Brilliant Basel hit heights to knock out United

FC Basel 1893 2-1 Manchester United FC
A goal in each half from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei secured a famous home victory and second place in Group C at their opponents' expense.
FC Basel 1893 reached the UEFA Champions League last 16 for only the second time as Marco Streller and Alexander Frei scored in each half to secure a famous victory over Manchester United FC to end last season's finalists' interest in the competition.

With SL Benfica already assured of progress, Basel and United met with Group C's second qualifying berth at stake. United needed only a point but Xherdan Shaqiri proved a thorn in their side; his cross led to Streller's thumping ninth-opener finish and, as the visitors pressed for an equaliser, the 20-year-old set up Frei to head a second six minutes from time.

Phil Jones halved the deficit, but Basel survived a tense finale to advance from the initial group stage for the first time since 2002/03. United, meanwhile, fail to progress from a group stage for only the third time and, though both teams will be involved in a draw on 16 December, the English club will be in the UEFA Europa League.

Although United started confidently, their early optimism was punctured after they failed to clear Markus Steinhöfer's delivery. Shaqiri collected on the left wing and whipped in a vicious cross that United goalkeeper David de Gea could only deflect into the path of Streller, who fired in convincingly.

That strike put the wind in Basel's sails and they continued to press forward as United struggled to contain Shaqiri. However, Nani was becoming equally influential for the visitors and, just past the half-hour, delivered a dangerous cross that narrowly evaded Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung.

Nani's own effort was bravely smothered by Yann Sommer, and the Basel goalkeeper was also equal to Rooney's drive after the striker was put through by Ryan Giggs. The English side's mounting frustration was obvious, yet they started the second period positively. Rooney sent one effort wide, before the home goal had a fortunate escape when Steinhöfer's attempted volleyed clearance came back off his own crossbar.

Basel had chances of their own, Frei having one kick acrobatically saved as Heiko Vogel's charges looked to put daylight between them and United. On the break they managed to do just that; Shaqiri curled in from the right and Streller cleverly dummied for Frei to steal in at the far post and nod in.

Jones's header after Federico Macheda's shot had come back off the bar gave United hope, but Basel stood strong.

Marseille's late comeback at Dortmund stuns Olympiakos

Marseille scored twice in the last five minutes to win 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund and take second place in Group F ahead of Arsenal's conquerors Olympiakos.

The French side had trailed their German rivals 2-0 but after Andre Ayew levelled things on 85 minutes, Mathieu Valbuena grabbed an unlikely win.

In Group E, Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw at Genk meant Chelsea beat them to top spot with their win over Valencia.

Porto also went out after a goalless draw with Zenit St Petersburg.

With Arsenal already through, Marseille went into the final day in control of their own destiny in Group F, a point ahead of third-placed Olympiakos.

However, Jakub Blaszczykowski opened the scoring for the Germans and Mats Hummels added a second from the spot and, although Loic Remy pulled one back in first-half added time, with the Greek side on their way to a comfortable win over Arsenal, French prospects looked bleak.

But Ayew equalised with five minutes remaining before Valbuena snatched second place away from Olympiakos with a third goal with just two minutes left.

Porto had given themselves a chance of progressing from Group G when they won 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk in their previous match.

But the 2004 winners and Europa League holders could not find a way past stubborn Russians Zenit, who held on to second place.

Apoel, who are the first Cypriot team to progress to the knockout phase, qualify as Group G winners despite slipping to a 2-0 home defeat to Shakhtar.

Luiz Adriano, who had earlier missed a penalty, put the Ukranians ahead before Yevgen Seleznev added a second to set up his team's first Champions League win of the season.

Leverkusen knew that a victory in Genk would have been enough to seal top spot in Group E but they fell behind to a first-half goal from Jelle Vossen.

Eren Derdiyok pulled one back for the Germans, but Chelsea's comprehensive win over Valencia meant Bayer had to settle for second place.

