Arsenal through, Chelsea rocked by loss

Barca beat AC Milan 3-2 to win Group H


LONDON (AP) ― Arsenal might be the only English club that makes it through to the knockout rounds of the Champions League this season.

A day after Manchester United and Manchester City both missed the chance to qualify, Chelsea conceded a last-minute goal to lose 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday and risk missing out for the first time since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.

Leverkusen advanced alongside Arsenal, which beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 through two goals by Robin van Persie, while APOEL also went through in one of the biggest surprises in Champions League history.

APOEL drew 0-0 at Zenit St. Petersburg to become the first ever Cypriot side to make it past the group stage.

Elsewhere, AC Milan twice equalized but Spain playmaker Xavi Hernandez scored in the 63rd minute to give defending champion Barcelona a 3-2 win and top spot in its group. Both teams had already secured a spot in the knockout round.

Valencia routed Genk 7-0 for the biggest Champions League win ever by a Spanish side, Porto kept alive its hopes of advancing with a 2-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk and Olympiakos won 1-0 at Marseille.

Dortmund dominated the opening exchanges against Arsenal and had the home side under pressure even after injuries to Sven Bender and Mario Goetze midway through the first half.

But Van Persie headed in Alex Song’s 49th-minute cross at the far post and tapped in with four minutes left to take his season tally to 21 goals and end Dortmund’s resistance.

Japan forward Shinji Kagawa got a goal back for the German champions deep in injury time but Arsenal clinched Group F with one of its six matches remaining.

With the Premier League having provided seven of the last 14 finalists, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he was surprised his club was the first English club through _ but not that his rivals were finding things tough.

“The level has gone up a lot. You never win an easy game in the Champions League,’’ Wenger said. “I have 150 games in the Champions League as a manager and they are never easy.’’

Arsenal has 11 points from five matches, four more than Marseille. Olympiakos is a point further back after substitute Giannis Fetfatzidis scored in France with eight minutes remaining, while Dortmund has four points and must beat Marseille on Dec. 6.

But Dortmund will be without Bender for that game after the midfielder broke his jaw in a challenge on Thomas Vermaelen. Coach Juergen Klopp said Bender needs surgery in London before he can return to Germany.

Chelsea looked on course to complete an English double over the Bundesliga _ and maintain the west London club’s record of reaching the knockout round in each of its nine straight tournament appearances _ when Didier Drogba put the Blues ahead in the 48th.

Instead, Leverkusen equalized in the 73rd as Sidney Sam drew out goalkeeper Petr Cech before crossing for Switzerland striker Eren Derdiyok to head into an empty net. Manuel Friedrich then scored another header in injury time to pile further pressure on Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Villas-Boas, who led Porto to last season’s Europa League title, has already presided over four Premier League defeats in his first 12 domestic matches.

Leverkusen is through with eight points, while Chelsea and Valencia are tied on seven with an identical goal difference. Chelsea must now beat Valencia or hold the Spanish side to a 0-0 draw when the teams meet at Stamford Bridge for their final group game.

“We will need Stamford Bridge completely behind us to get the intensity right and the emotions right for the game,’’ Villas-Boas said. “It’s in our hands to qualify.”

Valencia is in superior form after Roberto Soldado’s first-half hat trick contributed to its mauling of Genk on Wednesday to set up a final group game at Chelsea with a place in the last 16 of the Champions League at stake.

“This was a very important game for us. It was a final,’’ said Soldado, who scored in the 13th, 36th and 40th to take his tally this season to 13 goals in all competitions. “Fortunately, it was a game that gave us a lot of confidence which we will take forward.’’

Jonas hit a 10th-minute opener, while goals from Pablo Hernandez, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa turned a win into a rout in the second half.

With APOEL goalkeeper Urko Pardo in fine form, the only things that held up APOEL’s progress on Wednesday were the flares lit by fans that twice interrupted the game in Russia by covering the field in smoke.

With Porto scoring two late goals in Ukraine, APOEL leads Group G with nine points, one ahead of Zenit. Porto is a point further back.

“I think our result can be an example for teams from non-football and small countries,” APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic said.

The Cypriot club has an annual budget of about (euro) 10 million ($13.5 million), roughly one seventh of what Barcelona paid for Zlatan Ibrahimovic when it made the Sweden striker its record signing in 2009.

Ibrahimovic scored for Milan on Wednesday but could not stop his former club from clinching top spot in Group H.

Milan midfielder Mark van Bommel gave Barcelona the lead in the 14th minute with an own goal and, despite Ibrahimovic’s leveler, Lionel Messi’s twice-taken penalty ensured the defending champions went into the break in front.

Kevin-Prince Boateng pounced in the 54th to get Milan back into the game, but Messi slotted the ball through a throng of defenders for Xavi to seal the win.

“If this game had been more decisive than I would have focused more on defense,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “Milan is a great team with a great history. It really means something to win here.”

With Milan also through, Viktoria Plzen won 1-0 at BATE Borisov in the other Group H game.