UCL Round Up: Barca And Inter Go Through

Published by djmick on December 10th, 2009

eto and balotelli

The group phase of the UEFA Champions League concluded with reigning champions Barcelona overcoming Dynamo Kiev 2-1 to seal top spot in Group F.

Barca started the night in control of their own destiny at the top of the group, but with all four teams still in contention to qualify and a complex set of permutations in place it was always going to be a nervy night for the Catalan giants.

Tensions escalated after just two minutes when Victor Valdes fumbled Artem Milevskiy’s glancing header into his own net, but Barca responded strongly and Xavi equalised with a close-range finish from Eric Abidal’s left-wing cross before half-time.

Barcelona starved Dynamo of possession in the second period and wrapped up an impressive night’s work with a fabulous late free-kick from the brilliant Lionel Messi.

Inter Milan joined Barca in the knockout stages following a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Russian champions Rubin Kazan, who must now take their place in the Europa League.

Mario Balotelli was the star of the show for Jose Mourinho’s side, first setting up Samuel Eto’o for the opening goal with a neat pass and then netting with a superb 35 yard free-kick midway through the second half.

Liverpool, already out of the competition, were beaten 2-1 at Anfield by Fiorentina in the final Group E game.

Lyon therefore had to settle for second spot despite ending their group campaign with an emphatic 4-0 success against Hungarian minnows Debrecen.

Olympiakos sealed their place in the last 16 with a 1-0 victory over Group H winners Arsenal in Greece.

There was late drama in Belgium as Standard Liege goalkeeper Sinan Bolat scored a last-minute equaliser to deny AZ Alkmaar a Europa League adventure.

Rangers already knew they would finish bottom of Group G and they were not able to bring their European campaign to a close on a high note as they went down 1-0 to Sevilla in Spain.

Stuttgart needed to beat surprise package Unirea Urziceni to claim second spot behind Sevilla and they rose to the challenge in style with a comprehensive 3-1 triumph.

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