
from close range after Giannia Goumas' header had been parried by Julio
Cruz.
Inter had its best chance in the 11th when Adriano hit the post on a
sharply angled shot.
They created little else afterwards until the final
minutes when coach Jose Mourinho had four strikers on the field and his team
laid siege to the Panathinaikos goal.
The loss left Mourinho fuming although
they still progressed with eight points, one more than Panathinaikos and two
clear of Anorthosis, who squandered a 2-0 lead at home to draw 2-2 with Werder
Bremen.
"Panathinaikos deserves this win and we deserved to lose," said
Mourinho.
"We played a slow game and in the first half basically didn't
create anything. We didn't fight for the lose balls. I think the players were
tired, that's the explanation I prefer."
The unlikely win put Panathinaikos
in a better position for a knockout stage slot as they need only a draw in their
final game against Anorthosis Famagusta in Athens.
Gerrard, restored to
Liverpool's line-up from a groin injury, provided the highlight of a poor
Liverpool display after 23 minutes. He stole in unmarked on the end of Xabi
Alonso's ball to the far post to head powerfully in.
Chelsea failed to
complete a clear sweep of English teams but are expecting little trouble against
eliminated Cluj in their final game.
Luiz Felipe Scolari's side struggled
with Petr Cech forced to make excellent early saves before Frank Lampard put
Nicolas Anelkaclean through to score with a low finish on 60 minutes.
An
unmarked Alou Diarra headed in from a corner to equalise with seven minutes to
go. Chelsea were under further pressure as Lampard was dismissed for a second
yellow card three minutes later but the hosts were unable to take the
advantage.
Xinhua
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