LONDON: A memorable Steven Gerrard strike could not prevent Liverpool from being eliminated from the Champions League as Basel went through on Tuesday, while Juventus and Monaco also advanced to the last 16.

Liverpool’s decline and fall from the European elite was confirmed after Basel held the hosts to a 1-1 draw at Anfield to reach the knockout stage.

Liverpool are enduring a deeply disappointing season but they knew that a win at home to Basel would take them through from Group ‘B’ into the last 16 for the first time since 2009.

The five-time European champions trailed to Fabian Frei’s rasping 25th-minute drive, and had substitute Lazar Markovic sent off in the 60th, before captain Gerrard’s beautifully-flighted free-kick nine minutes from time sparked a frantic finish.

Barring their late flurry, it was a largely a dismal home performance from Liverpool who finished third on five points, two adrift of second-placed Basel to slip into the Europa League.

“It was hard, the last 10 minutes,” said Basel coach Paulo Sousa, adding that qualification will go down in “the history of this special club”.

Liverpool twice failed to beat Basel and were outclassed by Group ‘B’ winners Real Madrid on returning from a five-year absence in a competition they once dominated, and twice reached the final when their inspirational captain was at his peak.

“I don’t think we deserved better,” Gerrard told ITV Sport. “We have not gone out because of this performance. We weren’t good enough away to Basel (losing 1-0) and we let in a silly goal away to Ludogorets. You qualify over six games and we have not been good enough.”

Real completed the only perfect group-stage record of six wins after Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty started a 4-0 rout of Ludogorets Razgrad. It also set a Spanish record of 19 straight wins in all competitions.

Ludogorets forward Marcelinho was sent off for stopping Raphael Varane’s goal-ward shot with an arm and Ronaldo converted the penalty in the 20th minute.

Gareth Bale headed in off the crossbar from Toni Kroos’ corner in the 38th for his fifth goal in five matches before Alvaro Arbeloa and youngster Alvaro Medran added further goals.

European champions Real last failed to win when they were humbled 2-1 at home by city rivals Atletico Madrid in a La Liga game in September.

TURIN (Italy): Juventus’ Andrea Pirlo (R) challenges Atletico Madrid’s Koke during their Champions League match at Juventus Stadium.—Reuters

“I have an extraordinary group [of players] and I never tire of saying it,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference after the match at a festive Bernabeu stadium.

“I could not imagine winning 19 games in a row after the defeat to Atletico. I knew we would fix what had not gone well but not in this way.”

Juventus, knocked out at the group stage 12 months ago, advanced with typical Italian caution after drawing 0-0 at home to Atletico Madrid who topped Group ‘A’.

The home side dominated possession but struggled to create clear-cut scoring opportunities and took almost an hour to first test Atletico goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya.

“At the end of the day it was the result which counted,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “That was our first aim of the season, to get through the group, and that’s never easy.”

The draw for Juve means Olympiakos drop into the Europa League despite a 4-2 win in Greece against a Malmo side who finished with 10 men, with David Fuster, Alejandro Dominguez, Kostas Mitroglou and Ibrahim Afellay all scoring.

It was a memorable night for Monaco, who needed only a point at home to Zenit St Petersburg to advance but a 2-0 win in the Principality, coupled with a 0-0 draw between Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen in Lisbon, saw them go through as Group ‘C’ winners.

Second-half goals from defensive duo Aymen Abdennour and Fabinho secured the victory for Leonardo Jardim’s Monaco, who have not qualified for the knock-out stage since they reached the final in 2004. Monaco finished with 11 points, Leverkusen 10, Zenit 7 and Benfica 4.

In Group ‘D’, two stunning Aaron Ramsey strikes helped Arsenal to a morale-boosting 4-1 win against eliminated Galatasaray in Istanbul.

Despite the win, Arsenal finish second in the group behind Borussia Dortmund, who drew 1-1 at home to Anderlecht, Ciro Immobile giving the hosts the lead in Germany before Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2014