Milan ousted; Chelsea, Hertha and Bayern Munich advance

Powered by a goal from George Weah, back after his six-game suspension, Milan led 2-1 and seemed headed for the second round along with Group H winner Chelsea before Hakan Suker fired an equaliser in the 86th minute and then Umit Davala rammed home a penalty.

Hundreds of Hertha Berlin fans at Stamford Bridge cheered wildly despite watching their team lose 2-0 at Chelsea when news of the turnaround in Istanbul came through. The Galatasaray fans also knew the result meant that they had stolen third place from Milan behind Chelsea and Hertha.

Didier Deschamps scored his first ever Euro Cup goal in his 73rd appearance and Spanish defender Albert Ferrer netted his first in Blues colors as Gianluca Vialli’s team downed Hertha. The results mean that the two third place finishers in their domestic leagues have now made it to the last 16 of Europe’s premier competition.

Last season’s runner up, Bayern Munich, also made it to the second round after a Thomas Strunz penalty downed and ousted Rangers 1-0 at Munich’s Olympic Stadium even though the Scottish champion hit the post and the bar before half time. But Valencia remained on top of Group F after edging PSV Eindhoven thanks to a goal by Argentine forward Claudio Lopez.

Seven-time titlist Real Madrid charged to the top of Group E after a goal by French star Christian Karembeu gave it a 1-0 win at Norway’s Molde. FC Porto lost the leadership after losing 1-0 at Olympiakos of Greece but had already qualified.

The Molde-Real Madrid game made history when Nelly Viennot of France became the first woman to officiate a European top game running the line as an assistant.

Sparta Prague wound up top of group G after a 5-2 thumping of already-eliminated Spartak Moscow while Bordeaux lost the leadership on goal difference after a 0-0 tie with Dutch club Willem II.

The 16 qualifiers go into four more groups in the second round and will have to play six more round-robin games before the final eight go into the knockout stage next April.

The eight group winners — Lazio, Barcelona, Rosenborg, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Valencia, Sparta Prague and Chelsea — wll be seeded in tomorrow’s draw so that no more than two are in each group.

Qualifiers for second round

Group A: Lazio, Dynamo Kiev Ousted: Bayer Leverkusen, Maribor

Group B: Barcelona, Fiorentina Ousted: Arsenal, Aik Solna

Group C: Rosenborg, Feyenoord Ousted: Borussia Dortmund, Boavista

Group D: Manchester United, Olympique Marseille Ousted: Sturm Graz, Croatia Zagreb

Group E: Real Madrid, FC Porto Ousted: Olympiakos, Molde

Group F: Valencia, Bayern Munich Ousted: Rangers, PSV Eindhoven

Group G: Sparta Prague, Bordeaux Ousted: Sparta Moscow, Willem II

Group H: Chelsea, Hertha Berlin Ousted: Galasataray, AC Milan

Qualifiers for Uefa Cup (third round)

Group A: Bayer Leverkusen

Group B; Arsenal

Group C: Borussia Dortmund

Group D: Sturm Graz

Group E: Olympiakos

Group F: Rangers

Group G: Sparta Moscow

Group H: Galasataray

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