| 2 - 2 |
| ||||||
| Carlos Tévez 3 | Michael Jakobsen 31 | |||||||
| Wayne Rooney 52 | Jeppe Curth 45 |
Manchester United came back to draw 2-2 with Aalborg as they stretched their unbeaten record in the Champions League to 19 matches.
United enjoyed a dream start by taking the lead after just three minutes as Ryan Giggs sliced the defence open with a ball into the path of Carlos Tévez, who clipped a fine shot past Karim Zaza.
But the rhythm slowly went out of United's play and Aalborg grabbed a shock equaliser in the 31st minute when Anders Due's inswinging free-kick was met with a flick header by defender Michael Jakobsen.
The Danish minnows silenced Old Trafford again in first-half injury-time as Jeppe Curth met Due’s cross with a superb header to put put Aalborg in front.
The Red Devils were quick to draw level early in the second half as Anderson provided an excellent through-ball and Wayne Rooney took off before firing through Zaza’s legs.
Spanish outfit Villarreal lost at last-place Celtic 2-0 in Group E.
There was a suspicion of offside about Celtic's opening goal on 14 minutes as Mark Wilson got to the by-line and unleashed a cross which was headed home at the back post by Shaun Maloney.
Villarreal were reduced to 10 men on 35 minutes when striker Guillermo Franco was sent off for appearing to elbow Gary Caldwell in the stomach, with the decision made on the advice of the linesman.
Celtic headed in at half-time with a two goal cushion as Aiden McGeady broke forward from the centre circle before firing home a low left-footed shot from the edge of the area.
GROUP F
Bayern Munich ensured they progressed as winners of Group F after a thrilling 3-2 victory at closest rivals Lyon.
Bayern raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first half but a spirited fightback by Lyon after the break made for a thrilling encounter.
Miroslav Klose opened the scoring for Bayern after 11 minues before Franck Ribéry increased the lead in the 34 minute.
And, just three minutes later, Klose headed home Ribéry's cross from the left to score his second of the night.
Lyon were an improved team after the break and pulled a goal back on 52 minutes when Sidney Govou pounced from close range after Ederson's shot had been parried.
The French champions then grabbed another through Karim Benzema in the 68th minute, but Claude Puel's men failed to find an equaliser.
Fiorentina sealed their place in the UEFA Cup after edging a 1-0 triumph away to Steaua Bucharest.
Alberto Gilardino notched the only goal of the match in the 66th minute as he guided Juan Vargas' corner inside the far post.
Steaua's chances of getting back into the match were dealt a blow six minutes later when Pawel Golanski was sent off for a second bookable offence after a foul on Vargas.
GROUP G
Arsenal missed out on top spot in Group G as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at FC Porto.
Porto, a two-time Champions League winner, took the lead seven minutes before half-time when Bruno Alves rose powerfully to head Jorge Rolando's corner past Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal’s defensive frailty was really exposed just nine minutes into the second period when Lisandro López escaped an offside trap to race clear on goal and hit a wonderful effort into the top left-hand corner.
Dynamo Kiev made sure of their place in the UEFA Cup after a battling 1-0 home success over Turkish outfit Fenerbahçe.
Roman Eremenko grabbed the game's only goal after 20 minutes as he latched on to Artem Milevskiy's pass and beat the advancing Volkan Demirel.
The visitors finished the game with 10 men after Claudio Maldonado was sent off for fighting deep into injury-time.
GROUP H
Juventus took top spot in Group H despite being held to a 0-0 draw at home by BATE Borisov.
Juventus could have made it through in more convincing fashion had highly-rated midfielder Sebastian Giovinco not missed a penalty on 53 minutes after Mikhail Sivakov was penalised for handball.
Although Juventus and Real Madrid finished with 12 points each, the Bianconeri finished at the top because of their two victories over the Spanish champions.
Juande Ramos marked his first game in charge of Real Madrid with a convincing 3-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg at the Bernabéu.
The former Sevilla and Tottenham coach took over after Bernd Schuster was fired on Tuesday.
Real were in front after 25 minutes when Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev dropped Rafael van der Vaart's cross and was unable to claim possession of the loose ball before Raúl reacted to score with ease.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben made it 2-0 with a wonderfully nonchalant finish over Malafeev early in the second period.
Robben turned into provider on 57 minutes when his sublime pass picked out Raúl on the edge of the box and the skipper lifted a sumptuous lob over the advancing Malafeev.
Also see:
Technorati tags:Soccer news Football news Champions League Juventus Real Madrid Manchester United Arsenal
United enjoyed a dream start by taking the lead after just three minutes as Ryan Giggs sliced the defence open with a ball into the path of Carlos Tévez, who clipped a fine shot past Karim Zaza.
But the rhythm slowly went out of United's play and Aalborg grabbed a shock equaliser in the 31st minute when Anders Due's inswinging free-kick was met with a flick header by defender Michael Jakobsen.
