Titleholders AC Milan swept into the second round of the Champions League on Wednesday, joined by four other teams that also reached the second stage: Manchester United, Stuttgart, Porto and Chelsea.
Real Madrid, Juventus and Monaco had already advanced to the final 16 with the last eight spots to be decided in matches on Dec. 9-10.
PHOTO: EPA
Manchester United and Stuttgart both advanced from Group E. Man United got through as Diego Forlan scored a late goal to beat Greek side Panathinaikos 1-0. Stuttgart advanced beating Rangers 1-0 in Germany. Rangers and Panathinaikos were both eliminated.
PHOTO: EPA
Porto won at home over Partizan Belgrade 2-0 to claim the second spot from Group F. Real Madrid had already staked out the other place. Partizan and Marseille, which lost 2-1 to Real Madrid, were eliminated.
David Beckham and Ronaldo scored for the Spaniards.
Beckham's goal on a first-half twisting free kick from 22m was the 600th for Real Madrid in the Champions League/European Cup. Alfredo Di Stefano scored the 100th and Ferenc Puskas the 200th.
Chelsea advanced from Group G despite a 0-0 draw in London against Sparta Prague. In the other Group match, Lazio and Besiktas drew 1-1.
The final rotation matches to decide the last eight qualifiers are Dec. 9-10. The first-leg of the knockout stage of 16 is Feb. 24-25.
Defending champion AC Milan beat Ajax 1-0 on a close-range goal from Andriy Shevchenko.
Milan clinched the top spot in the group with 10 points while Ajax is tied for second with Spain's Celta de Vigo, which drew 1-1 with FC Brugge. Both have six points.
"It was a surprise how they began attacking in the first half," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "Ajax should qualify because together with Milan they're the best team in the group."
An injury-depleted Ajax competed well until Brazilian right back Cafu found Shevchenko in front of the Ajax goal in the 52nd minute. The Serie A's leading scorer had plenty of time to knock the ball past Ajax goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont.
"It's extra painful because our defense was good," Ajax coach Ronald Koeman told Dutch television. "But we were open, we were one-against one, and they know how to punish that."
Despite coach Ronald Koeman's pre-game comment that he would play a defensive game, Ajax spent much of the first half in control of the ball and trying fruitlessly to penetrate Milan's stingy defense.
Milan's chances were rarer but better. Ajax nemesis Filippo Inzaghi had a clear shot on goal from the right side of the box in the 6th minute but clipped it above the crossbar.
Inzaghi broke past Ajax's wall at a 38th minute free kick to chase a loose ball and was almost in time to stop Ajax Lobont collecting it.
Inzaghi, who scored the goal that eliminated Ajax last year in the quarterfinals, got a yellow card for pushing Ajax defender Julien Escude in the 34th before a Shevchenko effort was disallowed.
A rash of injuries and suspensions forced Koeman to start several relatively unknown young players, including 20-year-old Johnny Heitinga, and 18-year-olds Nicolae Mitea and Anthony Obodai.
"We have only ourselves to blame -- one move and they score," Heitinga said. ``We have to be sharper.''
Ajax's attempts were mostly low percentage shots, taken at odd angles or from outside the goal box, but in the 10th minute Nigel de Jong's header cleared the crossbar on a corner by Mitea.
After Shevchenko's goal, Ajax rarely threatened and Milan grew in confidence.
Ex-Ajax midfielder Clarence Seedorf crushed a header over the crossbar at 58 minutes, and only rapid chases from Escude and Heitinga kept Inzaghi from going one-on-one with Lobont.
Group E
Panathinaikos 0, Man United 1
At Athens, Greece, Diego Forlan of Uruguay scored the winner in the 85th minute on a close-in shot from the left side. It was the Latin American's fifth goal in seven games. Panathinaikos was eliminated.
Stuttgart 1, Rangers 0
Reserve Timo Wenzel's goal Wednesday lifted VfB Stuttgart to a 1-0 victory over the Glasgow Rangers, cinching a berth for the Bundesliga frontrunners in the Champions League's second round.
Wenzel volleyed home a free kick variation in first half injury time, suddenly clear when two Glasgow defenders collided jumping after a cross, as the German team avenged its only loss this season in any competition.
Stuttgart, which dropped the opening round to the Rangers 2-1, has won all four matches since then to head Group E with 12 points. It now has won nine straight games, including domestic action.
Glasgow, with four points, will now have to fight Athens for a UEFA Cup berth after its Champions League campaign fell apart following a promising start.
After beating Stuttgart and drawing against Panathinaikos, the Scottish team twice fell to Manchester United before playing Stuttgart again.
Without a host of injured players, including Ronald de Boer and Spain's Mikel Arteta, Glasgow appeared overmatched against the German team for much of the game in Stuttgart in front of 50,000 roaring fans.
For the first 20 minutes, Glasgow couldn't keep control of the ball long enough to even get into the box, but in the 22nd minute it suddenly earned the first good chance of the match.
Fernando Ricksen, after a teammate chested a cross into his path, popped up in front of the Stuttgart net, but the Dutchman's careful toepoke wasn't accurate enough to beat goalie Timo Hildebrand, who one-handed the attempt outside the left post.
Just two minutes later, Germany forward Kevin Kuranyi wasted an equally good chance. He took a Aleksiandr Hleb through pass, beat the goalie, then sent a shot spinning left of the post.
In the second half, Glasgow did have more control of the game, but didn't appear very dangerous against a German team that laid back and waited for a breakaway, knowing it only needed a draw to advance.
But the stingy Stuttgart defense, which has yielded just three goals in 13 Bundesliga rounds, never really appeared close to buckling against the Rangers.
