Hamburg - Champions League hopefuls Chelsea suffered an unexpected defeat Tuesday on a night of surprises in the lucrative Champions League.

Also on the night Inter Milan and Liverpool had to come from behind to snatch late draws in their group matches, while Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon became the first clubs to go through after making sure of finishing in the top two positions in Group C.

Last year's finalists Chelsea lost their Group A game in Italy against AS Roma 3-1 and had Portuguese international Deco sent off, while Liverpool needed a last-minute penalty in their Group D game against Atletico Madrid for a 1-1 draw at home.

In Cyprus Inter Milan had to come from behind to snatch a 3-3 draw against Champions League rookies Anorthosis Famagusta in Group B.

Roma blew their group wide open with a convincing victory that saw them move to within one point of Chelsea, who remain top of the group with seven points.

Bordeaux, who won 2-1 at Romanian club CFR Cluj, are also on six points, while Cluj have four points.

Atletico Madrid were within a minute of becoming the first team through to the quarter-finals after Maxi Rodriguez's first half goal, but Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored a soft penalty five minutes into injury time to keep both sides on eight points.

The other group game saw Olympique Marseille manage a good 3-0 victory against PSV Eindhoven to move to three points. The Dutch club are also on three points.

Inter Milan twice took the lead against Anorthosis, but the Cypriots bounced back every time and even took the lead in the 50th minute through Nikos Frousos.

Inter substitute Julio Cruz managed a late equalizer nine minutes from the end to keep Inter at the top of Group B with eight points. Famagusta are on five points.

Greek club Panathinaikos scored thrice in the second half for a 3- 0 victory at Werder Bremen to move to four points, leaving the Bundesliga club bottom of the group on three points.

The two other matches on Tuesday saw Barcelona drop their first point of their campaign at home to Basel in Group C, while Sporting Lisbon beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0.

The results see Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon advance to the quarter-finals. (dpa)