Barca turn on style to go through

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BARCELONA, Spain -- Holders Barcelona turned on the style to secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a classy 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen in their final Group A match at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.

Needing to beat Werder to avoid becoming the first champions to fall at the group stage, Barca dispelled any doubts about their ability to defend their crown as they put their opponents to the sword inside the first 20 minutes.

The mercurial Ronaldinho gave Barca the lead with an inspired free-kick that fooled both the Werder defence and keeper Tim Wiese in the 13th minute.

Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen doubled the home side's lead soon after with a powerful close-range finish when Ludovic Giuly slipped the ball into his path after scorching his way down the right flank.

The win meant that the Catalans leapfrogged Werder into second place in the final standings and will now head into the knockout phase together with group winners Chelsea. The German side go into the UEFA Cup.

Barca showed little sign of nerves about a possible early exit from the competition as they took the game to Werder from the off and gave the visitors an early scare when Gudjohnsen just failed to connect after the live-wire Giuly had slid the ball across the face of the goal.

The early chance sparked a flurry of further attacks from the Catalans, Giuly forcing an excellent full-stretch save from Wiese with a fierce drive from a meter outside the area and Thiago Motta heading over the bar from the ensuing corner.

Three minutes later, Barca took the lead thanks to a moment of inspiration from Ronaldinho after he had manufactured a free-kick when he went down two meters outside the area following a fine one-two with Andres Iniesta.

Instead of trying to curl a shot over the wall, the Brazilian caught Wiese out by drilling the ball under the players as they jumped up in anticipation.

Werder were still reeling from the blow when they were caught out again. This time Gudjohnsen blasted into the net from close range after Giuly had sped down the right flank after latching on to a great cross-field pass from Ronaldinho.

The Catalans could have made it 3-0 before the half hour was out following a stunning move involving Deco and Gudjohnsen.

The Portugal international shrugged off a series of challenges as he surged through the midfield, then unloaded to Gudjohnsen who zig-zagged his way past four defenders and into the area only to fire his final shot against the post and Giuly missed an open goal from the rebound.

Barca took their foot off the pedal towards the end of the first half and Werder gave them a couple of scares just before the break, the best of which saw Brazilian defender Naldo send a rocketing free-kick fizzing wide of the post.

The Bundesliga leaders had the better of the game early in the second half, with Miroslav Klose and Hugo Almeida both going close early on and midfielder Daniel Jensen hitting the bar with a speculative cross-shot.

But Barca weathered the storm and Gudjohnsen and Giuly would have extended their lead had it not been for some desperate last-ditch defending from Werder after they were put in the clear by Ronaldinho.

Chelsea finish top

Meanwhile, striker Andriy Shevchenko made sure Chelsea finished top of the groupby setting them on the way to a 2-0 win over Levski Sofia.

The Ukraine international, who cost £30 million ($59.30 million) when he joined from AC Milan in the close season, struck in the 27th minute and substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips arrowed home the second in the 83rd.

Levski came to Stamford Bridge after losing all five of their previous games and were no real match for the English champions, who could have won by a bigger margin.

The hosts made their intentions clear from the start with Shevchenko winning possession in midfield in the second minute, feeding the ball wide to Arjen Robben and meeting the Dutchman's neat cut back with a shot which was only just blocked.

Chelsea kept up the pressure and Shevchenko had better luck on the half-hour when he coolly finished off a three-man move with his fifth goal of the season.

Robben picked out Frank Lampard and the England midfielder sent Shevchenko through for a superb shot into the far corner with the outside of his right foot past keeper Bozhidar Mitrev.

Levski, who had nothing to lose and had already shown their willingness to attack, came close to equalising when Cedric Bardon tested Portuguese keeper Hilario with a fine volley.

But the action was soon at the other end with Shevchenko sending a low raking shot narrowly wide and only a goalline clearance by Levski's Stanislav Angelov denying Ricardo Carvalho a rare goal when he drove the ball through a packed goalmouth.

Lampard was the next to try his luck, with a surging 30-meter run and shot that was charged down, and there was little respite for the Bulgarians after the break.

Germany's Michael Ballack and fellow midfielder Michael Essien of Ghana both blasted over the bar and Mitrev needed to make a brave dive at Didier Drogba's feet as the Ivorian closed in on Wayne Bridge's inviting cross from the left.

The one-way traffic was suspended briefly, though, when Levski substitute Lachezar Baltanov got in a sizzling drive that cannoned off Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz.

Minutes after their earlier encounter, Drogba was flattened by Mitrev when both men challenged for a bouncing ball and this time the Ivorian striker came off worse.

Wright-Phillips made the scoreline more respectable for Jose Mourinho's men when he collected a simple pass from Carvalho and rifled home his first goal of the season from 20 meters.

Hilario, standing in for Carlo Cudicini, needed to be sharp in stoppage time though when he made two quick saves in succession to deny the Bulgarians a consolation.

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