Celtic, AC Milan in 2nd round

London, November 22:

Celtic and AC Milan reached the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday, joining six other clubs that have already qualified. Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia, Lyon and Real Madrid had already gained berths in the final 16.

Celtic reached the knockout round for the first time, beating Manchester United 1-0 on a free kick in the 81st minute from Shunsuke Nakamura. Louis Saha had a chance to equalize in the 90th minute, but Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc made the save diving to his right.

Man United needed only a draw to reach the second round from Group F. With the win, Celtic matched Man United atop the group with nine points. Benfica, which beat FC Copenhagen 3-1, has seven points. Because Celtic has a better away goal record in its two games against United, it will advance as one of the top two teams in the group.

United faces Benfica in the final group game on December 6. United will advance with a draw at Old Trafford, and Benfica will go through if it wins.

In the other Group F game, Benfica hammered Copenhagen 3-1. Fabrizio Miccoli scored twice and defender Leo added another.

Six-time champion AC Milan lost 1-0 at AEK Athens, but is still guaranteed one of the two spots from Group H. Julio Cesar scored on a 32nd-minute free kick to give AEK the victory.

In the other Group H game, Lille drew 2-2 with Anderlecht. Mbo Mpenza scored twice for Anderlecht, while Lille got goals from Peter Odemwingie and Nicolas Fauvergue. AC Milan leads with 10 points, followed by AEK with seven, Lille with six and Anderlecht with three.

Also, it was: Real Madrid 2, Lyon 2, and Steaua Bucharest 1, Dynamo Kiev 1 in Group E; Arsenal 3, Hamburg 1, and CSKA Moscow 0, Porto 2 in Group G.