Thread: Barcelona, Roma move up in Champions League

LONDON (AP) — Defending champion FC Barcelona and AS Roma captured places in the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday by winning their final group games.

The two teams join 10 clubs that already qualified: Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia, Lyon, Real Madrid, Celtic and AC Milan.

Eight more games are scheduled for Wednesday, and they will determine the last four berths. Manchester United and last season's finalist Arsenal are still not assured of qualifying for the knockout round.

Ronaldinho's free kick and Eidur Gudjohnsen's tap-in helped Barcelona beat Werder Bremen 2-0 to finish second in Group A behind Chelsea, which beat Levski Sofia 2-0. Bremen's consolation for finishing third means a place in the UEFA Cup.

"The team made a huge effort tonight to get the lead," Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard said. "We played attractive football. It's not always easy, but we played well, got the result and are into the next round."

Christian Panucci scored the lone goal in Roma's 1-0 win over Valencia, putting the Italian team in second place in Group D behind the Spanish club, which had already qualified.

Shakhtar Donetsk finished third and will play in the UEFA Cup after a 1-1 tie at Olympiakos.

In a meeting of two clubs that already had qualified from Group B, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan drew 1-1. That means four-time champion Bayern wins the group.

Spartak Moscow won at Sporting Lisbon 3-1 to capture third place after the two teams finished even on points.

Group C winner Liverpool lost at last-place Galatasaray 3-2 despite two goals from Robbie Fowler while second-place PSV Eindhoven, which also had already qualified, lost to visiting Bordeaux 3-1. The French team moves on to the UEFA Cup.

"This was not worthy of PSV," PSV coach Ronald Koeman said. "I was very angry. We were playing at home in front of 30,000 people ... you can't start like that."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/socce...p_x.htm?csp=34

Barcelona look strong now and despite their earlier slips look like they will mount a strong challenge