London, December 12:

Liverpool inflicted a record 4-0 home defeat on Marseille to make the knockout stage of the Champions League on Tuesday.

The 2005 Champions League winners’ victory probably also ensured that manager Rafael Benitez keeps his job after a series of reports that he was unhappy with the American owners of the club. Also advancing were Real Madrid, Porto, Schalke and Olympiakos.

Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel scored in Liverpool’s victory.

Liverpool opened with two losses and a tie, then rebounded with three straight wins.

Porto, which won 2-0 at Besiktas, won Group A with 11 points, one ahead of Liverpool. Because it lost to Marseille 1-0 at home in October, Liverpool needed a victory to advance. Marseille finished third and will move on to the UEFA Cup. Real Madrid won

3-1 over visiting Lazio

on first-half goals by

Julio Baptista, Raul Gonzalez and Robinho to finish first in Group C. Olympiakos claimed the other spot from Group C, beating visiting Werder Bremen 3-0.

Schalke earned the second berth from Group B with a 3-1 win over Rosenborg on first-half goals by Gerald Asamoah, Marcio Rafinha and Kevin Kuranyi. Chelsea, which already had clinched a second-round berth, played a 0-0 tie against visiting Valencia.

Arsenal, Barcelona, Glagow Celtic, Inter Milan, Manchester United, AC Milan, AS Roma, Sevilla also have clinched advancement, leaving the last two spots to be filled on Wednesday.

Fenerbahce, Glasgow Rangers, Lyon and PSV Eindhoven are contending for those places.