Depor through as Juventus fall

Group D leaders RC Deportivo La Coruña booked their UEFA Champions League quarter-final place with a dramatic 2-0 victory at Arsenal FC while Juventus FC's 3-1 defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen ended their hopes of progressing.

No fears
Deportivo had shown with their Copa del Rey triumph at the Santiago Bernabéu last week that the big stage holds no fears for them. They underlined the fact by ending Arsenal’s 18-match unbeaten record, on a ground where they went down 5-1 in the UEFA Cup two seasons ago.

Molina saves penalty
Juan Valerón scored Depor's opener on the half-hour with a neat finish into the left-hand corner of David Seaman’s net. Defender Nourredine Naybet doubled the Spanish side’s lead with a deflected shot ten minutes later. Arsenal missed the chance to get back into the game when Thierry Henry’s 66th-minute penalty was blocked by José Molina.

Juve bottom
Where Deportivo have ten points, Arsenal are now level on seven with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who defeated Juventus FC 3-1 in Germany.  The defeat leaves Juve bottom of the group with four points – and eliminated from the tournament.

Butt opener
In the BayArena, Leverkusen goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt put the home side in front from the penalty spot on 24 minutes, after Christian Zenoni brought down Thomas Brdaric. Igor Tudor headed Juventus level on 61 minutes only for Leverkusen to reclaim the lead through Brdaric, who nodded home ten minutes later. Marko Babic extended the margin of victory with a goal on the break in injury time.

Porto still alive
FC Porto did their utmost to keep their Champions League hopes alive in Group C as they defeated Panathinaikos FC 2-1 at the Das Antas stadium. Porto, who started the night in bottom place, made an early breakthrough when Deco finished from close range on 12 minutes.

Secretário sent off
Pena made it two with a tap-in on 54 minutes but Panathinikos responded through a Joonas Kolkka strike from distance and, after the dismissal of Carlos Secretário, their late pressure meant some nervous moments in the Porto penalty area. Porto are now third on four points, three points behind Panathinaikos who host Real Madrid CF in the final match next week.

Sparta eliminated
Madrid confirmed themselves as winners of Group C and, in the process, ended AC Sparta Praha’s faint hopes of staying alive with a 3-0 win at the Bernabéu. Madrid owed the win that maintains their 100 per cent record in the second group stage to second-half goals from Santiago Solari, Guti and Savio.