Inter through despite home defeat

GROUP B:Inter Milan stumbled into the last 16 despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to Panathinaikos at the San Siro last night.

Anorthosis Famagusta's draw with Werder Bremen means the Italian champions go through because the Cypriots visit Panathinaikos in the last round of matches and both cannot finish above Inter.

Jose Sarriegi tapped in on 69 minutes after goalkeeper Julio Cesar could only parry Giannis Goumas's towering header from a corner.

Stuttering Serie A leaders Inter have only played well in one Champions League match this term, the 2-0 win at Panathinaikos in the opening group game.

Meanwhile, Bremen came from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw with Champions League first-timers Famagusta but it was not enough to prevent the Germans slipping out.

Substitute Nikos Nikolaou struck with a half-volley at a corner to put the home side ahead with just over an hour gone and Brazilian forward Savio made it 2-0 up soon afterwards.

Werder, needing a win to stay alive, pulled one back almost immediately when Diego lashed in a penalty and Hugo Almeida silenced the home fans as he struck with a low volley three minutes from time to level things up. The result gave Anorthosis six points from five matches and meant they still have a chance of making progress in their extraordinary debut campaign.

GROUP C:Barcelona secured top place when they crushed Sporting Lisbon 5-2 last night in an action-packed game at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon.

With the two teams having already qualified for the knockout stage, Barca took their points tally to 13 with one game still to play, four points ahead of their Portuguese hosts.

Thierry Henry opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 14th minute and three minutes later they doubled the lead with a scrambled goal by defender Gerard Pique.

Messi converted a quick free kick in the 49th minute then, between the 65th and 67th minutes, Sporting pulled back to 3-2 with goals by Miguel Veloso and Liedson before a Marco Caneira own goal made it 4-2.

Substitute striker Bojan Krkic added a fifth for Barca with a 73rd-minute penalty after he was brought down by goalkeeper Rui Patricio, who was sent off for the foul.

Ukraine side Shakhtar Donetsk nailed down the Uefa Cup spot from the group with a 5-0 home victory over bottom-placed FC Basel with Brazilian forward Jadson scoring a hat-trick.