Barcelona booked their place in the Champions League last 16 with two games to spare when a Lionel Messi double and a Sergio Busquets header secured a 3-1 home win over Milan last night.

The Catalans were joined in the knock-out stages by fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid who maintained their 100 per cent record in Group H after thumping Austria Vienna 4-0.

At the Nou Camp, World Player of the Year Messi ended his recent mini drought when he struck from the penalty spot after half an hour and midfielder Busquets netted a rare goal when he headed in a Xavi free-kick 10 minutes later.

Milan pulled one back when Kaka’s low centre deflected into the net off Barca defender Gerard Pique moments before half-time before Messi raced through the middle to bag his sixth goal in Europe this season seven minutes from time.

The Primera Liga champions top the group on 10 points with Milan on five in second. Ajax are third on four points after they won 1-0 at home to Celtic in Amsterdam.

Atletico Madrid cruised to their fourth consecutive victory with a 4-0 win at home to Austria Vienna, assuring themselves of top spot in Group G and qualification to the next round.

Miranda, Raul Garcia and Filipe Luis put the La Liga side three up before halftime and leading scorer Diego Costa netted the fourth late on after missing a second-half penalty.

The visitors, struggling domestically, bottom of the group and without a goal to their name, rarely threatened after a couple of chances early on.

The group’s second-placed side Zenit St Petersburg were earlier held to a 1-1 draw at home to Porto to move on to five points, seven adrift of leaders Atletico and their perfect record with two games left to play.

Arsenal snatched an important 1-0 win at last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund, thanks to an Aaron Ramsey header, to take control of Group F with two games left to play.

Arsenal, who avenged a 2-1 loss to Dortmund in London last month, bided their time for more than an hour in pouring rain, soaking up Dortmund attacks before striking with their first effort on goal.

The visitors scored against the run of play with Wales international Ramsey sneaking into the box to head home in the 61st minute.

In the other match in Group F, Napoli needed two goals from Gonzalo Higuain to win a thrilling match with Marseille 3-2 in the other Group F match.

The Argentine scored his second goal with 15 minutes remaining to settle a superb contest.

Florian Thauvin had levelled for the visitors on 64 minutes after two brilliantly-taken goals from Napoli’s Gokhan Inler and Higuain in as many first-half minutes had cancelled out Andre Ayew’s headed opener for the French side.

Arsenal are leading Group F thanks to a superior goal difference over Napoli who are also on the nine-point mark.

Dortmund, who until last night had never lost at home to English opposition in seven contests, wasted half a dozen clear chances but failed to make their dominance count.

Eto’o double

Chelsea virtually guaranteed their place in the knockout rounds after weathering an early storm to beat Schalke 04 3-0 and take a commanding lead in Group E.

Schalke started the brighter, but the match tipped Chelsea’s way when Samuel Eto’o pounced to score after 31 minutes when goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand took too long to clear, allowing Eto’o to stick a boot in the way of the ball, which shot past the keeper and into the net.

Eto’o made it 2-0 in the 54th minute with a well-taken goal after a swift break and a neat final pass from Willian. Substitute Demba Ba made it 3-0 with a mis-hit volley in the 83rd minute.

Although Schalke continued to search for a goal after going two behind, they lost much of their impetus when their most dangerous player, Julian Draxler, was replaced after an hour with a knock.

The result puts Chelsea clear at the top of Group E with nine points, three ahead of second-placed Schalke.

Summaries

Basel 1
Sio 90;
S. Bucharest 1
Piovaccari 17;

Chelsea 3
Eto’o 31, 54; Ba 83;
Schalke 0

B. Dortmund 0
Arsenal 1
Ramsey 61;

Napoli 3
Inler 22; Higuain 24, 75;
Marseille 2
Ayew 10; Thauvin 64;

Zenit SP 1
Hulk 28;
Porto 1
Lucho 23;

Missed penalty: Hulk (Z) 52.

A. Madrid 4
Miranda 11; Garcia 25; Kasmirski 45; Costa 82;
A. Vienna 0

Missed penalty: Costa (AM) 75.

Ajax 1
Schone 51;
Celtic 0

Barcelona 3
Messi 30 pen, 83; Busquets 40;
Milan 1
Pique 45 og;

Group E

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	4	3	0	1	11	2	9
Schalke	4	2	0	2	4	6	6
Basel	4	1	2	1	4	4	5
S. Bucharest	4	0	2	2	2	9	2

Schalke vs Steaua Bucharest - 3-0
Chelsea vs Basel - 1-2
Basel vs Schalke - 0-1
S. Bucharest vs Chelsea - 0-4
Steaua Bucharest vs Basel - 1-1
Schalke vs Chelsea - 0-3
Basel vs S. Bucharest - 1-1
Chelsea vs Schalke - 3-0
26/11/13: Basel vs Chelsea
26/11/13: S. Bucharest vs Schalke
11/12/13: Schalke vs Basel
11/12/13: Chelsea vs S. Bucharest

Group F

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Arsenal	4	3	0	1	6	3	9
Napoli	4	3	0	1	7	6	9
B. Dortmund	4	2	0	2	6	4	6
Marseille	4	0	0	4	4	10	0

Marseille vs Arsenal - 1-2
Napoli vs B. Dortmund - 2-1
B. Dortmund vs Marseille - 3-0
Arsenal vs Napoli - 2-0
Arsenal vs Bor. Dortmund - 1-2
Marseille vs Napoli - 1-2
B. Dortmund vs Arsenal - 0-1
Napoli vs Marseille - 3-2
26/11/13: Arsenal vs Marseille
26/11/13: B. Dortmund vs Napoli
11/12/13: Marseille vs B. Dortmund
11/12/13: Napoli vs Arsenal

Group G

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Atl. Madrid	4	4	0	0	12	2	12
Zenit SP	4	1	2	1	3	4	5
Porto	4	1	1	2	3	4	4
A. Vienna	4	0	1	3	0	8	1

Austria Vienna vs Porto - 0-1
Atletico Madrid vs Zenit SP - 3-1
Zenit SP vs A. Vienna - 0-0
Porto vs A. Madrid - 1-2
Porto vs Zenit SP - 0-1
A. Vienna vs Atl. Madrid - 0-3
Zenit SP vs Porto - 1-1
A. Madrid vs A. Vienna - 4-0
26/11/13: Porto vs A. Vienna
26/11/13: Zenit SP vs A. Madrid
11/12/13: A. Vienna vs Zenit SP
11/12/13: A. Madrid vs Porto

Group H

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Barcelona	4	3	1	0	9	2	10
Milan	4	1	2	1	5	5	5
Ajax	4	1	1	2	3	7	4
Celtic	4	1	0	3	2	5	3

Milan vs Celtic - 2-0
Barcelona vs Ajax - 4-0
Ajax vs Milan - 1-1
Celtic vs Barcelona - 0-1
Celtic vs Ajax - 2-1
Milan vs Barcelona - 1-1
Ajax vs Celtic - 1-0
Barcelona vs Milan - 3-1
26/11/13: Celtic vs Milan
26/11/13: Ajax vs Barcelona
11/12/13: Milan vs Ajax
11/12/13: Barcelona vs Celtic