Olympique Marseille snatched a last-gasp 3-2 victory at Borussia Dortmund to reach the Champions League knockout stages while Chelsea spared themselves an anxious night with a comfortable 3-0 win over Valencia to join them in the last 16 on Tuesday.
Olympique Marseille snatched a last-gasp 3-2 victory at Borussia Dortmund to reach the Champions League knockout stages while Chelsea spared themselves an anxious night with a comfortable 3-0 win over Valencia to join them in the last 16 on Tuesday.
Zenit St Petersburg also grabbed a place among Europe's elite thanks to a gritty 0-0 draw in Porto.
Late goals by Andre Ayew and Mathieu Valbuena gave Marseille a dramatic win over Borussia Dortmund when all had seemed lost.
Defeat for the French side would have allowed Olympiakos Piraeus to grab second place after they beat Group F winners Arsenal 3-1 but Marseille struck twice in the last five minutes to break the hearts of their Greek rivals.
With nine of the last 16 having already been decided, three of the remaining seven spots were up for grabs in some tension-filled clashes in Groups E-H.
Two goals from Didier Drogba and one for Ramires ensured Andre Villas-Boas's Chelsea side progressed from Group E when a score draw or defeat would have consigned them to the Europa League with Valencia qualifying.
Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw at Racing Genk provided a bonus for Chelsea who go into the draw for the last 16 as group winners, meaning they will avoid the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Zenit's draw in Porto kept them in second place a point above the Portuguese and behind surprise Group G winners APOEL Nicosia whose 2-0 home defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk was academic as they had already become the first Cypriot side to reach the knockout rounds.
For once the focus was not on holders Barcelona who had reached the last 16 and won Group H last month.
They fielded a second team with an average age of 21 at the Nou Camp but still had too much class for BATE Borisov, Pedro scoring twice in a 4-0 victory to cap an impressive campaign in which they dropped just two points and equalled the group stage record of 20 goals.
Already-qualified AC Milan finished distant runners-up behind the Spanish champions, signing off for the winter break with a 2-2 draw at Viktoria Plzen despite leading 2-0 into the later stages.
The remaining four qualifiers for the last 16 will emerge from Wednesday's action in Group A-D when Manchester United and Manchester City are both in danger of missing out.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}