Liverpool and Barcelona head into last eight
Liverpool swept to a 2-0 victory over AS Roma and Barcelona beat Galatasaray 1-0 on Tuesday to put the English and Spanish sides into the quarter-finals of the Champions League from group B.
Manchester United, who along with Bayern Munich had already qualified for Friday's draw last week, made sure they finished top of group A with an emphatic 3-0 win at Boavista.
Holders Bayern came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory at home to Nantes as the second group phase came to an end.
The real drama, though, was in group B, where Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier made a winning return to the dugout after emergency heart surgery last October as the Reds upset the Italian champions.
Houllier, given a hero's welcome by the Anfield faithful as he took his place alongside assistant manager Phil Thompson, was only watching for seven minutes before his team took the lead.
Finn Jari Litmanen, standing in for injured striker Michael Owen, converted a penalty after Danny Murphy was tripped by Assuncao as the midfielder prepared to shoot.
FAMOUS WIN
Owen's usual strike partner, Emile Heskey, headed home a Murphy free-kick in the 64th minute to put the result beyond doubt, with Liverpool's better head-to-head record against the Italians putting them into the last eight after a 0-0 draw last December in Rome.
"It's a famous victory," Thompson told Sky Sports.
"These players deserve it, the fans deserve it. We have beaten a very, very good team tonight -- it shows the calibre of those lads... They were absolutely outstanding."
As for Houllier's presence, Thompson said: "It was special, very very special. It was great to have him back alongside us... and I think that spurred us on to win this."
Liverpool proved their knockout credentials in Europe last season by winning the UEFA Cup, along with the domestic FA and League cups, and the club are convinced they can show that form in the Champions League,
Thompson, who won two of Liverpool's four European Cups as a player, said: "We can go all the way, without a doubt.
"These lads believe it, they know they can and we've shown last year in the UEFA Cup when it comes to a knockout stage we'll take on anyone."
ITALIAN BODYBLOW
The result was another body blow for Italian football, which has failed for the second year running to get a single team into the quarter-finals of Europe's flagship competition.
"We have not done what Roma normally does and that is take our chances when we have them," lamented coach Fabio Capello.
His team had started Tuesday's game as group leaders, and their cause was not helped by Barcelona's victory in Istanbul.
Luis Enrique pounced to score the only goal in the 58th minute, after the Galatasaray goalkeeper spilled a long shot.
"We were very focused and we made none of the stupid mistakes that we have made in the past," said Barcelona coach Carles Rexach.
The victory also made Barca group winners on nine points, two more than Liverpool.
For the four teams concerned, the advantage of topping the group is to play the second leg of their quarter-final at home.
Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Deportivo Coruna are already through to Friday's quarter-final draw from groups C and D, who are both playing on Wednesday.
United sealed their place at the top with goals from French defender Laurent Blanc, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and David Beckham, from the penalty spot.
"They went into the game relaxed, they knew they'd qualified, it was just a matter of making sure we did the job right," said United manager Alex Ferguson.
"We're just pleased to have won the group with a good performance."
Beckham shared his manager's view of the game, saying: "It was a good performance and this was what we aimed at -- to be top of the group."
Claudio Pizarro atoned for missing a penalty by scoring Bayern's winner in the 87th minute after Jens Jeremies' header had cancelled out a 54th minute strike from Nantes's Hassan Ahamada.
Bayern's buoyant coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said: "We are happy to be through and we belong with the favourites."
