Former champions Bayern Munich, Juventus and Ajax qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League on Tuesday. Manchester United has to wait to see if it will reach the final 16.
Juventus joined the German team in the final 16, but needed an 80th-minute goal from Alessandro del Piero to beat FC Brugge 1-0.
"It was important to qualify and we did it," Del Piero said. "First or second in the group standings does not matter. At this point of the competition all qualifiers are very strong."
PHOTO: EPA
Nigel de Jong scored twice for Ajax in a 2-1 over Sparta Prague to join Arsenal in advancing from Group B. Arsenal needed an 88th-minute penalty from Robert Pires to beat 10-man FC Thun 1-0 in Switzerland.
FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Lyon are also through to the next round. Liverpool, Chelsea and Inter Milan play today.
The third-place finishers in the eight groups drop into the UEFA Cup.
PHOTO: AFP
Also Tuesday, it was: Barcelona 3, Werder Bremen 1, and Panathinaikos 1, Udinese 2 in Group C; and Manchester United 0, Villarreal 0, and Lille 0, Benfica 0 in Group D.
The two places in Group D are still up for grabs after the two scoreless draws. Villarreal leads with seven points, followed by Lille and Manchester United with six and Benfica with five.
"I don't think it was a bad performance, we just needed that little break in front of goal but we didn't get it," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said.
In the final round on Dec. 7, Villarreal hosts Lille and Benfica hosts Manchester United.
Bayern beat Rapid Vienna without midfield duo Michael Ballack and Mehmet Scholl, who are both injured. Sebastian Deisler scored in the 21st minute from Roy Makaay's cross.
Ali Karimi made it 2-0 in the 54th minute when he volleyed the ball past Rapid goalkeeper Helge Payer after a corner from substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger. Makaay then added two more in the 72nd and the 76th.
"We could have scored a bigger victory if we had used all our chances," Deisler said. "We played very well tonight."
In Barcelona, Gabri Garcia, Ronaldinho and Henrik Larsson all scored for the hosts in a 3-1 win over Werder Bremen to ensure it advances as group winner. Midfielder Tim Borowski netted for Bremen from a penalty midway through the first half.
Udinese is second in Group C after rallying to beat Panathinaikos 2-1 in Athens. The Greek team was leading 1-0 through Costas Charalambides, but Vincenzo Iaquinta scored in the 80th and Vincent Candela added the second three minutes later.
Udinese has seven points, with Werder Bremen and Panathinaikos on four. Udinese plays Barcelona and Werder hosts Panathinaikos in the final group matches.
Ajax, which has won the title four times, the last in 1995, scored in the 68th when Wesley Sneijder crossed his free kick rather than taking a shot at goal and De Jong headed the ball past goalkeeper Jaromir Blazek. De Jong scored again in the 89th, with Sparta adding its goal in the 90th through Martin Petras.
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