A double from Alex Pato saw AC Milan win the battle of the European giants on Wednesday as they beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the Bernabeu for a crucial victory in their Champions League campaign.
Milan’s victory saw them draw level with Real in Group C.
Both English clubs preserved their perfect records with Manchester United beating CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Moscow at the scene of where they beat Chelsea in the final last year.
Antonio Valencia’s goal not only gave them their first ever European win over Russian opposition but also equalled Dutch giants Ajax’s Champions League record of 14 successive matches unbeaten away from home.
Chelsea had a much easier time trouncing a sorry Atletico Madrid side 4-0 with Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou scoring a double and Frank Lampard getting another.
It was his first since August but more importantly was his 133rd for the club, pushing him one ahead of legend Jimmy Greaves in terms of all-time scorer for the London side.
Valencia’s first Champions League goal for the club was enough to garner them the three points and move alongside Ajax, leaving manager Sir Alex Ferguson purring at the feat.
”We should be proud of it,” said Ferguson, who was returning to the ground where United beat Chelsea on penalties in the 2008 final.
”I think we have reached this mark because of our maturity and how we approach these matches.
”There is a way of playing away from home in these European games and we have that.”
Real had been on the back foot against Milan for the opening exchanges but that changed once the visitors goalkeeper Dida performed an absolute howler as he allowed a straightforward shot slip from his grasp right into the path of Raul.
The Real great was not going to let the chance pass him by and he slotted home.
However, Milan regained their composure as a humdinger of a long range effort by Andrea Pirlo levelled the scores and then a rare misjudgement by Iker Casillas saw Pato give the Italians the lead.
Real, though, restored parity when substitute Royton Drenthe scored with just over 10 minutes remaining.
But Pato was on hand to restore Milan’s advantage with just two minutes remaining.
The Bayern and Bordeaux clash in Group A was also a thriller.
All the goals came in the first-half with Bordeaux defender Michael Ciani putting into his own net with an inadvertently impressive backheel in what was incredibly one of seven own goals over the two Champions League evenings.
However, he redeemed himself when he produced an even better version of the backheel to level matters and then Bayern’s young tyro Thomas Muller was sent off for two yellow cards and then Marc Planus bundled home the ball to give the French side a 2-1 lead.
Bayern somehow managed to stay in the match in the second-half with Bordeaux having two penalties saved by Hans-Joerg Butt whilst Bayern were reduced to nine players when Daniel Van Buyten was redcarded for a foul on Marouane Chamakh.
Juventus kept their hopes alive in the same group by registering their first win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa. — AFP
