Winners à
Portuguese club BENFICA came from behind to beat Manchester United, 2-1, on the final day of Champions League group play and advance to the knockout stage. The Benfica-United result, along with VillarrealÆs 1-0 win over Lille, sent Benfica and Villarreal through to the round of 16 in February from Group D.
Playing without injured American DaMarcus Beasley, Dutch club PSV beat Fenerbahce of Turkey, 2-0, to return to the knockout stage. Last season, PSV reached the semifinals.
RANGERS held visiting Inter Milan to a 1-1 tie to become the first Scottish team to reach the knockout stage of the competition since it changed to the current format 13 years ago.
Losers à
By losing to Benfica, MANCHESTER UNITED finished last in Group D and failed to even qualify for the UEFA Cup. UnitedÆs early exit would cost it as much as $140 million, according to Tom Cannon, a professor at Kingston Business School.
UDINESE was within five minutes of qualifying for the knockout phase, but the Italian club conceded two late goals and lost to Barcelona, 2-0, allowing Werder Bremen to take second in Group E behind Barca.