Milan, Barca and PSV reach last 16

AC MILAN last night joined city rivals Internazionale in the last 16 of the Champions League while Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven also booked their places in the knockout stages.

Defending champions Porto and last season’s UEFA Cup winners Valencia gave themselves lifelines with important wins.

Arsenal’s hopes of reaching the next round, following their 1-1 draw in Eindhoven, were bolstered by Panathinaikos only drawing 2-2 with Rosenborg. Michalis Konstantinou scored after 16 minutes for the Athens club. Thorstein Helstaad equalised for the Norwegians but then Rudolf Skacel restored the lead for Panathinaikos.

Helstaad grabbed a second equaliser for Rosenborg who will be eliminated whatever happens in their last match.

The Gunners will join PSV in the next phase if they win their final match against Rosenborg.

Barca’s 1-1 draw with Celtic was enough to see them through and eliminate the Scots. And Milan sealed their place in the last 16 with a win over Shakhtar Donetsk of the Ukraine.

Two goals apiece from Kaka and on-loan Chelsea forward Hernan Crespo earned a 4-0 win for the Rossoneri. Shakhtar will now battle Celtic for the consolation prize of a spot in the UEFA Cup.

German champions Werder Bremen were held 1-1 by Inter and now face a nervous trip to Valencia.

Valerien Ismael gave Werder the lead from the penalty spot early in the second half, but Inter replied promptly with a goal from Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins.

Valencia’s 2-1 win at Anderlecht has breathed new life into the fortunes of beleaguered coach Claudio Ranieri.

Italian strike pair Bernardo Corradi and Marco Di Vaio grabbed the goals for the UEFA Cup holders, sandwiching a goal by Christian Wilhelmsson who scored from close range after Santiago Canizares had saved a Par Zetterberg penalty.

Porto kept their heads above water by winning 1-0 at CSKA Moscow.

Benni McCarthy’s first-half goal gave the defending champions the points with their first victory in the competition since the final in Gelsenkirchen last season. Porto rode their luck at times and were grateful to CSKA defender Sergei Ignashevich, whose first-half penalty miss seemed to knock the belief out of the home side.

The champions next host a Chelsea side who have already qualified and are coached by Jose Mourinho, the man who plotted Porto’s successful campaign last season. Chelsea’s goalless draw at home to Paris St Germain means the Parisians will contest the second qualification berth from Group H with CSKA and Porto.