Inter Milan, Chelsea reach second round of Champions league; 6 berths remain

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Inter Milan and Chelsea advanced to the second round of the Champions League on Wednesday, leaving six more spots open. Inter advanced from Group B after beating Sporting Lisbon 1-0 on Hernan Crespo's 36th-minute goal. Bayern Munich had already clinched the other group place. Chelsea, despite losing 1-0 at Werder Bremen on Per Mertesacker's 27th-minute goal, guaranteed itself a place in the knockout round from Group A. Ten spots in the final 16 have been claimed, with the rest to be decided in the final round of group games in two weeks. Celtic and AC Milan qualified on Tuesday and six other teams were already in: Bayern, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia, Lyon and Real Madrid. Defending champion FC Barcelona, which won 2-0 at Levski Sofia in Group A, is among the clubs still trying to advance. Ludovic Giuly put the Catalans ahead in the 5th, and Andres Iniesta got the clincher in the 65th. Barcelona needs to beat Werder Bremen at Camp Nou in its final group match on Dec. 5 to advance. The German team only needs a draw. Chelsea and Werder Bremen each have 10 points and Barcelona has eight. Chelsea is guaranteed a place in the last 16 because of its superior head-to-head record against Bremen. Eleven teams still have a chance to earn one of the final six places. Among them are English powers Manchester United and Arsenal, and Portuguese clubs FC Porto and Benfica. Also Wednesday, it was: Liverpool 2, PSV Eindhoven 0; Spartak Moscow 2, Bayern Munich 2; Bordeaux 3, Galatasaray 1; Shakhtar Donetsk 1, AS Roma 0; and Valencia 2, Olympiakos 0. Liverpool, which had already reached the final 16 from Group C, clinched first place with its victory at Anfield. Steven Gerrard scored in the 65th minute -- only his second goal in all competitions this season -- and Peter Crouch added the second in the 89th on a header. Bayern, which leads Group B with 11 points, got two goals from Claudio Pizarro. Maxym Kalynychenko and Radoslav Kovac scored for Spartak. Inter Milan has nine points and will meet Bayern in Germany in two weeks. Alejandro Alonso, Lilian Laslandes and Julien Faubert scored to lead Bordeaux over Galatasaray. The win ensures that Bordeaux will finish third in Group C and play in the UEFA Cup. Shakhtar got back into the chase in Group D, beating Roma on Ciprian Marica's goal in the 61st. Roma needed only a draw to advance. The Italians also can reach the final 16 with a draw in two weeks, but they will be facing a tougher Valencia team. Valencia, which had already reached the second round, defeated Olympiakos on goals by Miguel Angel Angulo and Fernando Morientes. Valencia leads Group D with 13 points. Roma is next with seven points, followed by Shakhtar with five and Olympiakos with two.