Thanks to a late Celtic winner against Shakhtar Donetsk, Freddy Adu and Benfica lost any chance of Champions League knockout participation with a 1-1 home draw against AC Milan.

The American made a late cameo, coming on for David Luiz in the 88th minute.

Alberto Gilardino misfired on a golden chance for the Rossoneri to open after only two minutes, but the visitors would break the seal at the quarter hour when Andrea Pirlo dribbled forward to slam home a low drive from the top of the area.

Benfica would need only five minutes to level matters as Maxi Pereira slipped inside of Gennaro Gattuso to unleash a rocket that settled in the net off the post.

The Eagles scorer nearly grabbed a second seven minutes before the interval, only to have Kakha Kaladze clear Dida's line.

The Milano keeper pulled off a pair of late stops on Àngel Di Maria and former teammate Rui Costa before Kaká had his bid for a last minute winner denied by Quim at the other end.

The final whistle blew with the home side believing they still had a chance to advance, but soon thereafter, news of a stoppage time strike by Celtic midfielder Massimo Donati filtered through the Stadium of Light.

Benfica will now need to defeat Matchday 6 hosts Shakhtar Donetsk to earn a consolation UEFA Cup entrance, but first comes Sunday's league visit from tabletop Porto.

Scoring
ACM - Andrea Pirlo 2 (Kaká) 15'
BEN - Maxi Pereira 1 (Kostas Katsouranis) 20'

Line-ups
BEN - Quim; Luis Filipe (Àngel Di Maria 74), Luisão, David Luiz (Freddy Adu 87), Léo, Maxi Pereira, Petit, Kostas Katsouranis, Rui Costa, Cristián Rodríguez, Nuno Gomes (Óscar Cardozo 74')

ACM - Dida; Daniele Bonera, Alessandro Nesta, Kakha Kaladze, Serginho (Paolo Maldini 46'), Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Christian Brocchi (Yoann Gourcuff 51'), Clarence Seedorf (Massimo Oddo 73'), Kaká, Alberto Gilardino