BARCA'S KIDS AGAINST BATE
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Defender Andreu Fontàs, 22, ninth appearance, born Catalonia, Spain.
Defender Marc Bartra, 20, fourth appearance, born Catalonia.
Defender Martin Montoya, 20, third appearance, born Barcelona.
Midfielder Thiago Alcantara, 20, 32nd appearance, born Italy (joined Barca aged 14).
Midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos, 21, ninth apperance, born Mexico (joined Barca aged 12).
Midfielder Sergi Roberto, 19, third appearance, born Catalonia.
Midfielder Rafinha, 18, first appearance, born Brazil (joined Barca aged 13).
Forward Isaac Cuenco, 20, eighth appearance, born Barcelona.
Group H's top two was already confirmed before the final round of fixtures but first-placed Barcelona's second string played with plenty of style on the way to a comfortable 4-0 victory over BATE Borisov, who knew a win at the Nou Camp would have given them a chance of third place.

Pep Guardiola's outfield players had an average age of just 21.4 years but swept past the Belarus champions.

Sergi Roberto opened the scoring before half-time, before defender Martin Montoya added a second and winger Pedro added two more, one from the spot, after the interval.

Facing Plzen, second-placed AC Milan scored twice in the space of two minutes at the start of the second half through Alexandre Pato and Robinho.

But David Bystron halved the deficit before Michal Duris scored an injury time equaliser for the Czech team, who finish third.

Sarkozy and Merkel kick off week of euro crisis talks

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to meet to agree on joint proposals aimed at resolving the eurozone debt crisis.

They will take their ideas to an EU summit on Friday that is being seen as crucial for the single currency.

Germany favours strict EU central control while France wishes to preserve more national sovereignty.

Meanwhile, two badly-hit Eurozone countries, Italy and Ireland, are preparing tighter austerity measures.

In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Monti is due to seek approval for his government's plans in parliament.

Taxes on the assets of the wealthy will go up, as will pension ages. There will be a major drive to tackle tax evasion.

And Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said the population must prepare for a tough budget this week.

Public spending will be cut by 2.2bn euros (£1.9bn) a year and taxes raised by 1.5bn euros, with VAT increasing to 23%.

Treaty talk
Monday's Franco-German meeting in Paris kicks off a week of meetings involving European leaders, the European Central Bank (ECB) and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, culminating in Brussels on Friday with an EU summit.

With financial markets putting pressure on some of the eurozone's largest - and most highly indebted - nations, President Sarkozy said the stakes were high.

"What will remain of Europe if the euro disappears?" he asked. "Nothing."

France and Germany must play a key role to ensure "a zone of stability", he said last week.

"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity."

Mrs Merkel has promised "concrete steps towards a fiscal union" - in effect close integration of the tax-and-spend polices of individual eurozone countries, with Brussels imposing penalties on members that break the rules.

"We need budget discipline and an effective crisis management mechanism," she said. "So we need to change the treaties or create new treaties."

Mr Sarkozy faces an election early next year and is under pressure not to cede sovereignty to unelected officials in Brussels.

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Crisis jargon buster
Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:
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Default
Strictly speaking, a default occurs when a borrower has broken the terms of a loan or other debt, for example if a borrower misses a payment. The term is also loosely used to mean any situation that makes clear that a borrower can no longer repay its debts in full, such as bankruptcy or a debt restructuring.
A default can have a number of important implications. If a borrower is in default on any one debt, then all of its lenders may be able to demand that the borrower immediately repay them. Lenders may also be required to write off their losses on the loans they have made.
Glossary in full
Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy have been working so closely in recent weeks that commentators have taken to calling the two Merkozy.

Treaty change could take many months, but the hope is that a strong, unified expression of intent on Friday could reassure markets enough to lower borrowing costs for Italy, Spain and other countries with high debt and spluttering economies.

If governments can not pay their debts - if they default - the resulting shock could bring down the banks that lend to them and create another global economic crash.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's presence in Europe this week for several meetings with leaders is a measure of US concern that Europe's woes could spread beyond the continent.

