Soccer: Madrid march on to next phase

REAL MADRID made sure of a place in the last 16 of the Champions League as unbeaten group winners with a 1-1 draw against Porto at the Bernabeu last night.

The Spanish side took the lead after just nine minutes when Argentine midfielder Santiago Solari drilled in a fine angled shot after a slick passing move involving Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo.

But Porto, who needed an improbable three-goal victory to edge out Real as group winners, responded well and live-wire forward Deco won a penalty after forcing right back Michel Salgado into a clumsy challenge.

Derlei equalised with the spot kick and Porto briefly threatened again at the end of the half, but with the hefty win looking out of their reach, the game gradually petered out.

Marseille and Partizan Belgrade drew 1-1 in the group’s other game.

In Milan, Spain’s Celta Vigo qualified for the knockout stages by beating European champions AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro in Group H.

Already-qualified Milan, who fielded a weakened side, still finish top of the group with Celta taking second place ahead of Bruges who beat Ajax 2-1.

Milan went ahead in the 41st minute through Kaka, the Brazilian firing into the top corner from the edge of the area after being set-up by Fernando Redondo.

But Celta’s response was immediate with Jesuli wrong-footing Milan

defenders Martin Laursen and Alessandro Costacurta with a swift change of direction and then beating Christian Abbiati with a perfectly placed shot into the bottom corner.

The winner came in the 71st minute when Peter Luccin played the ball into the box from the right flank and although Jose Ignacio mis-kicked his first effort he recovered quickly to fire home with a low shot that secured qualification.

In Prague, substitute Marek Kincl scored with a header three minutes into injury time to give Sparta Prague a 1-0 win over Lazio in their final Champions League Group G match and put the Czech side into the next round.

On a bitterly cold night, Lazio controlled the ball more, but it was the Czech League champions who had the better chances in a game both had to win to have any hope of finishing second behind either Chelsea or Besiktas.

A lack of polished finishing appeared to have spelled the end for Sparta until Kincl, a second-half substitute, headed Karel Poborsky’s injury time cross off the crossbar and into the net for the victory.

With Chelsea defeating Besiktas 2-0, Sparta finished second on eight points, one ahead of Besiktas to qualify for the knockout phase of 16 teams.

In the final game of the night, the group E clash between Glasgow Rangers and Panathinaikos, the Scottish outfit were well beaten on a 3-1 scoreline and finish bottom of the group.