The Danish minnows silenced Old Trafford again in first-half injury-time as Jeppe Curth met Due’s cross with a superb header to put put Aalborg in front.
The Red Devils were quick to draw level early in the second half as Anderson provided an excellent through-ball and Wayne Rooney took off before firing through Zaza’s legs.
| 2 - 0 |
| ||||||
| Shaun Maloney 14 | ||||||||
| Aiden McGeady 45 |
Spanish outfit Villarreal lost at last-place Celtic 2-0 in Group E.
There was a suspicion of offside about Celtic's opening goal on 14 minutes as Mark Wilson got to the by-line and unleashed a cross which was headed home at the back post by Shaun Maloney.
Villarreal were reduced to 10 men on 35 minutes when striker Guillermo Franco was sent off for appearing to elbow Gary Caldwell in the stomach, with the decision made on the advice of the linesman.
Celtic headed in at half-time with a two goal cushion as Aiden McGeady broke forward from the centre circle before firing home a low left-footed shot from the edge of the area.
GROUP F
| 2 - 3 |
| ||||||
| Sidney Govou 52 | Miroslav Klose 11 | |||||||
| Karim Benzema 68 | Franck Ribéry 34 | |||||||
| Miroslav Klose 37 |
Bayern Munich ensured they progressed as winners of Group F after a thrilling 3-2 victory at closest rivals Lyon.
Bayern raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first half but a spirited fightback by Lyon after the break made for a thrilling encounter.
Miroslav Klose opened the scoring for Bayern after 11 minues before Franck Ribéry increased the lead in the 34 minute.
And, just three minutes later, Klose headed home Ribéry's cross from the left to score his second of the night.
Lyon were an improved team after the break and pulled a goal back on 52 minutes when Sidney Govou pounced from close range after Ederson's shot had been parried.
The French champions then grabbed another through Karim Benzema in the 68th minute, but Claude Puel's men failed to find an equaliser.
| 0 - 1 |
| ||||||
| Alberto Gilardino 66 |
Fiorentina sealed their place in the UEFA Cup after edging a 1-0 triumph away to Steaua Bucharest.
Alberto Gilardino notched the only goal of the match in the 66th minute as he guided Juan Vargas' corner inside the far post.
Steaua's chances of getting back into the match were dealt a blow six minutes later when Pawel Golanski was sent off for a second bookable offence after a foul on Vargas.
GROUP G
| 2 - 0 |
| ||||||
| Bruno Alves 38 | ||||||||
| Lisandro López 54 |
Arsenal missed out on top spot in Group G as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at FC Porto.
Porto, a two-time Champions League winner, took the lead seven minutes before half-time when Bruno Alves rose powerfully to head Jorge Rolando's corner past Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal’s defensive frailty was really exposed just nine minutes into the second period when Lisandro López escaped an offside trap to race clear on goal and hit a wonderful effort into the top left-hand corner.
| 1 - 0 |
| ||||||
| Roman Eremenko 20 |
Dynamo Kiev made sure of their place in the UEFA Cup after a battling 1-0 home success over Turkish outfit Fenerbahçe.
Roman Eremenko grabbed the game's only goal after 20 minutes as he latched on to Artem Milevskiy's pass and beat the advancing Volkan Demirel.
The visitors finished the game with 10 men after Claudio Maldonado was sent off for fighting deep into injury-time.
GROUP H
| 0 - 0 |
|
Juventus took top spot in Group H despite being held to a 0-0 draw at home by BATE Borisov.
Juventus could have made it through in more convincing fashion had highly-rated midfielder Sebastian Giovinco not missed a penalty on 53 minutes after Mikhail Sivakov was penalised for handball.
Although Juventus and Real Madrid finished with 12 points each, the Bianconeri finished at the top because of their two victories over the Spanish champions.
| 3 - 0 |
| ||||||
| Raúl 25 | ||||||||
| Arjen Robben 50 | ||||||||
| Raúl 57 |
Juande Ramos marked his first game in charge of Real Madrid with a convincing 3-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg at the Bernabéu.
The former Sevilla and Tottenham coach took over after Bernd Schuster was fired on Tuesday.
Real were in front after 25 minutes when Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev dropped Rafael van der Vaart's cross and was unable to claim possession of the loose ball before Raúl reacted to score with ease.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben made it 2-0 with a wonderfully nonchalant finish over Malafeev early in the second period.
Robben turned into provider on 57 minutes when his sublime pass picked out Raúl on the edge of the box and the skipper lifted a sumptuous lob over the advancing Malafeev.
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Also see:
- Champions League round-up: European powerhouses through
- Champions League round-up: Arsenal and United held
- Champions League round-up: United and Arsenal win on a high-scoring night in Europe
- Champions League round-up: Holders starts with draw
Technorati tags:Soccer news Football news Champions League Juventus Real Madrid Manchester United Arsenal
