When all is said and done

Belgium
Club Brugge KV: Revenge of the Vikings. The Norwegian strikers they had written off, Rune Lange and Bengt Saeternes, guided Brugge to victory over Ajax. (Het Nieuwsblad)
RSC Anderlecht: Anderlecht deserve no blame. As in Lyon they were the victims of a harsh penalty and to make it worse, just a single goal keeps them out of the UEFA Cup. (Le Soir)

Czech Republic
AC Sparta Praha: Blockbuster! Kincl hits the knockout stage on the head. (Sport)

England
Arsenal FC: Arsenal never intended to finish top of Group B by leaping there from bottom place, but an indulgent crowd will take that as proof of the vaulting talent in a team who have landed in the knockout phase of the Champions League. (Guardian)
Chelsea FC: Withstanding the best that Besiktas could throw at them on the pitch and the missiles hurled at them from the stands, Chelsea last night secured a win through Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Wayne Bridge. (Guardian)
Manchester United FC: The best teams always step up a gear when they have something to prove and Manchester United took revenge for defeat in Stuttgart by dismantling the Bundesliga leaders in impressive fashion. (Daily Mail)

France
AS Monaco FC: Despite missing key players like Roma, Zikos, Rothen and Giuly, Monaco got the result they were looking for: first place in their group which means they will avoid the heavyweights like Manchester United, Juventus and Real Madrid. (L'Equipe)
Olympique Lyonnais: To score three times against Celtic, the UEFA Cup runners-up, is a big achievement. And the other statistics were also in favour of Lyon on this fascinating night. (L'Equipe)
Olympique de Marseille: The draw at Partizan shows that, despite their disastrous autumn, Marseille can still play at the top level. (La Provence)

Germany
FC Bayern München: No fun and nothing to see of the promised all-or-nothing tactics. The fun factor was like the temperature in the stadium: around zero degrees. (Bild Zeitung)
VfB Stuttgart: The cheers from the pubs at home did not reach the British Isles. Beaten 2-0 in the Champions League at Manchester United, VfB did not create a single chance. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten)

Greece
AEK Athens FC: AEK's best performance this season in the Champions League was, once again, not enough for their first win in the competition. (Sportime)
Olympiacos CFP: It would be best to close the border. This Olympiacos, who yesterday became the laughing stock of Europe, should not be allowed to leave the country. (Filathlos)
Panathinaikos FC: Epalle stepped on the accelerator and Panathinaikos found their long-lost European form. (To Vima)

Italy
Internazionale FC: It is a great disappointment but both Inter and Dynamo honoured football by fighting to the end. Anything could have happened up to the final whistle. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Juventus FC: It was the best way to end a bad run. Every forward in the squad found the net to register a record win. (Tuttosport)
S.S. Lazio: Sparta scored just before the final whistle when the teams looked like two tired boxers who were still trying to punch each other. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
AC Milan: Milan's performance had two faces. A great first half when Kaká was fantastic, and a disappointing second half when Milan gave up all of a sudden. (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Netherlands
Ajax: For 90 minutes Ajax were searching for some grip on the frozen pitch. This season, Europe will be a no-go area for them and that is something unusual. (Algemeen Dagblad)
PSV Eindhoven: PSV are now used to being judged too weak for the European heavweights. But last night coach Guus Hiddink's team had enough reason to look back with bitterness on their eighth, failed Champions League campaign.

Portugal
FC Porto: For the first time a Portuguese club left the Bernabéu unbeaten. It is a historic achievement, but everybody feels that the FC Porto could have done even better. (Record)

Russia:
FC Lokomotiv Moskva: Thank you Kyiv. But to be honest, Semin's side deserved their place in the knockout round if only because they went on fighting even when everyone else had given up believing in them. (Sport-Express)

Scotland
Celtic FC: Just when they had their invitation to the big league within their grasp, Bobo Balde inexplicably slapped out a hand at a hopeful cross and Celtic were robbed of a little slice of history. (Daily Record)
Rangers FC: Rangers have no credibility in European football. (Daily Record)

Spain
RC Celta de Vigo: The Celta fans can now get off the rollercoaster. The Vigo team will play in the last 16 after a traumatic first stage that combined great moments with dreadful ones. (Marca)
RC Deportivo La Coruña: Deportivo had to sweat blood in Eindhoven to extend their stay in Europe - and for the eleven minutes between Robben's goal and Luque's redeeming strike, they were out. (El Correo Gallego)
Real Madrid CF: Madrid and Porto reached a stalemate in a game not worth watching. (Marca)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol: Just at the point where the men were separated from the boys, La Real showed their maturity, meeting their own high demands and secured a place in the next phase on a day that will remain recorded in gold letters in the club's small but strong European history. (Diario Vasco)

Ukraine
FC Dynamo Kyiv: We have received a gift from Dynamo in six group stages games. Just like in everyday life, some of the gifts were not any fun, but some were. Dynamo learned to play with flair, they brought intrigue, but they must still learn to produce results. (Sports.ua)