Barca qualify as Brits suffer CL nightmare

PARIS: Catalan giants Barcelona were the first team to progress to the Champions League knockout stages after Tuesday's group matches after a 1-1 draw with Swiss side Basel.

However, it was a nightmare evening for English Premier League giants Chelsea and Liverpool as they both missed out on qualifying for the elimination stages - for the moment at least - as the Blues lost to AS Roma and Rafa Benitez's squad drew with Atletico Madrid respectively.

Chelsea lost 3-1 to the out of form Italian side - who had lost their last four Serie A matches - while Liverpool drew 1-1 with Atletico with a fortunate injury-time penalty by Steven Gerrard grabbing them a point.