Barcelona's Brazilian Ronaldinho (l) vies with Chelsea's Michael Essien during a Champions League Group A football match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Tuesday. (AFP Photo)

LONDON, Nov. 1--Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia reached the knockout round of the Champions League on Tuesday with two group matches to spare.
The fate of Barcelona hangs in the balance, though, after Chelsea equalised deep in stoppage time to force a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp and leave the European champions in third place in Group A with five points from four matches, Reuters said.
Chelsea top the group with 10 points, followed by Werder Bremen on seven after a thumping 3-0 win at Bulgarian side Levski Sofia who were eliminated.
As expected the sixth meeting between Chelsea and Barcelona in the last three seasons lived up to all the pre-match hype and featured four goals, 10 bookings, frequent flare-ups--and some very good football especially in the second half.
Didier Drogba scored deep into stoppage time to earn Chelsea the draw after Barcelona had led twice.
Barca got off to a dream start when midfielder Deco put them ahead in the third minute with a superb low drive after cutting across the edge of the area, but Chelsea got back in the match when Frank Lampard scored a remarkable equalizer.
The England midfielder swiveled around after appearing to take the ball too wide on the byline and then dinked a shot over keeper Victor Valdes and into the far corner from the tightest of angles seven minutes into the second half.
Eidur Gudjohnsen returned to haunt his former team mates when he scored to put Barcelona 2-1 up after 58 minutes, but Chelsea struck back just before the finish to steal a point.
While Barcelona are still some way off qualifying, Bayern are in the knockout phase after a 0-0 home draw with sporting Lisbon means they must finish first or second in Group B.
Inter Milan increased their chances of joining them from Group B after a 1-0 win in Moscow over Spartak where a first minute goal from Julio Cruz separated the teams.
Bayern have 10 points, Inter six, sporting five and Spartak one--after equaling EK Athens’s unwanted record of 21 Champions League matches without a win.
Liverpool and PSV advanced from Group C after the Merseysiders beat Girondins Bordeaux 3-0 at Anfield and the Dutch beat Galatasaray 2-0 at the Phillips Stadium.
Valencia also made it through after their 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk, while AS Roma (seven points) look poised to join them in the knockout phase from Group D.
Roma and Olympiakos drew 1-1 but the Italians stayed five points clear of the Greeks and Shakhtar with two games to play.

PARIS, Nov. 1--Russia’s Marat Safin produced a combative display to knock out Swede Robin Soderling 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a second-round match on Tuesday and stay on course for a fourth Paris Masters crown.
On a good day for Russian Tennis, world number five Nikolay Davydenko, the fourth seed and the highest player left in the draw after a string of high profile withdrawals, humiliated Belgian lucky loser Christophe Rochus 6-0 6-0 in just 35 minutes, reported Reuters.
The gifted but erratic Safin, who has a reputation for winning the indoor event every two years with triumphs in 2000,
2002 and 2004, lost the first set and was a break down in the second.
The former world number one, however, thrilled the Paris crowd by recovering to move past Soderling, seeded 18th in the last regular men’s tournament before the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai.
A raging forehand volley earned Safin a first match point, which he converted with a service winner to seal victory in just under two hours.
“It’s probably one of my biggest wins of the year because he’s such a great player,“ said Safin.
“I saw him almost beat Roger (Federer) in Madrid. To me he’s a top-class player. To beat him on this surface, on his surface, I think it’s pretty big.
“I feel more comfortable here than anywhere else and that probably made a huge difference today.“
Safin will now meet either local favorite Richard Gasquet, who beat him last week in Lyon, or Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.
Spain’s David Ferrer, seeded 11th but more at ease on clay than on fast indoor surfaces, bowed out by losing 6-3 6-4 to American Robby Ginepri.
Ginepri next meets Czech Tomas Berdych, the defending champion, or Belgian Olivier Rochus.
Dmitry Tursunov, seeded 15th, was leading 6-3 5-4 when Spain’s Nicolas Almagro pulled out because of a torn thigh muscle. Tursunov will now challenge Davydenko in an all-Russian third round tie.
Juan Ignacio Chela earned a meeting with Briton Andy Murray by moving past Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan.
The Argentine baseliner was leading their first-round match 6-3 3-0 when Paradorn was forced to withdraw because of a sore ear.
Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean thrilled the home fans by beating Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1 7-6.
World number one Roger Federer pulled out of the tournament on Monday, citing exhaustion, and left the event without five of the world’s top six players.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov. 1--Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene lamented the mistakes that prompted his side’s early exit from the Champions Trophy but said he had no regrets about tactical decisions taken during the tournament.
Sri Lanka’s failure to qualify for the semifinals gave rise to fierce criticism in the local media, with several commentators pointing the finger at team selection, Reuters said.
Sri Lanka, considered one of the pre-tournament favorites after a string of one-day victories, were knocked out of the competition after a 78-run defeat against South Africa.
“Losing to South Africa was a huge disappointment for us and I can understand the frustration of the supporters,“ Jayawardene told reporters.
“Like the fans, we also had high expectations after our recent successes during the past few months.“
Jayawardene said Sri Lanka made too many mistakes and that their batting let them down badly, adding that it was impossible to win against top-level teams when making so many errors.
“There is no point in searching for excuses. It was our fault that we lost and we have to accept that. As individuals within a team, we have to put our hands up and take responsibility for our own actions.“
Some critics have argued that Sri Lanka erred by not playing leg spinner Malinga Bandara as a second specialist spinner, while others condemned the decision to bowl first at Ahmedabad.
“Malinga is definitely the No. 2 spinner in Sri Lanka but was unlucky that the heavy dew at night prevented us from playing three spinners, a tactic we often use in Asia,“ he added.
“We toyed with playing him against New Zealand in Mumbai, which had less of a dew problem, but in Ahmedabad it was too risky to go into the match with only three fast bowlers in case we lost the toss.“

