Barcelona beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Tuesday and guaranteed itself a place in the Champions League quarterfinals, joining AC Milan and Manchester United who advanced a week ago.
In Tuesday's other Group A match, Newcastle and Inter Milan drew 2-2 in Italy with both clubs still alive with a chance to reach the final eight. Inter has the advantage with 8 points to 7 for Newcastle going into next week's group finales.
In Group B, Arsenal drew 1-1 at home against Roma despite playing with a man-advantage for three-quarters of the game. In the other group match, Ajax and Valencia drew 1-1.
PHOTO: AP
Ajax and Arsenal have 7 points with Valencia on 6 and Roma with 4. Arsenal plays at Valencia next week with Ajax facing Roma.
In play yesterday (with point totals in brackets): Group C: Borussia Dortmund (4) vs. Lokomotiv (1); Real Madrid (5) vs. AC Milan (12). Group D: Juventus (4) vs. Deportivo (4); Manchester United (12) vs. Basel (3).
Barcelona 2, Bayer Leverkusen 0
In Barcelona, Spain, Barcelona booked its passage into the Champions League quarterfinals. Argentine striker Javier Saviola scored in the first half with Leverkusen defender Thomas Kleine adding an own-goal just after the interval, as the Catalan team stretched its unbeaten run to 13 matches -- including 12 wins -- in the competition this season.
Barcelona wins the group with 13 points.
Leverkusen, last season's Champions League finalist but now threatened with relegation from the German first division, remains without a point in the second phase.
Barcelona's victory -- its 200th in European competition -- was hardly in doubt, once it had got over a shaky start.
Inter Milan 2, Newcastle 2
In Milan, Italy, Alan Shearer scored twice for Newcastle and Christian Vieri and Ivan Cordoba each scored once for Inter Milan, pushing their battle for a spot in the final eight back another week.
Inter has the edge in the group with 8 points to 7 for Newcastle. Newcastle must beat Barca next week and hope Inter fails to beat Leverkusen
The two goals gave Shearer five in two weeks following his hat trick in Newcastle's 3-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen last week.
The former England captain put Newcastle up 1-0 in the 42nd minute off a cross. In the 47th, Vieri notched his first Champions League goal for Inter on a header. Shearer's second score came two minutes later.
Inter's Cordoba, a Colombian defender, made it 2-2 in the 61st by redirecting a free kick from Turkish teammate Belozoglu Emre with a header.
Arsenal 1, Roma 1
In London, 10-man Roma managed a late first-half goal from Antonio Cassano to draw Arsenal. Despite the draw, Roma was virtually eliminated from any chance of making the Champions League quarterfinals. Arsenal has 7 points with Roma on 4. Arsenal will need at least a draw next week at Valencia in the group final to make the quarterfinals.
Arsenal took a 1-0 lead in the 12th on Patrick Vieira's header and then saw Roma captain Francesco Totti sent off on a red card in the 22nd. But Cassano's equalizer two minutes into first-half injury time failed to help Arsenal.
Brazilian Emerson found Cassano with a long pass. He moved in along on 'keeper David Seaman, who came out of his goal mouth trying to defend on the play as Cassano scored two minutes into injury time.
Totti was sent off when he seemed to intentionally hit Arsenal defender Martin Keown in the head with his arm as the jumped high for a loose ball.
Ajax 1, Valencia 1
At Amsterdam, Netherlands, Valencia scored first as Ajax midfielder Tomas Galasek was caught holding Francisco Rufete directly in front of the Ajax goal in the 26th minute.
Valenica's Kily Gonzalez blasted the penalty just past the fingertips of a leaping Ajax keeper Bogdan Lobont two minutes later.
The Ajax equalizer came from an unlikely source as centerback Petri Pasanen rose utterly unmarked to meet Maxwell's pinpoint cross in the 57th and direct a powerful header into the roof of the net.
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