CHELSEA SLUMPED to a 3-1 loss at AS Roma in the Champions League yesterday, while Inter Milan and Liver-pool needed late equalisers to avoid embarrassing defeats.

While Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon became the first teams to secure places in the next round, Liverpool needed a penalty by Steven Gerrard in the fifth minute of injury time to draw 1-1 with visiting Atletico Madrid.

Inter, who hired coach Jose Mourinho in the offseason with the intention of winning the tournament, avoided a parti-cularly humbling defeat when Julio Cruz scored in the 80th minute to salvage a 3-3 draw at Anorthosis Famagusta.

With Panathinaikos winning 3-0 at Werder Bremen, Inter still top their qualifying group and should qualify for the next round, but the result could raise further doubts about Mou-rinho's future, especially with the Nerazurri in the doldrums in the Italian league.

Defending champions Man-chester United are at Celtic in one of today's eight matches, while four-time winners Bayern Munich are at Fiorentina, Juventus are at Real Madrid and Arsenal host Fenerbahce.