The Glorious of Football: UCL : Nervous Chelsea edge into last 16

Chelsea 2 - 1 CFR Cluj

Didier Drogba made a scoring return to ease Chelsea FC's nerves and carry them to a narrow victory against CFR 1907 Cluj as Luiz Felipe Scolari's team advanced to the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds.

It was a far from convincing display from Scolari's men, however, and the Chelsea boss will have to get more from his team if they are to reach the final again. Scolari had insisted it wouldn't be the end of the world if Chelsea failed to qualify; the Brazilian's laid-back approach was clearly meant to relax his players, but they still looked nervous in the early stages.

Chelsea were spluttering rather than moving smoothly through the gears, and Scolari jumped from the bench to berate his players. But the breakthrough they desperately needed finally arrived in the 40th minute after a lapse in concentration from the Romanians. Ballack tumbled under Eugen Trica's challenge and, when Deco whipped in the free-kick, Kalou was left unmarked six yards from goal. Kalou took a sublime first touch before lashing his shot past Nunu Claro.

Chelsea were on top at the start of the second half, and Nicolas Anelka wasted a chance to double Chelsea's lead when John Obi Mikel picked him out. The France striker pulled the trigger too slowly and Claro blocked. Cluj were never overwhelmed, however, and they hit Chelsea with a pefectly timed sucker punch in the 55th minute. Culio back-heeled to Cristian Panin and the defender's cross reached Kone, who rose above Alex at the far post to bury his header past Cech.

Scolari sent on Drogba for Kalou for the final 25 minutes and the powerful forward, who received a rapturous reception from the home fans, made an immediate impact. In the 72nd minute, Mikel and Joe Cole combined to carve open the Cluj defence and Drogba's low finish gave Claro no chance.

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AS Roma 2 - 0 Bordeaux

AS Roma topped Group A after comfortably defeating a disappointing FC Girondins de Bordeaux 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Second half goals from Matteo Brighi and captain Francesco Totti were enough to send Luciano Spalletti's men into the knockout stages for a third successive season and consign Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup.

Roma took the lead on 61 minutes after Bordeaux's defence went missing. Julio Baptista played Simone Perrotta in behind the backline and he pulled the ball back for the unmarked Brighi who also struck twice on Matchday 5 in the 3-1 victory over CFR 1907 Cluj, to slot home with Bordeaux's defence completely at sixes and sevens.

Blanc reacted by throwing on three attacking players, including former Manchester United forward David Bellion, who played alongside Blanc at Old Trafford a few years back. Still they struggled to create much, but on 76 minutes Gourcuff did force Doni into a save low to his left. But only three minutes later, Roma clinched the victory they just about deserved as Frenchman Jeremy Menez released Totti to fire home under Rame's body. Soon after that Bellion had a great chance to pull a goal back, but he volleyed wildly over from inside the box.

Roma now go into the hat on 19 December as group winners and, as well as playing the second leg at home, will avoid some big guns in the first knockout round.

Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Inter Milan

Werder Bremen ended their UEFA Champions League with a bang as second-half goals from Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg earned the German side the consolation of a place in the UEFA Cup, leaving FC Internazionale Milano to settle for second in Group B.

Werder deserved their victory and finish third by leapfrogging Anorthosis Famagusta, who lost 1-0 at group winners Panathinaikos. Inter, who had already qualified, must be content with progressing as group runners-up after another lacklustre European performance.

Pizarro, who scored in the 1-1 draw at San Siro in October, netted from close range on 63 minutes after an unusually shaky Julio Cesar could only parry Mesut Ozil's drive. Strike partner Rosenberg added a similar second nine minutes from time after more poor Inter defending before substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasted in a consolation for Inter from just outside the area.

Inter talisman Ibrahimovic started on the bench with his side already through, and Werder, without the suspended Diego, lacked creativity in the first half. Wingers Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma again underperformed for the visitors, who lost 1-0 at home to Panathinaikos in their previous group game. Pizarro had two other good chances for the hosts, already out of contention for Champions League progression before the game.

Barcelona 2 - 3 Shakhtar Donetsk

It took Mircea Lucescu 35 years of trying as a player and a coach but Matchday 6 finally brought the Romanian his first competitive victory in Spain as FC Shakhtar Donetsk took full advantage of an inexperienced FC Barcelona side to earn a memorable UEFA Champions League success. Barcelona were already assured of first place in the group and rested eight first-choice players at a half-empty stadium.

Forward Gladkiy put Shakhtar ahead on 31 minutes, sidefooting Willian's pullback past Albert Jorquera in the home goal, and doubled the visitors' lead with 58 minutes gone when he rose unmarked to head home from a free kick. Their two-goal advantage was short-lived, as a minute later Silvinho exchanged passes with Seydou Keita and rifled a shot past Andriy Pyatov from the edge of the area.

Fernandinho made it 3-1 with just under quarter of an hour left, tapping the ball into an empty net, and Sergio Busquets pulled one back shortly afterwards when he latched on to Eidur Gudjohnsen's clever chip and sidefooted home. Shakhtar midfielder Brandao was lucky to escape a sending-off near the end when he caught Busquets with his arm, prompting some ugly pushing and shoving between the players.

Barca pressed for an equaliser but were unable to carve out any clear openings as the match drew to a close. The Catalans were now concentrating on Saturday's home Primera Liga clash with arch-rivals Real Madrid, he added.

PSV Eindhoven 1 - 3 Liverpool

Goals by Ryan Babel, Albert Riera and David N'Gog took Liverpool FC comfortably into the UEFA Champions League first knockout round as the winners of Group D and left PSV Eindhoven languishing at the bottom of the table with only three points.

Ryan Babel equalised on the stroke of half-time, and second-half goals from Spanish winger Albert Riera and back-up striker David Ngog delivered what was ultimately a straightforward victory for Rafael Benitez's side.

The final outcome had appeared unlikely when Javier Mascherano's failure to clear a corner at the near post gave Lazovic the chance to put PSV ahead with a close-range shot that went between the legs of Liverpool goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri, who was making a rare start in place of the rested Jose Reina. The equaliser came within seconds of half-time and courtesy of a fine free-kick from Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva. Babel's glancing header may not have been perfectly timed, but the bounce of the ball ensured former Manchester City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson could only get a hand to it and help it into the net.

Liverpool looked brighter after the restart and Ajax old boy Babel came close to silencing the crowd's jeers with a shot that found the side netting just before the hour mark. Ten minutes later, Liverpool got their noses in front thanks to a superb 30-yard strike from Spanish winger Riera that left Isaksson with no chance as it glided into the top corner of the net. Riera made way shortly afterwards for homegrown prospect Jay Spearing, and two minutes later a fine breakaway strike put the contest beyond any doubt. Robbie Keane was the architect, releasing Ngog with a fine pass from just inside his own half and the youngster raced away before producing a cool finish to claim his first Champions League goal. fifa

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UCL : Nervous Chelsea edge into last 16

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