ExtraFootie's Raj Mannick wipes a single tear from his eye as he bids an emotional farewell to the UEFA Champions League group stages, featuring a sigh of relief for Barcelona and Inter Milan, and a shattering of pride at Anfield.

Game of the Night - Barcelona confirmed their position at the top of Group F with a 2-1 win over Dynamo Kiev in the Ukrainian capital. The European champions faced an early scare as they fell behind to an Artem Milevskiy goal, but strikes from Xavi and Messi completed the comeback for Pep Guardiola's men to ensure they top the group ahead of Inter Milan, who overcame Rubin Kazan 2-0 at the San Siro.

Performance of the Night - Lyon flexed their honed muscles over a poor Debrecen side, running out comfortable 4-0 winners at the Stade Gerland. Goals from Gomis, Michel Bastos, Pjanic, and Cissokho capped off a stunning performance and in the process condemned Debrecen to an unwanted Champions League record: most goals conceded with a staggering 19 goals flying past them on their embarrassing way out of European football.

Upset of the Night - Not a great night for the English teams as Arsene Wenger's incredibly young team were pipped 1-0 at Olympiakos to a second-half Leonardo strike, despite holding much of the ball and carving out several chances.

Elsewhere, Liverpool fans packed into Anfield to witness their team exhibit some pride with a win over already-qualified Fiorentina. But despite Yossi Benayoun giving the Reds the lead, Martin Jørgensen pulled one back for the Italians before Alberto Gilardino struck in injury-time to pour salt into Rafa Benitez's gaping wound.

Player of the Night - Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli produced a sumptuous display to guide Jose Mourinho's side to the knockouts. The Italian forward gifted Eto'o a goal before scoring one of his own with a stunning driven set-piece that swerved in every direction before ripping a hole in the net. Top strike to round off a brilliant performance!

Donkey of the Night - Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, who once again saw his side suffer defeat at the hands of a late Champions League goal. Even Rafa's decision to grant £20m signing Alberto Aquilani his full home debut proved to be insignificant, as the spirit of Anfield was crushed once again by a injury-time strike. Sorry Rafa, but until you start winning some games you're a grade A donkey.

Goal of the Night - Tuesday night saw last year's European Player of the Year score a great free-kick in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo's 35-yard drive. Wednesday night meanwhile allowed the new Ballon d'Or winner, Leo Messi, to prove to the world that anything CR9 does, Messi can do similarly... but with much more finesse! The Argentine wizard stole top spot for his side with a late set-piece from the edge of the box that bent around the wall before nudging the crossbar on its way in. Absolute class!

Talking Point of the Night - The losses suffered by Liverpool and Arsenal did little to effect the outcome on their fate, whilst wins for Inter and Barca ensured there were no major casualties from this year's group stages (sorry Juventus and Liverpool fans!) Thus most of the chat will surround possible outcomes for the all important last 16 draw, which could see the English hopefuls pitted against the likes of AC Milan, Bayern Munich, or Inter Milan.

ExtraFootie says bring on February as the world's greatest sporting competition starts to get as hot as the globe in 2020 if man made carbon emissions aren't drastically reduced!

Team of the Night (4-3-3) - Nikopolidis (Olympiakos), Maicon (Inter Milan), Cissokho (Lyon), Navarro (Sevilla), Mellberg (Olympiakos), Xavi (Barcelona), Michel Bastos (Lyon), Sneijder (Inter Milan), Messi (Barcelona), Balotelli (Inter Milan), Gilardino (Fiorentina)