Inter Milan & Ajax get the axe

Paris, December 11

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Holders Liverpool safely negotiated trip to Salzburg to take their place in the last-16 of this season’s UEFA Champions League while Chelsea are also through, but Ajax suffered a shock group stage exit.

Six clubs secured spots in the draw for the first knockout round in their final group games on Tuesday, with Ajax and Inter Milan the big names to miss out.

Jurgen Klopp’s side just needed to draw in Austria to keep alive their bid to retain the European Cup, and they duly beat Salzburg 2-0 thanks to two goals in two second-half minutes, by Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah. The result allowed Liverpool to progress as Group E winners, with Napoli going through in second place, while Salzburg are out and drop into the Europa League instead.

“What a team,” Klopp told BT Sport. “What an effort. It was a tough game. We scored two wonderful goals. We could have scored six or seven which is crazy. We won the group, we won the game, all good.”

Napoli win, Ancelotti sacked

Napoli made sure of their progress by trouncing Genk 4-0 in Italy with Arkadisuz Milik scoring a first-half hat-trick, the third goal coming from the penalty spot. Dries Mertens converted another spot-kick in the second half, but the Italian side still sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti in the wake of the game.

Ajax dumped out

There was high drama in Group H as Valencia beat Ajax 1-0 in Amsterdam, Rodrigo Moreno’s strike taking the Spaniards through at the expense of last season’s semifinalists, and leaving their hosts stunned.

Ajax had again been impressive this season but were left to rue their inability to win either of their two matches against Chelsea, as Frank Lampard’s team progressed in second place, a point ahead of the Dutch giants, thanks to a 2-1 victory against Lille.

Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta netted first-half goals for Chelsea, who held on after Loic Remy pulled one back for Lille. “The Champions League is where Chelsea belong. We knew it was a tough group. We had to fight and recover after losing against Valencia at home in our first game,” Azpilicueta told BT Sport.

Fati makes history

Antonio Conte’s team contrived to lose 2-1 at home to a makeshift Barcelona.

A win would have taken Inter through, and they were fancied to get the result they required as Barcelona left out a host of senior players, including Lionel Messi, with top spot in Group F already secured. Carles Perez gave Barcelona the lead midway through the first half, but Romelu Lukaku fired in the equaliser. Inter then missed chances to score a second and Ansu Fati showed them the way, the substitute netting an 86th-minute winner to stun the home side and become the youngest ever goalscorer at 17 years and 40 days. That record had been held since 1997 by Ghana’s Peter Ofori-Quaye.

Dortmund through

Borussia Dortmund needed to better Inter’s result and they did so, beating Slavia Prague 2-1 to progress in second. Julian Brandt got their winner after Jadon Sancho’s opener was cancelled out by Tomas Soucek, with Dortmund holding on after Julian Weigl was sent off.

Meanwhile, Lyon went through in dramatic fashion in Group G, coming from behind to draw 2-2 with RB Leipzig. The Germans were two goals ahead at half-time thanks to two penalties, one scored by Emil Forsberg and the other by Timo Werner.

However, Houssem Aouar’s curler gave Lyon hope just after the break and Memphis Depay levelled matters with eight minutes left. Leipzig win the group, while the draw proved enough for Lyon to finish second because Zenit Saint Petersburg lost 3-0 to Benfica in Lisbon. Franco Cervi gave Benfica the lead before a Pizzi penalty and a Sardar Azmoun own goal, as the Portuguese side finish third. — AFP

Champions league
Key Results

Inter 1-2 Barcelona

Red Bull 0-2 Liverpool

Ajax 0-1 Valencia

Chelsea 2-1 Lille

Lyon 3-0 RB Leipzig

Benfica 3-0 Zenit

Napoli 4-0 Genk

Dortmund 2-1 Slavia