Holders Barca, Inter in last 16

Holders Barcelona and Inter secured their places in the Champions League knock out stages at the last throw of the dice last night.

This pair were joined by Stuttgart and Olympiakos to complete the 16-team cast-list for the second round.

Barca had the luxury of travelling to Dynamo Kiev knowing that even a defeat would not necessarily spell a premature end to their pursuit of a fourth European crown.

In the end they won 2-1 to top Group F on their better head-to-head record with the Italians.

Forward Artem Milevsky fired Kiev into an early lead, but Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez levelled 12 minutes before the break.

Lionel Messi however had the final say as the Argentine fired home a precise free-kick with four minutes to go, dashing Kiev's hopes of further progress.

Inter, the Italian champions, needed a win in their final Group F game to guarantee their passage and although their play was again far from fluent, they did enough to dump the Russians out and finish second.

Evergreen Inter captain Javier Zanetti, filling in at left back for the suspended Cristian Chivu, showed dogged determination when surrounded by defenders in the corner and Balotelli cut the ball back for Eto'o to smash home on the half hour mark.

Balotelli had another frustrating match before blasting in a 35-metre free kick just after the hour to spark a party atmosphere.

Arsenal, already confirmed as Group H winners which theoretically means a more favourable second round draw, lost 1-0 at Olympiakos with the Greeks grabbing the runners-up spot.

All that was left to decide in Group E was which of Fiorentina and Lyon would go through as table toppers.

The French ended their first round campaign on a high, routing Debrecen 4-0 but lost out on the number one place after Fiorentina grabbed a late goal to beat Liverpool 2-1.

Alberto Gilardino scored the last-gasp winner for the Italian side to secure victory at Anfield.

Yossi Benayoun gave the Premier League side the lead with a 43rd minute header before Martin Jorgensen scored a 63rd minute equaliser for the Italians. Gilardino won it in the final minute after converting a Juan Vargas cross.

But there was some encouragement for Liverpool fans in the shape of midfielder Alberto Aquilani. The 20 million pounds signing from Roma in August had made just three substitute appearances since his move but showed some decent touches on his first start before being substituted after 75 minutes.

In Group G already qualified Sevilla took top spot and were joined in the next round by Stuttgart.

The Germans responded to a change of manager - with former Tottenham boss Christian Gross replacing Marcus Babbel this week - in positive fashion, racing to the quickest 3-0 lead in Champions League history.

Six minutes was all it took for Stuttgart to kill off their tie against Romanians Unirea Urziceni, who got one back for a 3-1 loss.

Tuesday's programme saw Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Milan and CSKA Moscow seal their second round passage.

With the completion of the first round the Champions League takes a break until the start of battle for the knock out stages in mid-February.

The second round draw is scheduled for December 18.