Nilmar in charge as Lyon thrash Prague

On a night of goalkeeping blunders, Lyon thrashed bottom-placed Sparta Prague 5-0 to ensure they finished above Manchester United at the top of Group D.

On a night of goalkeeping blunders, Lyon thrashed bottom-placed Sparta Prague 5-0 to ensure they finished above Manchester United at the top of Group D.

Goals from Michael Essien, Sylvain Idangar, Bryan Bergougnoux and two from the young Brazilian striker Nilmar - both of which came as a result of poor goalkeeping from Sparta's Jaromir Blazek - were more than enough to ensure Prague's miserable campaign ended in failure.

In Group A, Monaco buried Deportivo La Coruña 5-0 to take first place with 12 points. Liverpool finished with 10.

Ernesto Chevanton, Gael Givet and Javier Saviola scored first-half goals with defender Maicon and Emmanuel Adebayor adding the others.

Second-half goals from Juan, Andrei Voronin and Mirko Babic ensured Bayer Leverkusen beat Dynamo Kiev 3-0 to send the Ukrainians, group leaders at the start of play, dropping into the Uefa Cup. Leverkusen go through as Group B winners ahead of Real Madrid.

Juventus and Bayern Munich, who were already sure of their places in the last 16 before last night after securing first and second positions in Group C, both drew. Bayern drew with Ajax 2-2 while Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Maccabi Tel-Aviv.