Blues join Liverpool
DEFENDING champion Liverpool, Chelsea and Inter Milan reached the knockout stage of the Champions League on Wednesday, joining seven other teams that had already qualified.
Liverpool guaranteed one of the top two places in Group G with a 0-0 draw against Spanish club Real Betis at Anfield. Group rival Chelsea also advanced, winning 2-0 at Anderlecht with goals from Hernan Crespo and Ricardo Carvalho.
Inter Milan clinched the top place in Group H, beating Artmedia Bratislava 4-0 behind three goals from Brazil forward Adriano and another from Luis Figo.
Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko scored all four goals in Milan's 4-0 victory at Fenerbahce. However, the victory was not enough to put through Milan 鈥?last season's losing finalist 鈥?from a tight Group E.
PSV Eindhoven, which could have reached the final 16 with a victory in Group E, fell 0-3 at Schalke behind a hat trick from Georgia midfielder Levan Kobiashvili.
That leaves the group wide open. Milan and Schalke have eight points, followed by PSV with seven and Fenerbahce with four.
Seven teams had already advanced to the final knockout stage of 16: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Arsenal, Ajax, FC Barcelona, Lyon and Real Madrid.
The final six berths will be decided in two weeks in the last of the group-stage games.
Also on Wednesday, it was: Real 1, Lyon 1, and Rosenborg 1, Olympiakos 1 in Group F; and FC Porto 1, Rangers 1 in Group H. Travis Daniels Jersey
On a night that saw three teams advance, three players scored three goals or more. Shevchenko notched four and Adriano and Kobiashvili had three each.
Shevchenko scored his first in the 16th, and then added three more in the second half 鈥?all four from open play in Istanbul. The loss knocked Fenerbahce out of contention for the second round.
In Milan, Adriano ended his month-long scoring drought with his hat trick in the 4-0 win over Artmedia. The victory at San Siro was again played behind closed doors.
It was the fourth and final home match without fans, a UEFA punishment handed out to the Italian club following fan violence during a Champions League match last season with city rival Milan.
In Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Kobiashvili scored twice from the penalty spot 鈥?in the 18th and 79th 鈥?and then tapped in a rebound in the 73rd in Schalke's win over PSV.
Chelsea and Liverpool are both in. Now they meet in two weeks to decide which clubs wins the group.
"It's very important for the knockout stages, it's important to come top psychologically and to win the group would be a great achievement," Chelsea defender John Terry said.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, whose club was a surprise winner last season, seemed content to reach the knockout stage.
"This is very different Tim Jennings Jersey from the situation last season," Benitez said. "This is very good for us. Now we can concentrate on the second Whitney Mercilus Jersey round."
Rangers also could have advanced with a victory in Group H. Ross McCormack equalized in the 83rd after Lisandro Lopez gave Porto a 1-0 lead in the 60th.
One spot remains from Group H. Inter has the top spot with 12 points, and Rangers is next with six, followed by Artmedia with five and Porto on four. Rangers is attempting to be the first Scottish club to advance from the group stage of the Champions League.
In Group F, where Lyon and Real have already advanced, the two teams drew 1-1 in the Spanish capital. Guti scored in the 41st for Real, and John Carew equalized in the 72nd. Lyon leads the group with 13 points while Real has 10.
In the other group game, Olympiakos drew 1-1 at Rosenborg. Rosenborg has four points and Olympiakos has one.
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