Six-time European Cup winner AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven and Rangers made it to the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday, while Liverpool's 0-0 draw at Chelsea meant the defending champion finished top of its group.
Brazilian star Kaka scored twice as Milan edged Germany's Schalke 3-2 at home while PSV, which lost to the Italian club in last season's semifinals, qualified by beating Fenerbahce 2-0 with goals from Phillip Cocu and Jefferson Farfan.
"It's a great celebration for us because we won a very difficult match and qualified from a very tough group," Kaka said. "I had an impressive performance, and I'm overjoyed. Now we must think of the upcoming matches."
Andrea Pirlo scored Milan's first while Schalke replied through Christian Poulson and Brazilian-born Lincoln.
Rangers, struggling in the domestic league, held Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw in Glasgow to become the first Scottish team to reach the knockout stage of the competition since it changed format to the Champions League 13 years ago.
Although Brazilian striker Adriano headed Inter in front at Ibrox Park, Danish forward Peter Lovenkrands leveled nine minutes later.
McLeish on the ropes
It was the 10th league and cup game without a victory for Rangers, but the fact the club has reached the last 16 of the competition means that manager Alex McLeish may keep his job.
"We will have to take stock over the next 48 hours or so," he said. "Let's take a breather and see what happens."
Already through were defending champion Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Arsenal, Ajax Amsterdam, Inter Milan and Lyon.
Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge meant that Rafa Benitez's team finished above the English Premier League champion in the Group G standings.
Anderlecht won 1-0 at Real Betis thanks to a goal by defender Vincent Kompany just before halftime but stayed last.
Rivaldo scored a later winner as Olympiakos, already eliminated, upset Real Madrid 2-1 in Group F. The result came two days after Madrid fired coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo even though the club had already made it to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Lyon secures group F
In the same group, Lyon beat Rosenborg 2-1 to finish six points clear of Madrid in the standings. Karim Benzema marked his Champions League debut at age 17 with the first goal for the French champion and, although Daniel Braaten equalized for the Norwegians, Brazilian star Fred hit the winner.
Five teams in action on Wednesday have already qualified -- Bayern Munich and Juventus from Group A, Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam from Group B, and Barcelona from Group C.
But all four teams from Group D are in contention with only two points separating leader Villarreal from last-place Benfica. Villarreal hosts second-place Lille and Benfica welcomes Manchester United.
Italy's Udinese has a great chance to join Barcelona from Group C, needing only a draw at home to the Spanish league leader to edge out Werder Bremen.
Napoli hosts AS Roma on Thursday in an Italian Cup match expected to draw a big crowd to the 75,000-seat San Paolo stadium.
Napoli, which once fielded Diego Maradona and Antonio Careca, is now struggling in Italy's third division after slipping from the top league to the Serie B in 1998.
The team is supported by the most enthusiastic fans in Italy, and has qualified for the fourth round of the Italian Cup by beating Serie A's Reggina in the second round and second-division Piacenza in the third.
If Napoli tops AS Roma, which is in ninth in Serie A, it will advance to the quarterfinals and face either league leader Juventus or third-place Fiorentina.
"We are focusing on the league, to earn promotion to the Serie B, but we really want to please our fans in a big cup match," Napoli coach Edoardo Reja said.
Hurt by injuries
In today's first-leg match, AS Roma was expected to miss several injured players, including Francesco Totti, Vincenzo Montella, Antonio Cassano and Daniele De Rossi.
The hosts will be led by veteran Argentine striker Roberto "El Pampa" Sosa.
With Maradona on the team, Napoli won two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.
Another third-division team, Cittadella, made it to the fourth round and will play at Lazio.
Serie A battle
Also today, Cagliari hosts Sampdoria in a match between Serie A clubs, while second-division Bari hosted Palermo yesterday.
In earlier fourth-round matches last week, Fiorentina and Juventus played to a 2-2 draw, AC Milan beat Brescia 3-1, Inter Milan won at Parma 1-0 and Atalanta upset visiting Udinese 1-0.
The Italian Cup winner earns a berth in next season's UEFA Cup, but the leading teams, busy with the tight schedule of the European Cups and the Serie A, tend to start several reserve players in the national competition.
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