Sevilla and Lyon close in on next round, Barcelona stunned

HAMBURG - Sevilla and Olympique Lyon closed in on the knock-out stage of the Champions League football by winning their third group game in a row in the lucrative competition, while Barcelona were stunned at home by rookies Rubin Kazan.

Sevilla won their Group G game in Germany against VfB Stuttgart 3-1, while Argentine international Cesar Delgado scored in injury time to give French club Lyon a 2-1 victory at Liverpool in a Group E match Tuesday.

In Barcelona the defending champions were sensationally beaten 2-1 by Champions League rookies Rubin Kazan, who were given an ideal start in the 2nd minute by midfielder Aleksandr Ryazantsev’s goal from a long-range effort.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised just two minutes after the restart but any hopes the home fans had of the goal settling their side and allowing them to score more were quashed in the 72nd minute when Turkish international Gokdeniz Karadeniz scored on the breakaway.

Yaha Toure nearly equalised in the third minute of injury time with a well-taken powerful header that crashed against the upright and back into play.

At the end of the game Rubin’s coach Kurban Berdyev was seen clasping a rosary in his hands and he pointed both hands skywards as the referee blew the final whistle.

The other Group F game saw Inter Milan having to come back twice to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Dynamo Kiev in an entertaining game in which both sides could have scored more goals than the two they did.

The group remains wide open with Barcelona, Kiev and Kazan all on four points, while Inter Milan, whose winless run in the Champions League now stands at eight, are on three.

In Stuttgart Sevilla’s French international defender Sebastien Squillaci scored twice to add to the pressure the home side’s coach Markus Babbel already has as a result of a dismal start to the Bundesliga season.

The 3-1 defeat sees Stuttgart slip to third place in the table with just two points from their three matches. Unirea Urziceni scored a surprise 4-1 victory at Glasgow Rangers in the other group game to move to second on four points. Rangers have just one point.

In Glasgow it was a woeful night for the home side, even though Pedro Mendes opened the scoring for Rangers in the 2nd minute. Steven Davis had an opportunity to equalise just five minutes after Bilasco had equalised in the 32nd minute, but saw his penalty saved by Daniel Tudor.

Worse was to follow in the second half as second half substitute Kyle Lafferty deflected a shot from Bruno Fernandes into his own goal in the 49th minute.

Ten minutes later Lee McCulloch scored a second own goal with a header to give the visitors a two-goal lead. Brandan sealed matters in the 65th minute with a freekick that also took a deflection to go into goal.

Arsenal could have been in a similarly commanding position as Sevilla in Group H, had they not conceded an injury time equaliser in the Netherlands against the Dutch champions Alkmaar, for whom Mendes da Silva scored to punish Arsenal’s failure to score a second after Cesc Fabregas had given them the lead.

The 1-1 draw leaves Arsenal on seven points, one more than Olympiakos, who themselves scored a late goal to beat Standard Liege 2-1 in Greece to take them to six points.

Alkmaar are on two points, while Liege have one.

In Group E Liverpool are in real trouble after being beaten by Lyon, who top the group with nine points, while Fiorentina, who won 4-3 at Debrecen, are second on six points.

Liverpool are on three points, while Debrecen still have to open their points tally after three defeats.

Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher said that the side had simply been caught on a counter-attack at the end. “We did not want to lose, but these things happen. We did not do well and it will be an uphill battle, but we are by now means out.”