Stuttgart, the Bundesliga's youngest team, needs the money from reaching the Champions League second round to hold onto players like Kuranyi, who have drawn the interest of bigger better-heeled clubs.
Stuttgart's young players drew a standing ovation from its fans for another poised performance as its amazing season continues -- unbeaten and atop the Bundesliga, alive in the German Cup, and atop Group E because of a win against Manchester United.
Group F
Marseille 1, Real Madrid 2
At Marseille, France, David Beckham gave Real Madrid a 1-0 lead on a hooking first-half penalty from 20m. Ahmed Mido equalized for Marseille in the 64th, but Ronaldo put Real Madrid back in the lead in the 73rd. It was Zinedine Zidane's first official match in his birthplace in five years. Marseille was eliminated.
Porto 2, Partizan Belgrade 0
At Porto, Portugal, Benni McCarthy scored both goals to put the Portuguese into the knockout stage. The South African scored in the 25th to give Porto a 1-0 lead and again in the 49th. Partizan Belgrade is out of the competition.
Group G
Chelsea 0, Sparta Prague 0
Chelsea made it to the last 16 of the Champions League without turning on the style in a 0-0 tie with Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
The side that crushed Lazio 4-0 in Rome failed to muster a goal before its own fans at Stamford Bridge. But the Blues supporters went home in the knowledge their team gained the point needed to guarantee a place in the next round with a game to spare.
Argentine striker Hernan Crespo hit the bar with a header and Romanian striker spurned a glorious chance in the final minute when he broke away to shoot wide of goal with just the 'keeper to beat. But it was that sort of night for Claudio Ranieri's men.
"It was difficult," he said. "We tried to open the space, to create some chances. And I am very pleased because we created four of five chances to score a goal.
"I can't understand why the linesman didn't see the goal. We scored a goal," he said in reference to Crespo putting the ball into the net seconds after heading against the bar only for the linesman to rule it offside.
"I am pleased but I am also sad because we tried to win, to achieve these three points. But we achieved qualifying. Now it will be important to get a point against Besiktas, then we will win the group. If they win, they will be top of the group.''
Turkish champion Besiktas scored a surprise 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge Oct. 1 but won't have home advantage when they meet again because of security worries in Turkey in the light of last week's terrorist bombings in Istanbul. UEFA is still to rule on the venue.
With Besiktas scoring a 1-1 tie with Lazio, Chelsea tops Group G with 10 points from five games, Besiktas has seven, Sparta and Lazio five.
Sparta coach Jiri Kotrba said his team still had a chance to qualify for the next round but he was concentrating on defending the Czech league title.
"We are still in a situation where we can win," said Kotrba, whose team faces Lazio in its final match and gained a 2-2 tie in Rome in October.
"Our problem isn't with the Champions League. Our problem is the defense of the Czech Premier League."
Despite needing a victory to stand any realistic chance of reaching the next round, Sparta had just one man in attack, Libor Sionko, and had five stretched across the midfield.
Frank Lampard fired a 20m shot that dipped just over the bar after a good, weaving run by Joe Cole, who was posing problems to the Sparta defense with his enterprising play down the left.
The Blues almost went ahead in the 24th minute when Crespo climb to power a header that hit the crossbar. Mutu went in to challenge 'keeper Jaromir Blazek for the rebound and Crespo put the ball into an empty net only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
Having survived that scare, Sparta broke out to go close to snatching the lead in the 32nd minute.
Rastislav Michalik went on a run down the left and curled in a well-flighted cross and Sionko's long-range glancing header flew just past the corner of the post and bar.
Cole had a 20m shot well saved by Blazek at the foot of the post and then Sionko collected a low right wing cross from Pavel Pergl, turning skilfully but shooting too high from 16m.
Chelsea almost produced an amazing goal in the opening minute of the second half when Mutu broke down the left and slid the ball in to Damien Duff who turned it on to Crespo. The Argentine had his back to goal but tried his luck with a backheel from six yards out, the ball rolling agonizingly wide of the post with Blazek off his line.
It was Chelsea's turn to survive a scare midway through the second half when Pavel Krmas wasted a shooting chance by looping his effort wide only for Sionko to stretch his left leg and keep the ball in play. His cross floated back across goal and goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was thankful to see no Sparta player there to put the ball into his net.
Ranieri sent on Eidur Gudjohnsen and Geremi to shake up his team with Crespo and Cole the men to go off.
Lampard wriggled his way into a shooting position in the area only to be tackled by a combination of two defenders and the ball lobbed up for Blazek to take above his head.
Then John Terry climbed to meet Geremi's floated free kick to head across the face of the Sparta goal with the diving William Gallas unable to reach the ball and turn it home.
Gallas fired a free kick just too high and then Mutu broke free of the Sparta defense with just Blazek to beat only to slice his left foot shot wide of the post.
Lazio 1, Besiktas 1
At Rome, Daniel Pancu gave Besiktas a 1-0 lead in first-half injury time with a penalty. Lazio drew even 1-1 on a spectacular bicycle kick from Roberto Muzzi in the 55th. Lazio has five points and plays at Sparta in the final. Besiktas has seven points and closes with Chelsea on a neutral ground after recent terrorist attacks on Istanbul.
Group H
Ajax 0, AC Milan 1
Celta Vigo 1, Brugge 1
At Vigo, Spain, Alexandr Mostovoi gave Celta a 1-0 lead in the 73rd. But the Spanish side failed to hold on as Brugge's Rune Lange scored in second-half injury time. Celta (six points) closes at AC Milan.
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