Five-time winner Liverpool, Italian champion Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid all moved on to the knockout phase of the Champions League on Wednesday but last season’s runners-up 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 while Atletico Madrid beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the other Group D game to finish second in the group.
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.
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.
Group A
Roma 9
Chelsea 8
Bordeaux 7
CFR Cluj 4
Roma have yet to qualify for the knockout stage. A draw against Bordeaux will guarantee their passage into the next stage. If they lose to Bordeaux and Chelsea do not defeat CFR Cluj they will also qualify. If they lose to Bordeaux and Chelsea defeat CFR Cluj they will finish third. A win against CFR Cluj will guarantee their finishing first in the group, as will a draw between Chelsea and Bordeaux. The only way in which they can finish second in the group is if they lose to Bordeaux and Chelsea fail to beat CFR Cluj.
Chelsea have yet to qualify for the knockout stage. A win against CFR Cluj will guarantee their passage to the next stage. If Roma do not lose to Bordeaux they will also qualify, regardless of their result against CFR Cluj. Chelsea can win the group by finishing ahead of Roma on points only, as their head-to-head record is inferior.
Bordeaux have yet to qualify for the knockout stage. If they beat Roma they will qualify for the next round. Anything less than victory will see them finish third, as they have an inferior head-to-head record with Chelsea, with whom they can finish level on points.
Group B
*Inter Milan 8
Panathinaikos 7
Anorthosis 6
Werder 4
Inter Milan have qualified for the knockout stage. They will finish first with a win over Werder Bremen. They have an identical head-to-head record to Panathinaikos and a superior goal difference of two; if they maintain this difference and finish level on points with Panathinaikos they advance as group leaders; after that it comes down to goals scored, and then coefficients (in which case Inter lead.) If they finish level on points with Anorthosis they will finish first due to their superior head-to-head record.
Panathinaikos have yet to qualify for the knockout stage. A draw or win against Anorthosis will see them through to the next stage. They cannot finish lower than 3rd due to a superior head-to-head record with Werder Bremen.
Anorthosis have yet to qualify for the knockout stage. If they beat Panathinaikos they will reach the next stage. They can only finish fourth if they lose to Panathinaikos and Werder Bremen beat Inter.
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.
