Barcelona - 2 AC Milan - 1: A brilliant late strike from Ronaldinho gave Barcelona a 2-1 win over AC Milan in an epic Champions League Group F contest at the Nou Camp last night.
The Brazilian forward brought the crowd to its feet when he jinked his way past two defenders and fired an unstoppable shot high into the net just two minutes from time to give the dominant Catalans a thoroughly deserved win.
Milan had taken the lead against the run of play when Ukraine international Andriy Shevchenko finished off a razor-sharp break with a cool finish in the 17th minute.
But Barcelona, who dominated throughout, responded by pouring forward and gained their reward when African Player of the Year Samuel Eto'o lashed home after the outstanding Xavi had split open the Milan defence with a fine pass.
Barcelona upped the pressure after the break and almost grabbed the winner when Dida spilled a venomous free-kick from Deco but Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper atoned for his error with a brilliant stop to block Xavi's follow-up.
However, the home side could never relax until Ronaldinho produced his magical finish to decide the match.
INTER 0 VALENCIA 0: Inter Milan booked their place in the knockout phase last night when a 0-0 home draw against Valencia secured a top-two finish in Group G. The Italian side's explosive 5-1 victory at Valencia two weeks ago guarantees them a better head-to-head record in the event if the Spanish side finish level on points with them.
The game ended on a sour note for Inter, however, when their Brazilian striker Adriano was sent off in injury time for lashing out at Valencia's Marco Caneira.
There were ugly scenes as several players pushed and shoved at the side of the pitch after Adriano knocked the Valencia defender to the ground.
With two games remaining Inter lead the group on 10 points from Germany's Werder Bremen on nine and Valencia on four.
Spanish champions Valencia still have an outside chance of qualifying if they win both their remaining games, but they will need to show more ambition than they produced at the San Siro.
Roberto Mancini's Inter had the better of the chances in a scrappy game with Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins coming closest to breaking the deadlock when his shot hit the crossbar in the 69th minute.
Adriano, who has hit 14 goals in 15 competitive games this season, was the main threat to the Spanish defence but he was unable to find a way past Valencia keeper Santiago Canizares.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)