Chelsea, Liverpool advance, Inter eliminated

Defending champions Liverpool reached the Champions League last 16 as Group E winners thanks to a 2-0 victory over Red Bull Salzburg.

The Reds, who needed at least a point to progress, were on the ropes at times against attacking opposition.

But from the moment Naby Keita headed in Sadio Mane’s cross in the 57th minute, there was only going to be one winner.

Mohamed Salah then clinched victory one minute later with an excellent finish from a tight angle.

Chelsea survived a late scare to also move into the knockout stages with a 2-1 victory over Lille at Stamford Bridge.

Frank Lampard’s side was in complete control for the most part and set up the victory they required with first-half goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Chelsea’s nerves were frayed when former striker Loic Remy pulled one back for Lille late on but they were able to close out victory after finishing a tough group in second place behind Valencia, but ahead of last season’s semi-finalists Ajax.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan crashed out of the Champions League after 17-year-old Ansu Fati became the youngest scorer in the competition’s history by firing in a late winner to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory at San Siro.

Barca coach Ernesto Valverde rested Lionel Messi and several other key players for the trip to Milan, having already secured top spot in Group F, but Carles Perez put the Spaniards in front on his Champions League debut after just 23 minutes, before Romelu Lukaku’s strike levelled the scores on the stroke of halftime.

Inter striker Lautaro Martinez had the ball in the net twice after the break, only for both goals to be correctly disallowed for offside, before Fati smashed in a sublime finish inside the final five minutes.

The Italian side needed to at least match Borussia Dortmund’s result against Slavia Prague to maintain second place, but the Germans won 2-1 to move into the runner-up spot and consign Inter to a Europa League place.

Elsewhere, Lyon had to come from behind against Group-winners Leipzig to earn a 2-2 draw and the point they needed to progress, while Napoli also advanced after beating Genk 4-0.