Chelsea had one of the biggest wins of the season, but it was not good enough to keep the title-holders in the Champions League as Juventus won at Shakhtar to send the Blues crashing out of Europe's premier competition.
Chelsea eased past FC Nordsjaelland 6-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Fernando Torres scoring a brace, while David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Juan Mata and Oscar added one apiece.
That big win became immaterial, however, as Juventus held their nerve to eke out a brilliant 1-0 win over Ukrainian side Shakhtar, to go through to the last-16 as winners of Group E. Juve finished with 12 points from six matches, while Shakhtar went through as runners-up on ten points.
Chelsea also had ten points, but will have to settle for a place in the Europa League, due to the Ukrainian side enjoying a better head-to-head record.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea needed to do their job, before worrying about the other results, and they did just that thoroughly professionally.
Torres forced a couple of early saves from goalkeeper Jesper Hansen, before the away side were given the perfect opportunity to take a shock lead. Referee Bas Nijhuis deemed a rather harsh handball on Gary Cahill inside the box, pointing to the penalty area, which Nikolai Stokholm stepped up to take.
Peter Cech, however, guessed the right way to deny Nordsjaelland the opener, as Chelsea kept the scoreline at 0-0. A couple of minutes later, the Blues were given a spotkick of their own to open the scoring, with Mikkel Beckman handling the ball inside his own penalty area.
However, just like the first one, Eden Hazard stepped up only for the goalkeeper to make a save.
Chelsea did not have to wait too much longer to open the scoring, as they were given a second penalty, as Nijhuis gave another debatable spotkick for handball on Joshua John.
David Luiz took up the mantle this time around and made no mistake, blasting the ball into the back of the net in the 39th minute. It was 2-0 just before halftime, as Torres finally got his goal. Victor Moses played a through ball to the striker, whose first shot was saved by Hansen, only for the rebound to fall kindly for Torres to tuck it in.
The beginning of the second half, did not quite go exactly to plan, as John expertly finished just one minute into the second period to halve the deficit. But, Gary Cahill restored the two-goal advantage five minutes later, placing a perfect header into the back of the net off a cross from Mata.
Just as Juventus scored their goal in Ukraine, Torres made it 4-1, with Mata and Oscar adding the gloss to what eventually turned out to be a fruitless evening for the defending champions.
In Donetsk, it was all about Juventus as they played the perfect waiting game before striking the only goal, albeit with a bit of luck. Stephan Lichtsteiner played a dangerous cross from the right, with the ball going off Shakhtar defender Olexandr Kucher and into the net in the 56th minute.
Juve just needed a draw to ensure progress, but the win meant they go through as group winners, with Chelsea becoming the first ever team to crash out after the group stages while defending their title.
In Group H, Galatasaray joined Manchester United in the last-16 with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Braga. Cluj defeated United at Old Trafford 1-0, but the Turskish side's win meant they go through.
Celtic also went through to the knockout rounds with a thrilling 2-1 win over Spartak Moscow, while Benfica were held to a goalless draw at Barcelona, with Lionel Messi having to be taken out of the game after picking up an injury.
Gary Hooper and a Kris Commons penalty in the 81st minute ensured progress for the Scottish champions.
Group F finished with Bayern Munich as winners following an authoritative 4-1 win over BATE Borisov, while Valencia ended second with a 1-0 result against Lille.
Results: Group E: Chelsea 6-1 Nordsjaelland; Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Juventus. Group F: Bayern Munich 4-1 BATE; Lille 0-1 Valencia. Group G: Barcelona 0-0 Benfica; Celtic 2-1 Spartak Moscow. Group H: Man United 0-1 Cluj; Braga 1-2 Galatasaray.
