LONDON -- AC Milan and Barcelona, last season's champion and runner-up, suffered shock upsets Wednesday night in the European Champions League.
English champion Manchester United also suffered a stunning defeat, while IFK Goteborg, Ajax Amsterdam, Benfica and Hajduk Split clinched berths in the quarterfinals, joining the already-qualified Paris Saint-Germain.
AC Milan, which has had trouble scoring goals on both the domestic and international scenes all season, lost 2-0 to Ajax, the second time in the tournament the Italian champions have lost to the Dutch team by that score.
A goal from Finnish striker Jari Litmanen in the second minute and an own goal by Milan's captain-sweeper Franco Baresi in the 66th clinched first place for Ajax in Group D in the 16-team league with one round of games remaining.
Milan, which was docked two points in the competition and forced to play Wednesday's game in Trieste as UEFA punishment for fan misbehavior at an earlier game, must now beat Casino Salzburg in Austria on Dec. 7 to qualify for the quarterfinals. Salzburg, meanwhile, was boosting its chances with a 3-1 victory at AEK Athens.
"We were handicapped by the first, early goal ... and the own goal by Baresi definitely disheartened us," Milan coach Fabio Capello said. "Now we must beat Salzburg. The only good point is that we have a better goals differential and still can qualify."
Group A
Galatasaray 2, Barcelona 1. At Istanbul, Barcelona fell 2-1 to Galatasaray, the Turkish club's first victory in Group A.
Arif Erdem scored the winning goal with three minutes to play after Hakan Sukur's penalty in the 72nd. Brazilian striker Romario scored in the 15th for Barcelona, but only after a blatant mistake by the Galatasaray defense.
The victory, which touched off celebrations in several cities throughout Turkey, means the Spanish champions needs either a draw or victory against IFK Goteborg to secure a quarterfinal berth, while Galatasaray remains mathematically alive.
Goteborg 3, Manchester United 1. Goteborg, which has already defeated Barcelona once, continued to be the surprise of the group with a 3-1 home rout of Manchester United, clinching first place in the group for the Swedish team.
"It's so hard to describe my feelings. It feels unreal," said Goteborg's Jesper Blomqvist, who scored the opening goal. "But this was easily our best game so far in the Champions League."
The score did not indicate the completeness of Goteborg's dominance. Magnus Erlingmark, scoring in his fourth consecutive European game, netted the winning goal for Goteborg in the 64th minute, seconds after United had appeared to gain the momentum with Mark Hughes' tying goal. Goteborg captain Pontus Kamark also converted a penalty.
"You can make excuses if you want to, but at the end of the day we weren't good enough," United manager Alex Ferguson said.
Group B
Spartak Moscow 1, Dinamo Kiev 1. Spartak remained alive in the quarterfinal hunt, while Dinamo was eliminated on a goal by Mukhsin Mukhamadiev.
Paris SG 1, Bayern Munich 0. Paris Saint-Germain retained the only perfect record in the competition with a 1-0 victory at Bayern Munich, the winning goal coming from George Weah in the 81st minute.
Group C
Benfica 2, Hadjuk Split 1. Benfica defeated Hajduk Split in Lisbon, but both teams qualified for the quarterfinals. Brazilian-born striker Isaias Soares and Portuguese international Joao Pinto scored for Benfica, with midfielder Stjepan Andrijasavic netting for the Croat team.
Steaua Bucharest 1, Anderlecht 1. The Romanian and Belgian champions eliminated each other by playing to a 1-1 draw in Bucharest.
Group D
Casino Salzburg 2, AEK Athens 0. Heino Pfeifenberger scored two first-half goals in three minutes in Casino Salzburg's victory at AEK Athens. Athens, winless in the tournament, was eliminated from contention for the quarters.
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One day after its manager quit, Leicester leaped out of the bottom spot in the English Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal.
Ian Ormondroyd and David Lowe scored Wednesday as the Foxes registered only their third league victory of the season in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,774 at Filbert Street.
On Tuesday, manager Brian Little, the favorite to take over at Aston Villa, abruptly resigned from the club. Assistant Allan Evans took charge for Wednesday's match.
Arsenal's goal came on a penalty kick by Ian Wright, his 17th goal of the season. Wright was playing his first game after a three-match suspension for accumulating six yellow cards on the season, and he earned another yellow card before halftime.
