Champions League: Zenit lose at home

Russian Champions Zenit have suffered their second straight defeat in this season's Champions League. A 2-1 loss at home to Real Madrid leaves the Russians still without a point - and at the bottom of Group H. Meanwhile clubs from Ukraine and Belarus looked strong, both earning draws.

Villarreal (Spain) 1 Celtic (Scotland) 0

Villarreal, whose line-up boasted three Euro-2008 winners (Joan Capdevila, Santi Cazorla and Marcos Senna), eventually got the better of Celtic, though they had to wait for a second-half free kick - superbly put in by skipper Senna.

After dominating the possession in the game’s early stages the home side let Celtic creep back into the match with some slick counter attacking.

Still Villarreal were the better side on the evening and deservedly took three points.

Aalborg BK (Denmark) 0 Manchester United (England) 3

Two second-half goals by Dimitar Berbatov added  to Wayne Rooney’s opener ensured a comfortable win for reigning Champions League winners.

GROUP E
1. Man. United 4,
2. Villarreal 4,
3. Celtic 1,
4. Aalborg 1.

Fiorentina Florence (Italy) 0 Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 0

Despite all their efforts Fiorentina managed only 3 shots on goal throughout the match and were held to a goalless draw at Artemio Franchi Stadium.

Bayern Munich (Germany) 1 Lyon (France) 1

Lyon felt at home in Munich, initially reducing the German champions to infrequent counter attacks and looking in control of the proceedings.

While Karim Benzema looked short of luck, Juninho Pernambucano’s dead-ball opportunities were as dangerous as ever.

Meanwhile Luca Toni proved himself strong, but somewhat blunt when trying to beat Lyon’s inspired debutant goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Bayern however were better in the second half and made the most of veteran Ze Roberto’s versatility, when he headed in a Miroslav Klose cross.

GROUP F
1. Bayern 4,
2. Fiorentina 2,
3. Lyon 2,
4. Steaua 1.

Arsenal (England) 4 Porto (Portugal) 0

After losing last weekend to Hull City, the Gunners started the game at a frantic pace with a succession of attacks in the opening minutes. But when their blitzkrieg brought nothing for some 10-15 minutes Arsenal were close to crumbling, with Cristián Rodríguez and twice Lisandro Lopez missing excellent scoring opportunities for Porto.

These were their only chances to get something out of this game. After half an hour of play Robin van Persie rose to head in an Emmanuel Adebayor cross. Ten minutes later the duo exchanged roles fore the second and Arsenal were in cruise control.

A goal from each made the final score 4-0.

Fenerbahçe Istanbul (Turkey) 0 Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) 0

Inspired by the presence of Russian coach Yuri Syomin, Dynamo were not intimidated neither by the tough physical presence of the Turks, nor by the complicated tactics concocted by Euro-2008 winning manager Luis Aragonés.

Although both Alex and Emre Belözoğlu were inches away from scoring, the Ukrainian side could easily have claimed three points.

Syomin, however, will hardly be disappointed with a point earned away from home.

GROUP G:
1. Arsenal 4,
2. Porto 3,
3. Dynamo 2,
4. Fenerbahçe 1.

Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) 1 Real Madrid (Spain) 2

Zenit's first ever Champions League game at the Petrovsky stadium got off to a disastrous start.

$US 20-million-rated Anatoly Tymoschuk looked bemused, as the referees – unlike most of their Russian colleagues – neglected his call for an offside, and Rafael van der Vaart was left without any opposition on the right just three minutes into the game.

Van der Vaart then made an immensely dangerous cross. Zenit’s Thomas Hubochan managed to meet the cross ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy only to put the ball through his own goal giving Real the lead.

Zenit drew level on 25 minutes when Andrei Arshavin's cross was finished off by recent signing Danni. But with just half an hour played, the Spaniards were again in front. Van Nistelrooy pounced on some loose defending to make it 2-1.

The home side enjoyed most of possession in the second half and had more then enough chances to score, but couldn't find an equaliser.

BATE Borisov (Belarus) 2 Juventus Turin (Italy) 2

Perhaps a crumb of comfort for Zenit is the 2-2 draw between BATE and Juventus. Those dropped points by Juve keep Zenit's hopes of reaching the next round alive.

On the other hand Zenit still has to win its own games against the Belarus side, which caused Juve many problems.

A magnificent through ball from Igor Stasevich found Sergei Kryvets in the opponents’ box allowing the latter to beat Alexander Manninger and score. Stasevich went on to score himself effectively beating Pavel Nedved for a high ball.

However, two momentary losses of concentration by BATE’s defenders – th first after an Alessandro del Piero corner and then in the dying seconds of the first half allowed Sebastian Giovinco to give a perfect pass to Vincenzo Iaquinta, who cancelled out the home side’s lead.

GROUP H
1. Real 6,
2. Juventus 4,
3. BATE 1,
4. Zenit 0.

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