Clash of the Titans: The mighty Barcelona and AC Milan were pitted against each other in Group H. Both sides made it through to the last 16 of the Champions League. Here Antonio Nocerino of Milan (L) and Alexis Sanchez of Barca compete for the ball in a hotly contested match that ended 3-2 to Barcelona. The Catalan giants went through as group winners with Milan runners up. Will they meet again... quite possibly [GALLO/GETTY]
Published On 9 Dec 20119 Dec 2011
It was do or die for Chelsea, and manager Andre Villas-Boas, as the Blues went up against Valencia in their final group round match. They needed a win to qualify and they did even better than that, ending top of the group after Bayern Leverkusen could only manage a draw at Genk [GALLO/GETTY]
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APOEL Nicosia made Champions League history by becoming the first Cypriot team to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. They topped their group ahead of Zenit St Petersburg while last year(***)s Europa League winners Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk missed the cut [EPA]
Marseille snuck into the last 16 ahead of Olympiakos when two vital late goals gave them the win they needed at Borussia Dortmund. It was a sad end for Greek side Olympiakos who had won their final game against group winners Arsenal [GALLO/GETTY]
Back of the net: Four vital second-half goals from Batefimbi Gomis made Lyon(***)s story the most thrilling of the competition. Going into their last match at Dinamo Zagreb they needed a win and a goal difference swing of seven. Thanks to Gomis, Lyon scored seven and achieved what many thought unachievable to knock Ajax out. However, neither side came close to the winners of the group... [AFP]
...Real Madrid who have been in really great form during the competition. Jose Mourinho(***)s men have won all their games so far, scoring 19 goals in the competition. Here Gonzalo Higuain celebrates scoring against Ajax in their final rout of the group stages [GALLO/GETTY]
There was heartache for Manchester United who crashed out of the group stages for only the second time since 1996. Benfica ended top of Group C after a 1-0 victory over Otelul Galati in the final group stage match. Here Benfica(***)s Jardel (R) goes head to head with Gabriel Paraschiv during the game [EPA]
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Goalkeeper Yann Sommer of Basel celebrates his team(***)s unlikely qualification after defeating three time champion Manchester United. Nobody saw this result coming but Alex Ferguson(***)s men had struggled in the competition and the Swiss side were rightful victors [GALLO/GETTY]
Sergio Aguero shows his disappointment as Man City joined Man United as Champions League losers. Their win against Bayern Munich wasn(***)t enough to see them through. Bayern topped group with Italian side Napoli also entering the draw for the next stage. Now we await to see who will make it into the quarters. Game on! [EPA]
