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There was late drama in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night as 7 goals were scored in the last 10 minutes of the 8 games taking place across Europe. Only two out of eight places up for grabs in the second round were decided tonight as Sevilla and Lyon both scored the point they needed to progress from their respective groups. They are likely to be joined in the last 16 by Arsenal and Fiorentina, with a major catastrophe and a minor one required respectively to prevent these two sides from going through. There was heart break for Liverpool and Dynamo Kiev tonight as they were both recipients of the curse of the late goals, with the latter especially unlucky to find themselves bottom of the group of death .

Our round-up starts in Group E where Liverpool made the trip to the Stade de Gerland to take on Lyon, knowing they needed a win to get their Champions League campaign back on track after losing the reverse fixture 2-1 at home. The 5-time European champions started the brighter creating a host of half chances in a rather tame first half with Lyon more than happy to sit back and play for a draw. The home side came out to play in the second half, and both keepers produced a couple of good, but expected saves to keep the scores level. Substitute Ryan Babel gave Liverpool the lead in the 83rd minute with a cannon shot with his right foot from just outside the box, only for Lyon's record signing Lisandro Lopez to deny the visitors a win with a cool finish in the last minute of the game. The draw takes Lyon to 10 points at the top of the Group, guaranteeing them qualification to the second stage for the 8th year running. Close on their heels are Fiorentina, who as expected hammered Debrecan 5-2 at home. The Italian side have a 5 point cushion on Liverpool and will need Lyon to beat Fiorentina on matchday 5 to have any chance of making it to round 2.

In the early kick-off in Russia, Premier Liga leaders Rubin Kazan followed up their shock 2-1 victory at the Camp Nou against Barcelona by holding the European champions to a 0-0 draw. Barca dominated the match once again like they did on Matchday 3, but despite 75% of the possession and 19 shots on goal, they were unable to find a way past Sergei Ryzhikov in goal. Barcelona came closest in the just the third minute of the game with record summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic hitting the woodwork with a delicate chip which had the keeper well beaten. Rubin defended stoutly in numbers and played on whatever scraps they could get on the counter. They almost took the lead themselves with Victor Valdes doing well to save from Karadeniz. Thierry Henry came off the bench in the last 10 minutes and nearly won the game, but his lack of match sharpness at the right end of the pitch told as he was unable to make the most of a couple of half chances.

Inter Milan came into Wednesday night at the bottom of Group F and looked to be on the way out of the competition when they were down 1-0 in Kiev thanks to a 21st minute strike from Andriy Shevchenko. However, 'the Special One' Jose Mourinho's team were rescued by goals from Diego Milito and Wesley Sneijder in the 86th and 89th minutes respectively, and instantly leapfrogged both Kazan and Barcelona to end the day at the top of the group of death with 6 points from 4 games. With just 2 points separating top from bottom (Kiev), qualification from Group F is likely to go right down to the wire.

Group G was a bit of a disappointment today with both games ending in 1-1 draws. Sevilla picked up the point they needed to qualify thanks to a 14th minute goal from Jesus Navas. Stuttgart got the equalizer in the 78th minute through Zdravko Kuzmanovic meaning that they are still in contention for 2nd place. That spot currently belongs to minnows Unirea Urziceni after a goal two minutes from time earned the Romanian champions a draw at home against Rangers.

Over in Group H Arsenal put on a footballing clinic with Russian international Andrei Arshavin producing a masterful performance creating three goals. Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 rout as a brace from skipper Cesc Fabregas and a goal each from French internationals Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby handed the Gunners an easy win. In the other game in the group Standard Liege narrowly edged Greek champions Olympiakos 2-0 thanks to goals in either half by Dieudonné Mbokani Bezua and Milan Jovanovic. That result means that mathematically Arsenal can still be caught and hence are not guaranteed qualification, though realistically speaking they are pretty much through as Liege and Olympiakos battle for second place.

Wednesday's Scores:

Group E
ACF Fiorentina 5-2 Debreceni VSC
Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 Liverpool FC