QUEBEC CITY, Canada, Nov. 1--Third seed Sofia Arvidsson, of Sweden, was upset by American Ashley Harkleroad, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, on Tuesday in the first round at the 175,000 dollar WTA Bell Challenge hardcourt event.
Harkleroad, who never has won a WTA Tour title, will face Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak in the second round, AFP said.
Fifth-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer did move on after rallying past Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Bammer next will play Slovakian Martina Sucha.
The highest-seeded player in action Tuesday was No. 2 Marion Bartoli of France, who moved on with an easy 6-1, 6-4 victory over Russian Galina Voskoboeva in a night match.
Seventh-seeded American Jamea Jackson bowed out of the event, retiring with a right leg injury while trailing Russian Anastassia Rodionova, 6-2, 2-1.
Other first-round winners Tuesday include Americans Vania King, Lilia Osterloh and Abigail Spears.

Shaquille O'Neal (r) of the Miami Heat scores over Ben Wallace (c) of the Chicago Bulls on opening night, American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Tuesday. (AFP Photo)

MIAMI, USA, Nov. 1--The Chicago Bulls left the court while Miami received its NBA championship rings, then returned to emphatically spoil what was left of the Heat’s celebration on Tuesday.
Kirk Hinrich--who signed a five-year contract extension just hours before tip-off--scored 26 points, Chris Duhon added 20 and the Bulls delivered a huge stunner in beating the defending NBA champion Heat 108-66 in the season opener, AP said.
It was, by far, the worst loss in NBA history for a defending champion on opening night; the previous low was the Los Angeles Lakers’ 132-117 defeat to Golden State in 1982. The Lakers went on that season to win 58 games and return to the NBA finals under coach Pat Riley, the same man guiding the Heat these days.
Chicago seized command with a 37-14 second-quarter burst, a stretch where the Bulls connected on 79 percent of their shots--compared to 29 percent for the Heat, who simply never got rolling. The lead was 59-30 at halftime and just kept growing.
Dwyane Wade had 25 points before sitting out much of the fourth quarter for Miami, which didn’t even have anyone else reach double figures. The Heat turned the ball over 23 times, leading to 32 Chicago points, and were outrebounded 49-29.
Luol Deng had 12 points and Thabo Sefolosha-the league’s first player from Switzerland--added 11 on 4-of-4 shooting for Chicago.
Antoine Walker had nine for Miami, while Shaquille O’Neal had seven points and five rebounds before sitting out the final 14:01.
The Heat donned the same red uniforms they wore on June 20 in Dallas when they won the franchise’s first title, and got their rings in an elaborate pregame ceremony capped by raising the commemorative banner to the ceiling.
“In some cases, the home team gets their rings and goes blub, blub, blub, blub because they’re so pumped,“ said NBA commissioner David Stern, who handed out the jewelry to the Heat players, coaches and staff before the game. “I’ve been to a couple of those.“

TOKYO, Nov. 1--Former Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi will attempt to defend her title at this month’s Tokyo International Women’s Marathon, race organizers said on Wednesday, reported Reuters.
The 2000 Sydney gold medalist was named among 13 invitees for the Nov. 19 race, which also serves as a qualifier for Japan’s team for the world championships in Osaka next year.
Lithuania’s Zivile Balciunaite, runner-up to Takahashi in Tokyo last year, was also named in the field.

BEIJING, Nov. 1--China’s best soccer players will not play in this month’s Asian Cup qualifying match against Iraq, with both countries having already qualified for the finals, state media reported on Wednesday.
Energie Cottbus midfielder Shao Jiayi, Royal Antwerp striker Dong Fangzhuo and Manchester City defender Sun Jihai were among those left off the 26-man roster chosen by the Chinese Football Association, it said, AFP said.
Shanghai Shenhua’s Li Weifeng, who formed the defensive backbone of China’s 2004 runner-up team, also will miss the qualifier on November 15 in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan province.
Li is serving a ban that rules him out of national duty until the end of the year, Xinhua said.
The 2007 Asian Cup will be jointly hosted by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.