AC Milan 3-2 Schalke 04
Last season’s beaten finalist AC Milan made its way to the last 16 knockout stage of the Champions’ League. Italian international Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring with Kaka bagging a brace for Milan. The six time European Cup winners held on till the end, surviving an onslaught towards the end of the game from Schalke which needed juz one more equalising goal to kick the Italian giants out of the competition. Milan will have to look more convincing if they want to progress further than the quarter-finals. They top Group E with 11 points while Schalke 04 will have to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup.

PSV Eindhoven 2-0 Fenerbahce
PSV booked themselves a place in the last 16 with an easy win over Fenerbahce. It’s another disappointing season for the Turkish champs in the European front. Goals from Captain Phillip Cocu n Jefferson Farfan secured all 3 points for the Dutch side. Not one of the beautiful games played, but PSV fans didn’t care as long as it brings them to the knockout stage.

Lyon 2-1 Rosenborg
Olympique Lyon, managed by ex-Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, extended their unbeaten run in the Champions’ League to top Group F. The 4-time French Ligue 1 champion fielded a relatively young n inexperienced side, choosing to rest several first team players with nothing at stake for this match. They needed a last gasp goal from Brazilian forward Frederico Chaves Guedes to win the match. Young n exciting 18yr old striker Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Lyon with Daniel Braathen of Rosenborg equalizing in the 2^nd half. Rosenborg can now look forward to competing in the UEFA Cup after securing 3^rd place.

Olympiakos 2-1 Real Madrid
Another match with nothing at stake, Real Madrid fielded the team’s second string players. Ex-Barcelona star Rivaldo scored the winner in the 88^th minute to win it for Olympiakos but it’s all too late. The Greeks finished bottom of Group F, losing 4, drawing n winning once. Try again next year I say…

Real Betis 0-1 Anderlecht
Anderlecht ended their 12-match Champions League losing streak with a goal from defender Vincent Kompany juz b4 half time. The Belgian club was on course for an embarrassing record of being the 1^st team not scoring a single goal in the group stages until Kompany struck. Betis finished 3^rd in the group with a place in the UEFA Cup competition. Anderlecht finished bottom but can take pride that their losing streak has finally broken.

Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
A stalement at Stamford Bridge with the English clubs playing to a goal-less draw. I almost fell asleep watching the match. The English Champs n the European Champs had now played against each other EIGHT times in a span of 12 months n Jose Mourinho’s team had failed to score against or beat Liverpool in all European matches. Chances were few n far between but Michael Essien’s dangerous tackle on Didi Hamann in the 1^st half left Rafael Benitez fuming. Liverpool topped Group G n is looking unstoppable on current form.

Artmedia Petrzalka 0-0 FC Porto
In a night with poor pitch conditions n terrible weather in Artmedia’s home in Slovakia, former European Champ FC Porto was dumped out of the competition after finishing last in Group H. It was a disappointing campaign for the Portuguese team who played their 100^th match in the competition last night. Artmedia truly deserved their place in the UEFA Cup after finishing 3^rd in the group. However, had they won Porto last night, they would have gone into the last 16.

Rangers 1-1 Inter Milan
Rangers wrote itself into the history books last night when they became the 1^st team from Scotland to progress beyond the Champions League group stages. Rangers were facing a group of unknowns from Inter with Adriano the only familiar face in the team. Adriano put the Italians in front on the 30^th minute with a header from a corner. Peter Lovenkrands of Rangers equalized soon after by slotting the ball past goalie Fancesco Toldo after receiving a superb through ball from Dane Thomas Buffel. Inter n Rangers finished the group top n 2^nd respectively n will progress to the last 16 together.

My thoughts? Hopefully, I won’t see another Chelsea vs Liverpool match again this season in the Champions League. I’m sick of it. I can’t wait for the draw next week to determine who will play against who in the knockout phase. Can u picture Real Madrid vs Liverpool n Chelsea vs AC Milan? Sheesh, that will surely hot things up..