On Thursday the ECB holds its monthly policy meeting. It has come under pressure to do more to ease Europe's debt crisis but has ruled out the idea of "eurobonds" backed by all eurozone members.

Germany is against the notion as is the ECB itself because such a move could lessen pressure on governments to control their spending.

However, ECB head Mario Draghi has hinted that the bank could take more aggressive action to help governments.

The ECB has been buying modest amounts of government bonds on the secondary market but could step that up, which would stabilise or lower borrowing costs.

EURO finals schedule confirmed

The finals schedule has been confirmed with Poland starting the tournament against Greece and other opening games including Germany v Portugal, Spain v Italy and England v France.
The schedule for UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine has been confirmed following the draw in Kyiv.

Poland will launch the tournament on Friday 8 June at 18.00CET against Greece in Warsaw followed by the other Group A opener between Russia and the Czech Republic at 20.45CET. The next day the Netherlands face Denmark in Kharkiv and Germany take on Portugal in Lviv to begin Group B, and on 10 June Group C starts as holders Spain play Italy and the Republic of Ireland are matched with Croatia.

Ukraine are involved in the last of the opening set of fixtures, meeting Sweden in Group D in Kyiv after England tackle France in Donetsk. The group stage runs until 19 June, then, after a rest day, the quarter-finals take place over four consecutive nights. The semi-finals are on 29 June in Donetsk and the following evening in Warsaw, before Kyiv stages the 1 July decider.

Match schedule
All kick-offs CET, Ukrainian time is one hour ahead

Friday 8 June 2012
#1: POL v GRE, 18.00CET, Warsaw
#2: RUS v CZE, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Saturday 9 June 2012
#3: NED v DEN, 18.00CET, Kharkiv
#4: GER v POR, 20.45CET, Lviv

Sunday 10 June 2012
#5: ESP v ITA, 18.00CET, Gdansk
#6: IRL v CRO, 20.45CET, Poznan

Monday 11 June 2012
#7: FRA v ENG, 18.00CET, Donetsk
#8: UKR v SWE, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Tuesday 12 June 2012
#9: GRE v CZE, 18.00CET, Wroclaw
#10: POL v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Wednesday 13 June 2012
#11: DEN v POR, 18.00CET, Lviv
#12: NED v GER, 20.45CET, Kharkiv

Thursday 14 June 2012
#13: ITA v CRO, 18.00CET, Poznan
#14: ESP v IRL, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Friday 15 June 2012
#15: SWE v ENG, 20.45CET, Kyiv
#16: UKR v FRA, 18.00CET, Donetsk

Saturday 16 June 2012
#17: CZE v POL, 20.45CET, Wroclaw
#18: GRE v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Sunday 17 June 2012
#19: POR v NED, 20.45CET, Kharkiv
#20: DEN v GER, 20.45CET, Lviv

Monday 18 June 2012
#21: CRO v ESP, 20.45CET, Gdansk
#22: ITA v IRL, 20.45CET, Poznan

Tuesday 19 June 2012
#23: ENG v UKR, 20.45CET, Donetsk
#24: SWE v FRA, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Wednesday 20 June 2012
No matches

Thursday 21 June 2012
#25: 1A v 2B, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 22 June 2012
#26: 1B v 2A, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Saturday 23 June 2012
#27: 1C v 2D, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Sunday 24 June 2012
#28: 1D v 2C, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Monday 25 June 2012
No matches

Tuesday 26 June 2012
No matches

Wednesday 27 June 2012
#29: W#25 v W#27, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Thursday 28 June 2012
#30: W#26 v W#28, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 29 June 2012
No matches

Saturday 30 June 2012
No matches

Sunday 1 July 2012
#31: W#29 v W#30, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Euro 2012: England and Ireland await finals draw

Final preparations are taking place in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, as 16 nations including England and the Republic of Ireland await the Euro 2012 draw.

The ceremony will take place from 1700 GMT on Friday, with countries due to be drawn into four groups of four teams.

World and European champions Spain are in Pot One alongside the Netherlands and co-host nations Poland and Ukraine.

