Holders Chelsea hit six but all in vain

Chelsea came alive too late to spare them Champions League humiliation today as a 6-1 home defeat of Nordsjaelland failed to prevent them becoming the first holders to be eliminated at the group stage.

Juventus's 1-0 away win at Shakhtar Donetsk condemned the London club to third place in Group E but at least Chelsea departed on a high as Fernando Torres scored twice to give Rafael Benitez his first taste of victory since replacing Roberto Di Matteo as manager.

Both sides had missed a penalty before David Luiz showed how to do it in from the spot in the 38th minute and Torres made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime.

Joshua John scored for Nordsjaelland immediately after halftime but Gary Cahill with a header, Torres again and Juan Mata with a close-range effort wrapped up the victory just past the hour.

Oscar ran through to make it 6-1 but the final 25 minutes of Chelsea's Champions League campaign resembled a friendly as news from Ukraine east filtered in and Shakhtar went through on a better head-to-head record against the Londoners.