In another Premier League game, Tottenham and Chelsea played to a scoreless draw at White Hart Lane.
English champion Manchester United also suffered a stunning defeat, while IFK Goteborg, Ajax Amsterdam, Benfica and Hajduk Split clinched berths in the quarterfinals, joining the already-qualified Paris Saint-Germain.
AC Milan, which has had trouble scoring goals on both the domestic and international scenes all season, lost 2-0 to Ajax, the second time in the tournament the Italian champions have lost to the Dutch team by that score.
A goal from Finnish striker Jari Litmanen in the second minute and an own goal by Milan's captain-sweeper Franco Baresi in the 66th clinched first place for Ajax in Group D in the 16-team league with one round of games remaining.
Milan, which was docked two points in the competition and forced to play Wednesday's game in Trieste as UEFA punishment for fan misbehavior at an earlier game, must now beat Casino Salzburg in Austria on Dec. 7 to qualify for the quarterfinals. Salzburg, meanwhile, was boosting its chances with a 3-1 victory at AEK Athens.
"We were handicapped by the first, early goal ... and the own goal by Baresi definitely disheartened us," Milan coach Fabio Capello said. "Now we must beat Salzburg. The only good point is that we have a better goals differential and still can qualify."
Group A
Galatasaray 2, Barcelona 1. At Istanbul, Barcelona fell 2-1 to Galatasaray, the Turkish club's first victory in Group A.
Arif Erdem scored the winning goal with three minutes to play after Hakan Sukur's penalty in the 72nd. Brazilian striker Romario scored in the 15th for Barcelona, but only after a blatant mistake by the Galatasaray defense.
The victory, which touched off celebrations in several cities throughout Turkey, means the Spanish champions needs either a draw or victory against IFK Goteborg to secure a quarterfinal berth, while Galatasaray remains mathematically alive.
Goteborg 3, Manchester United 1. Goteborg, which has already defeated Barcelona once, continued to be the surprise of the group with a 3-1 home rout of Manchester United, clinching first place in the group for the Swedish team.
"It's so hard to describe my feelings. It feels unreal," said Goteborg's Jesper Blomqvist, who scored the opening goal. "But this was easily our best game so far in the Champions League."
The score did not indicate the completeness of Goteborg's dominance. Magnus Erlingmark, scoring in his fourth consecutive European game, netted the winning goal for Goteborg in the 64th minute, seconds after United had appeared to gain the momentum with Mark Hughes' tying goal. Goteborg captain Pontus Kamark also converted a penalty.
"You can make excuses if you want to, but at the end of the day we weren't good enough," United manager Alex Ferguson said.
Group B
Spartak Moscow 1, Dinamo Kiev 1. Spartak remained alive in the quarterfinal hunt, while Dinamo was eliminated on a goal by Mukhsin Mukhamadiev.
Paris SG 1, Bayern Munich 0. Paris Saint-Germain retained the only perfect record in the competition with a 1-0 victory at Bayern Munich, the winning goal coming from George Weah in the 81st minute.
Group C
Benfica 2, Hadjuk Split 1. Benfica defeated Hajduk Split in Lisbon, but both teams qualified for the quarterfinals. Brazilian-born striker Isaias Soares and Portuguese international Joao Pinto scored for Benfica, with midfielder Stjepan Andrijasavic netting for the Croat team.
Steaua Bucharest 1, Anderlecht 1. The Romanian and Belgian champions eliminated each other by playing to a 1-1 draw in Bucharest.
Group D
Casino Salzburg 2, AEK Athens 0. Heino Pfeifenberger scored two first-half goals in three minutes in Casino Salzburg's victory at AEK Athens. Athens, winless in the tournament, was eliminated from contention for the quarters.
n
One day after its manager quit, Leicester leaped out of the bottom spot in the English Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal.
Ian Ormondroyd and David Lowe scored Wednesday as the Foxes registered only their third league victory of the season in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,774 at Filbert Street.
On Tuesday, manager Brian Little, the favorite to take over at Aston Villa, abruptly resigned from the club. Assistant Allan Evans took charge for Wednesday's match.
Arsenal's goal came on a penalty kick by Ian Wright, his 17th goal of the season. Wright was playing his first game after a three-match suspension for accumulating six yellow cards on the season, and he earned another yellow card before halftime.
In another Premier League game, Tottenham and Chelsea played to a scoreless draw at White Hart Lane.
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