Chelsea Squeak Through In Champions League

It wasn’t pretty but Chelsea secured their place in the first knock-out round of the Champions League following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over CFR Cluj on Tuesday.

A late goal from Didier Drogba secured the win for Chelsea and left the Blues second in Group A behind Roma who beat Bordeaux 2-0 in Rome with goals from Matteo Brighi and Francesco Totti.

Liverpool fared much better as their reserves beat PSV Eindhoven 3-1. Liverpool’s win combined with Atletico Madrid’s goalless draw with Marseille meant that Liverpool overtook Atletico to win Group D.

Panathinaikos booked their place in the knock-out stages with a 1-0 win over Anorthosis Famagusta in Group B. The goal came in the 69th minute when Giorgos Karagounis found the net to send Pana top of their group.

Inter Milan were already sure of going through, and went down 2-1 in Germany to a Werder Bremen side who needed to win to secure UEFA Cup football. The loss cost Inter the top spot in the group.

With Group C already settled, Barcelona sent in the kids against Shakhtar Donetsk as they rested first-team players ahead of the El Clasico against Real Madrid and lost 3-2 while Sporting Lisbon beat Basle 1-0, thanks to Yanick Djalo’s 19th-minute goal.

So far the Group Winners are Roma, Panathinaikos, Barcelona, and Liverpool, while the Group Runners up are Chelsea, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon.