Champions League Matchday 6 - Tuesday

Group A -
Barcelona surged forward from the opening whistle overwhelming Werder Bremen in the first 20 minutes.  Werder were on their heels from the start and fell behind on a clever Ronaldinho free kick.  Ronaldinho first drew the foul outside the top of the penalty box and then deftly rolled the free kick under the jumping wall and into the lower right of the net to give the hosts the lead.  Barça doubled their advantage five minutes later as Ronaldinho's cross-field pass picked out the run of Giuly and the winger crossed for Gudjohnsen to convert from close range.  Bremen regrouped at halftime and showed a solid 2nd half effort but were unable to find the Barca net losing 2-0 and falling out of the Champions League.

 Meanwhile Chelsea took care of bottom of the group Levski 2-0.  Levski went through their 6 games losing all with a 1-17 goal differential.  Shevchenko and Wright-Phillips were the scorers.  Chelsea and Barcelona head to the knockout phase.

Group B-
Bayern Munich earned a 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in Germany to clinch the group for Bayern.  After a scoreless first half Bayern took the lead thru a Roy Makaay goal just after the hour.  The lead looked safe as the Germans held the majority of possession, but Patrick Viera scored a last-gasp equalizer to split the points.

 In the other group game Spartak Moscow shocked Sporting in Portugal to steal the UEFA Cup berth for the group. Early goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Maxym Kalynychenko, both assisted by Vladimir Bystrov, laid the foundations for victory and, although Carlos Bueno halved the deficit before half-time, Sporting were forced to commit men forward in an increasingly desperate search for an equaliser which Spartak capitalised on after 89 minutes, Bystrov setting up substitute Denis Boyarintsev to seal a memorable night.

Group C -
No drama existed heading into the last day of Group C play.  Both Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven were already safely through and both rested several stars as each lost.  Liverpool lost in Turkey to Galatasaray 2-3.  Robbie Fowler put Liverpool in front but the Turks struck with 3 successive goals to gain control of the match.  Fowler added a second in injury time for the final 3-2 score.

 PSV Eindhoven lost at home to French side Bordeaux 3-1.  The normally Scrooge-like PSV defence entered into the new year spirit in the opening 45 minutes, as Julien Faubert, Stéphane Dalmat and Jean-Claude Darcheville all scored for UEFA Cup-bound Bordeaux. An 87th-minute Alex free-kick failed to brighten the occasion for the home crowd, who can at least look forward to greater challenges in the new year.

Group D -
Valencia already had the group in hand heading into the final day and they fielded a young squad and Christian Panucci scored the only goal as AS Roma defeated Valencia CF to secure second spot in Group D behind the Spanish side and a place in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League. 

 FC Shakhtar Donetsk clinched a place in the UEFA Cup at the expense of Olympiacos CFP after a determined defensive display in Athens earned them a 1-1 draw and third position in UEFA Champions League Group D.   With the Ukrainian side going into the match with faint hopes of advancing to the next phase of the UEFA Champions League, Brazilian midfielder Matuzalem headed them in front in the first half. Nery Alberto Castillo levelled for the Greek team with an emphatic strike just after half-time but Shakhtar clung on for a crucial point in the face of intense Olympiacos pressure. Roma ended any lingering Shakhtar aspirations of a top-two finish by defeating group winners Valencia CF 1-0 in Rome