CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW updates :- Barcelona and Inter Milan both qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League on Wednesday night but were taken to the final round of matches by their Group F rivals.

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Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi scored the winner for Barcelona as the defending European champions won 2-1 at Dynamo Kiev and secured top spot in the group.

Dynamo took an early lead when Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes spilled a header from Artem Milevskiy after just two minutes but Xavi levelled for the La Liga side.

Goals from Internazionale strikers Samuel Eto’o and Mario Balotelli gave the Italian champions a 2-0 win over Rubin Kazan at the San Siro.

Balotelli provided strike partner Eto’o with the opening goal in the 31st minute and then smashed in a 35-yard freekick after the break to secure a comfortable victory.

Three goals within the first 11 minutes helped Stuttgart beat Unirea Urziceni 3-1 in Group G to leapfrog the Romanian champions into the knockout phase.

Stuttgart took the lead on five minutes when Ciprian Marica headed in from close range. Christian Traesch doubled the lead before Russian international Pavel Pogrebnyak killed the game off after just 11 minutes. Antonio Semedo pulled a goal back for Unirea.

Sevilla won the Group G after beating Rangers 1-0 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. The Spaniards dominated the game but only Frederic Kanouté’s eighth minute penalty seperated the sides in the end.

Liverpool’s Champions League campaign ended with a whimper rather than a bang as they lost 2-1 at home to Group E winners Fiorentina. more

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW was first posted on December 10, 2009 at 12:04 pm.