Pot Two consists of England, Germany, Italy and Russia, with the Republic of Ireland in the bottom group.

Giovanni Trapattoni's side sit alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic and France, while Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden, who were recently beaten 1-0 by England in a friendly, make up Pot Three.

ENGLAND
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BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, Greece, Czech Republic
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Portugal, France
It throws up the possibility that England and the Republic of Ireland could be drawn together in the same group, though Spain, Germany, Portugal and France are widely regarded to be the strongest teams of their respective pot seedings.

And with the tournament split across two countries, location will be a big consideration for teams when their names are drawn.

England have already chosen the Polish city of Krakow as their base for Euro 2012, so would welcome being drawn in Group A, in which all matches will be staged in either Warsaw or Wroclaw, both of which are approximately 150 miles from England's base.

The other Group based in Poland is C, where matches will be staged in either Poznan (200 miles from Krakow) or Gdansk (300 miles away).

REP OF IRELAND
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BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, England, Greece
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Germany, Portugal
The matches in Group B and D will involve longer journeys to Ukraine. The venues for Group B are Kharkiv (700 miles from Krakow) and Lviv (200 miles), while Group D is Kiev (540 miles) and Donetsk (930 miles).

The Republic of Ireland, having qualified through the play-offs, have yet to settle on a finals base.

Seedings for Euro 2012

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Poland*, Ukraine*.

Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia.

Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

* As joint hosts, Poland and Ukraine have already been allocated to Groups A and D respectively.

Sarkozy: France Germany ties key to eurozone stability

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has said France and Germany must come together to ensure stability at the heart of Europe.

In a major speech in the port of Toulon, Mr Sarkozy said he and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, would meet on Monday to propose measures to "guarantee the future of Europe".

He warned that economic convergence would be long and difficult.

But he promised that France would not give up its sovereignty.

He said the euro could not continue to exist unless eurozone economies pulled together.

Europe had to be "refounded" he said, with France and Germany at its heart to ensure "a zone of stability".

"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity.

"France is fighting so that Europe can still make its voice heard in the world of tomorrow," he said.

Stricter financial discipline was needed, he added, with more severe sanctions for countries which did not meet their responsibilities.

Mr Sarkozy also made a robust defence of measures he had already introduced to tackle France's debts.

He said the country had to end doubts about its ability to pay, in order to avoid being targeted by speculators.

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Key points of Sarkozy speech

France and Germany will announce proposals on Monday to "guarantee the future of Europe"
They agree that there should be a new EU treaty to impose greater financial integration
Convergence is the key to solving the eurozone crisis but it will be a long and difficult process.
France rejects fiscal union where national budgets would be approved in Brussels
The rebuilding of Europe is not a march towards a federal super-state
The European Central Bank will remain independent
France must end doubts about its ability to repay debts
Two-speed Europe
Mr Sarkozy said Europe's response to the debt crisis had not been fast enough.

He said Germany and France had agreed that there should be a new European treaty to govern the relations between countries.

However, he rejected German suggestions that national budgets could be approved and regulated in Brussels.

The BBC Paris correspondent, Christian Fraser, says the French president's speech was a sombre assessment of the eurozone crisis and an acknowledgement that eurozone leaders had not worked quickly enough to solve the problems.

Mr Sarkozy has previously expressed the belief that a two-speed European Union is inevitable, arguing that full economic integration will be impossible as the EU expands to more than 30 members.

In a speech in November he said "there will be a two-speed Europe: one speed that moves toward more integration in the eurozone and one speed for a confederation in the EU."

The French president's speech in Toulon comes amid warnings by analysts that France could lose its triple-A credit rating, due to its exposure to the European debt crisis.

Mr Sarkozy will meet the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in Paris on Friday.

Britain is concerned about the possible impact of a two-speed Europe in which it could be left on the margins along with other countries outside the euro.

European Union leaders will hold a summit in Brussels next week, which is seen by many analysts as a crucial moment in efforts to tackle the debt crisis.