|
AC Milan and Rangers survive, Porto flop
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-07 08:44
LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Nerves and tempers frayed on Tuesday when Italy's
AC Milan and Scottish club Rangers scrambled through to the knockout phase of
the Champions League.
Andriy Shevchenko
(C) is tackled by Schalke 04's Levan Kobiashvili (R) and Hamit Altintop
during their Champions League Group E soccer match at the San Siro Stadium
in Milan December 6, 2005. [Reuters] | Dutch side PSV Eindhoven also qualified for the
last 16 but 2004 champions Porto were eliminated together with Slovakian
newcomers Artmedia Bratislava and Germany's Schalke 04.
Six-times former champions AC Milan were pushed all the way by Schalke at the
San Siro before clinging on for a 3-2 victory that put them through as group
winners, with Brazilian midfielder Kaka scoring twice.
So tight was Group E, however, that a 3-3 draw would have meant Schalke went
through at the Italian club's expense and there were ugly scenes at the final
whistle with punches thrown in scuffles among the players.
PSV, who lost in last year's semi-finals to Milan, leapfrogged Schalke to
finish second with their 2-0 home win over Fenerbahce. Peru's Jefferson Farfan
made one and scored one for the Dutch side.
AC Milan finished with 11 points, one clear of PSV, with Schalke, on eight
points, forced to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup.
Rangers became the first Scottish side to make the Champions League knockout
phase and in doing so may have saved manager Alex McLeish's job after a 1-1 draw
with Group H winners Inter Milan.
Amid frenzied scenes in Glasgow, Danish forward Peter Lovenkrands cancelled
out Adriano's early header for Inter, who also had midfielder Cristiano Zanetti
sent off.
The Scottish champions then had to wait for an agonising few minutes for the
result from the Artmedia-Porto game to come through.
The 0-0 draw at a mud-bound Bratislava ground meant Rangers finished second
on seven points, one clear of Artmedia who claimed the UEFA Cup place at Porto's
expense.
The qualification issues in Groups F and G had already
been resolved and Olympiakos Piraeus and Anderlecht took advantage to record
notable wins.
|
