A performance lacking in urgency, ambition and imagination was punished by the livewire Egyptian late on as the Swiss side completed a famous double over the Blues.

Mohamed Salah’s late strike gave Basel another famous Champions League win over Chelsea but could not prevent Jose Mourinho’s men booking their place in the knockout stages.

The Eygptian produced a clinical finish at the St. Jakob Park on Tuesday to ensure the Swiss champions leapfrogged Schalke into second place in Group E, while Chelsea qualified despite the defeat.

Basel had ended the Premier League club’s 29-match home unbeaten run in the group stages of the competition back in September with a shock 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge and they repeated the dose courtesy of Salah’s dramatic late winner.

Murat Yakin’s side now head into their final group game against Schalke next month knowing they only need a point to progress to the last 16.

Chelsea were poor on the night and failed to register a single shot on target, but Schalke’s failure to beat Steaua Bucharest ensured their progress.

Willian replaced Eden Hazard in the only change to the Chelsea side that beat West Ham 3-0 at the weekend, while fit-again striker Fernando Torres was back on the bench.

Goalkeeper Yann Sommer, midfielder Salah and defender Ivan Ivanov all returned to the Basel starting line-up.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho warned Basel that his side were much improved since the Swiss champions’ shock win at Stamford Bridge in September, but there was no evidence of that as the home side dominated the opening stages.

Petr Cech had to be alert to palm away a Taulant Xhaka free-kick from wide on the left after only two minutes and Chelsea failed to heed the warning when they backed off 10 minutes later and Fabian Frei’s strike was saved by the Czech Republic goalkeeper.

John Obi Mikel then cleared off the line after Ivanov got a toe to a Fabian Schar corner and Salah was twice denied by the busy Cech as Chelsea remained on the back foot.

There was a blow for the visitors three minutes before half-time when Samuel Eto’o was carried off, with Torres replacing him.

Hazard replaced the ineffective Oscar nine minutes into the second half as Chelsea struggled to get going.

The Belgium winger and Torres provided more of an attacking threat and Mourinho’s men were far more solid at the back after the break.

Ramires should have done better when he was played in down the right 12 minutes from time, but the Brazil midfielder lacked composure.

And Basel snatched a crucial winner when Salah raced away following Schar’s pass, and he kept his nerve with a clinical finish to stun Chelsea.

According to Goal

The Dutch champions stunned the Catalans by racing into a two-goal lead, and although Xavi pulled a goal back from the spot, the home side held on to claim a famous win.

Ten-man Ajax ended a run of nine straight defeats to Spanish opposition by beating Barcelona 2-1 in Champions League Group H on Tuesday night.

Thulani Serero opened the scoring for the hosts in the 19th minute with a composed finish from six yards out before Danny Hoesen extended Ajax’s lead just before the break with a neat piece of skill inside the penalty area.

Barcelona were gifted a way back into the game when Joel Veltman was dismissed for bringing down Neymar inside the penalty area and Xavi scored from the spot but the Liga champions were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage.

The win moves Ajax onto seven points with one game remaining and the club’s hopes of progressing to the last 16 rest on beating AC Milan at San Siro, while defeat for the Blaugrana was the club’s first of the season and denied coach Gerardo Martino a share of Pep Guardiola’s club record of 21 games unbeaten.

Frank de Boer had the luxury of being able to name an unchanged side from Saturday’s 3-0 win over Heracles and there was a further boost as Lerin Duarte returned to the squad as a substitute.

The visitors made four changes, with Carles Puyol, Martin Montoya, Alex Song and Xavi all starting for Martino’s men.

Despite a confident start, Ajax were lucky to survive a swift Barcelona counterattack in the 14th minute, as Veltman made a crucial block to deny Cesc Fabregas.

It was all one-way traffic for the remainder of the first half, though, and the home side got their reward for continuing to pressurise Barcelona at a high tempo as Serero opened the scoring with his first Champions League goal five minutes later.

The South Africa international ghosted into the penalty area to meet Ricardo van Rhijn’s cross from the right and the 23-year-old calmly side-footed the ball past Jose Manuel Pinto.

After Lasse Schone had missed two chances, Ajax finally doubled their lead just before the break through Hoesen. Pinto saved well from Viktor Fischer and Hoesen latched onto the loose ball, lifted it past Puyol and fired into the bottom corner.

The game was turned on its head four minutes after the break as Van Rhijn played a loose pass back to Veltman. Neymar pounced but he was brought down by the defender just inside the area.

The 21-year-old was given his marching orders and Xavi made no mistake from the spot to halve the deficit.

Jasper Cillessen kept the hosts in the game with a good save from Neymar on the hour and a resilient Ajax defence managed to hold on for a vital win.

According to Goal

A limp display from Neil Lennon’s side saw Massimiliano Allegri’s side claim a comfortable victory and boost their chances of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League.

AC Milan halted a seven-game winless slump by clinically ending Celtic’s Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win in Glasgow.

Celtic were backed by the cacophony of noise synonymous with their Champions League nights at home on Tuesday, but slack set-piece defending decisively undermined their efforts in this must-win Group H encounter.

Kaka and Cristian Zapata were the beneficiaries either side of half-time, leaving Mario Balotelli to seal the points on a night when the enigmatic Italy international proved a thorn in the side of the home defence.

Ajax’s shock win over Barcelona means Celtic are unable to even secure the consolation of a Europa League place, while Milan must avoid defeat against the Dutch champions at San Siro in a fortnight’s time to secure their passage.

Neil Lennon made four changes to his Celtic starting XI, including a decision to start James Forrest despite the winger being arrested earlier on Tuesday over an alleged sexual assault.

Balotelli led Milan’s attack, while Valter Birsa and Riccardo Montolivo came in for Alessandro Matri and Sulley Muntari after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Genoa.

Derk Boerrigter should have put Celtic ahead on his first Champions League start for the club after just two minutes, but he scuffed a back-post volley after Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati made the first of a series of misjudgements from Charlie Mulgrew’s corner.

A minute later, Balotelli botched a chance to open the scoring as he dragged wide having escaped the attentions of the home defence.

Milan defender Zapata produced a vital last-ditch tackle when Mulgrew’s ninth-minute shot fell to Beram Kayal in front of goal, and the visitors were ahead soon after.

Kaka was left completely unmarked to nod home at close quarters as goalkeeper Fraser Forster elected to stay on his line from Birsa’s right-wing corner.

Daniele Bonera then made a timely block after Mulgrew picked out Boerrigter, but Celtic were almost hit on the break immediately as Kaka released Balotelli to drill narrowly over.

Celtic continued to press manfully before the break but their fate was sealed by two key incidents shortly after the resumption.

Centre-back Virgil van Dijk smashed a volley into Abbiati from point-black range when it might have been easier to score in the 47th minute – and his defensive colleagues were once again undone from a set-piece two minutes later.

Birsa’s delivery was superb again, and half-time substitute Antonio Nocerino knocked across goal for Zapata to apply the finish.

To compound Celtic’s misery, Balotelli sealed the points with an hour played after Van Dijk had headed home from an offside position.

The former Manchester City striker demonstrated his pace, power and poise to hold off Efe Ambrose and finish Montolivo’s lofted pass.

Forrest almost reduced the arrears when he poked wide from Mikael Lustig’s ball with the impressive Nigel de Jong in close attendance.

The game petered out as Celtic’s enthusiasm faded and Massimiliano Allegri’s men kept their hopes of reaching the last 16 very much alive.

According to Goal