Big clubs come through in Champions League

European champions Bayern Munich were one of six big clubs who qualified for the second phase of the Champions League on Tuesday with one match still to play.

Bayern were joined in the last 16 by fellow Germans Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester United, Deportivo Coruna, Juventus and Barcelona as the big guns made their presence felt in European soccer's flagship competition.

Eight of the last 16 are now known after Real Madrid and Sparta Prague qualified last week.

Another handful of sides should seal their places on Wednesday when the fifth round of matches in Groups A, B, C and D are played.

BAYERN UNTROUBLED

Bayern, in a rich vein of form at the moment, made sure of their place in the last 16 with a convincing 3-1 win over Feyenoord at home in group H.

The European champions needed just a draw to make sure of going through, but were always too good for the disappointing Dutch side who fell behind as early as the 12th minute when Ulrich van Gobbel diverted a header into his own net.

Although Swedish striker Johan Elmander equalised for Feyenoord after 25 minutes, Bayern were back in front five minutes after that when Roque Santa Cruz struck the first of his two goals on the night.

Although Bayern were not as dominant after the break, there was never much doubt about the outcome and Santa Cruz added their third in stoppage time.

Bayer Leverkusen clinched their place in group F with a 2-1 win at Fenerbahce in Istanbul thanks to goals from Bernd Schneider (21) and Ulf Kirsten (34).

Oktay Derelioglu pulled one back for Fenerbahce before the break but it was not enough to stop them crashing to their fifth successive defeat in the competition.

Barcelona also qualified along with Leverkusen from the same group thanks to a dramatic last-minute 3-2 win at Olympique Lyon -- even though a draw would have been good enough.

Three counter-attacks and a stoppage time goal saw Barcelona win narrowly after they raced into a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes with goals from Patrick Kluivert (9) and Rivaldo (18).

But Lyon fought back well after the break and pulled level through Peguy Luyindula (66) and Eric Carriere (88) but just when it seemed Lyon had salvaged a point, Gerard struck deep into stoppage time.

Lyon at least are sure of a place in the UEFA Cup as Fenerbahce cannot dislodge them from third place.

UNITED DOMINANT

Manchester United and Deportivo Coruna both qualified from group G with Manchester United beating Olympiakos Piraeus 3-0 at Old Trafford and Deportivo drawing 1-1 at home with Lille.

Manchester United's 19.0 million pounds ($27 million) Ruud van Nistelrooy had a great chance to put United ahead with a 65th minute penalty which Olympiakos goalkeeper Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos saved brilliantly.

But United's dominance eventually told six minutes after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came on as a 73rd minute substitute for Nicky Butt. The Norwegian, as is his trademark, was in the right place at the right time to put United 1-0 up and set them on their way.

Skipper for the night Ryan Giggs made it 2-0 after 88 minutes and van Nistelrooy eventually got the goal he deserved for a night of tireless effort, rounding off a great build-up with a simple tap-in four minutes into stoppage time.

That win put United on to nine points, the same as Deportivo Coruna and neither can now be caught. Lille have five points and Olympiakos four with Lille hosting United next week and Olympaikos at home to Deportivo.

Juventus beat Porto 3-1 in group E to make sure of their place in the last 16 thanks to goals from Alessandro Del Piero (32), Paolo Montero (47) and David Trezeguet (73).

Porto took the lead through Clayton Cruz after only 13 minutes, but Juventus eventually finished convincing winners after struggling in the early stages.

In the other match of the night, Sparta Prague, who qualified for the second phase last week, drew 2-2 with an injury time equaliser against Spartak Moscow -- the first goals they had conceded in 11 successive matches since August 20 -- a total of 1,039 minutes playing time.