Drogba on Tuesday

London: Didier Drogba scored twice on his return from a three-match European suspension as Chelsea drew 2-2 at Atletico Madrid to seal their place in the knockout round of the Champions League on Tuesday.

They were joined in the last 16 by Manchester United, Porto and Girondins Bordeaux, although four-time European champions Bayern Munich are on the brink of elimination after losing at home to the French champions.

Maccabi Haifa, Besiktas, APOEL Nicosia and Atletico were all eliminated, but could yet finish third in their respective groups and go into the Europa League.

There was high drama in almost every one of Tuesday’s eight matches with a flood of late goals and a superb 1-1 draw between European giants AC Milan and Real Madrid.

The Group C clash between those famous old rivals, who have won the European Cup 16 times between them, was somewhat overshadowed with neither side able to advance.

The draw left both on seven points from four matches, just one ahead of Olympique Marseille who crushed FC Zurich 6-1.

But individual honours belonged to Chelsea’s Ivorian striker Drogba, back in Europe for the first time since being banned by Uefa for his antics against referee Tom Henning Ovrebo when they were eliminated by Barcelona in the semi-finals last season.Then, Drogba lost his head as Chelsea missed out on a return to the final after a late goal and he got a three-match ban.

Having missed Chelsea’s three Group D wins, Drogba returned to the side and scored two excellent goals — the first after 82 minutes cancelled out Sergio Aguero’s 66th minute volley and the second put his side 2-1 ahead in the dying minutes.

Although Aguero scored again to give Atletico a draw, Drogba had a night to remember against Spanish opposition for the right reasons.

Asked if he was in the form of his life now, Drogba said: “I think so. A few years ago I was playing with the same confidence. It’s always easier when you're playing free of injury.”

Chelsea, with 10 points from four games, advanced from Group D with Porto, who won 1-0 at APOEL Nicosia with Falcao scoring the winner six minutes from time.

It was a bad night for Bayern, who went down 2-0 to Bordeaux after goals from Yoann Gourcuff in the first half and Marouane Chamakh just before the end.

(Reuters)