November 14, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 8, 1423

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PARIS, Nov 13: Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League despite staging a remarkable comeback in a 3-3 draw with FC Basel Tuesday.

The English Premiership side needed a victory to qualify from the first phase, but went three goals down inside the first half hour at the Swiss club’s St Jakob stadium.

Despite drawing level in the second half, Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier’s dream of winning Europe’s top club competition evaporated and a ticket into the UEFA Cup was scant consolation.

Basel became the first Swiss side ever to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, qualifying second in Group B behind Valencia, who beat Spartak Moscow 3-0.

In Group D, the tightest of the night, Inter Milan beat Ajax 2-1 at the Amsterdam ArenA thanks to a Hernan Crespo double but both teams qualified at the expense of French side Lyon who were held to a 1-1 draw at battling Norwegians Rosenborg.

Italian giants AS Roma meanwhile did the necessary with a 1-1 draw against AEK Athens at the San Siro to ensure they qualified as Group B runners-up behind Real Madrid.

English champions Arsenal survived an ill-tempered goalless battle with PSV Eindhoven to top their Group A and move into the second phase with the advantage of being seeded.

Borussia Dortmund will join Arsene Wenger’s side in Friday’s draw, but their 1-0 defeat at Auxerre cost them top spot.

In a pulsating match in Switzerland, Turkish midfielder Hakan Yakin played a part in all three of Basel’s goals, scored by exciting Argentine pair Julio Hernan Rossi and Christian Gimenez and Timothee Atouba, who smashed the ball home when keeper Jerzy Dudek failed to hold the original shot.

Liverpool were rocked from the second minute when Rossi turned in a cross from Yakin as the English side’s defence were left flat-footed.

Houllier’s team did not recover until the 61st minute when Danny Murphy pulled a goal back before Vladimir Smicer made it 3-2 three minutes later.

When Yakin handled the ball in the penalty area in the 83rd minute, Michael Owen scored at the second attempt after Pascal Zuberbuehler had saved his spot kick.

Despite a scramble in front of the Basel goal in the final minute of injury time, Liverpool were unable to get the crucial winner.

Needing a point to guarantee their place in the last 16, Roma went ahead five minutes before the break thanks to Marco Delvecchio’s close-range header.

But after dominating the match, the hosts were pegged back in the final minute when AEK’s Walter Centeno poked in the equaliser from six yards out.

Inter Milan thanked two rapid-fire goals shortly after the restart from Argentinian international Crespo for their group winner’s spot as Raphael Van der Vaart added an injury-time consolation for Ajax.

The Dutch club were then forced to wait nervously for the result of the Lyon v Rosenborg match before knowing they had qualified.

At Highbury, Arsenal had Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure sent off in the first half for a second wild tackle on PSV’s Danish winger Dennis Rommedahl but survived to win their group.

Tuesday’s results: