Madrid, Milan, Bayern advance in Champions League

Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich clinched their places in the next round of the Champions League on Tuesday.

The trio, European champions a total 20 times between them, advanced alongside CSKA Moscow after their final group matches.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help record nine-time European champion Madrid win 3-1 at Marseille and take Group C from Milan, which needed a penalty by Ronaldinho to equalize for a 1-1 draw at FC Zurich.

Bayern advanced behind already-qualified Bordeaux in Group A with a 4-1 win at Juventus that eliminated the Italian side, while CSKA Moscow won 2-1 at Besiktas.

Michael Owen scored a hat trick to give Manchester United a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg to take first place in Group B from CSKA and knock out its opponent. But CSKA's place may be in doubt after UEFA said two of the Russian team's players failed doping tests after a 3-3 draw against Manchester United last month.

UEFA will announce the result of its investigation on Dec. 17, the day before the draw for the next stage.

Ronaldo put Madrid ahead in the fifth minute with a 30-meter (yard) free kick before Marseille playmaker Lucho Gonzalez leveled from close range in the 11th.

Madrid defender Raul Albiol scored in the 60th and Ronaldo rounded off the scoring 10 minutes before the end following a mistake by Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Madrid finished with 13 points, four more than Milan, which trailed until the 64th minute in Switzerland.

Zurich dominated much of the first half and led through Milan Gajic's 29th-minute free kick from 25 yards (meters).

Milan was in real danger of missing out on the next round but Zurich defender Alain Rochat was sent of for a foul on Marco Borriello and Ronaldinho scored the resulting penalty.

Juventus looked to be on course for the next round when David Trezeguet put the Italian side ahead in the 19th, but Bayern got back in the match with a 30th-minute penalty by Joerg Butt - the goalkeeper's third in the Champions League.

Ivica Olic put Bayern ahead six minutes after halftime. Mario Gomez and substitute Anatoliy Tymoshchuk scored in the last seven minutes.

Bordeaux, which won 1-0 at Maccabi Haifa, won Group A with 16 points. Bayern was next with 10 points, while Juventus will play in the Europa League after finishing third with eight.

Maccabi Haifa became the first team to be eliminated from the Champions League without winning a point or scoring a goal.

Group D had already been settled before Tuesday.

First-place Chelsea conceded an 87th-minute equalizer to draw 2-2 with APOEL Nicosia, losing midfielder Michael Essien in the process to what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

FC Porto won 3-0 at Atletico Madrid, which ended even with APOEL on three points but advanced courtesy of the away goal in scored against the Cypriot side.

The final four places will be decided Wednesday. Barcelona, Inter Milan, Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev can all advance from Group F, Unirea Urziceni and Stuttgart are vying to advance from Group G alongside Sevilla, and Olympiakos and Standard Liege are fighting for second place in Group H behind Arsenal.

Fiorentina and Lyon have already secured the top two Group E spots, with the final positions to be decided Wednesday when Fiorentina goes to Europa League qualifier Liverpool and Lyon is at last-place Debrecen.

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Juve Kalahkan Inter 2-1, Perebutan Scudetto Makin Menarik

2 Juventus v Inter Milan 1

TURIN - Bentrok Juventus kontra Inter Milan kemarin dini hari WIB (6/12) di Stadion Olimpico, Turin, benar-benar menghibur. Selain sama-sama mencetak gol, pemain kedua tim menyajikan "hiburan" yang lain. Beberapa kali terjadi benturan antar pemain yang memaksa wasit Massimiliano Saccani mengeluarkan delapan kartu kuning dan satu kartu merah.

Insiden paling seru terjadi pada menit ke-87. Kejadian bermula dari tindakan kasar pemain Juve Felipe Melo yang mengasari penyerang Inter Mario Balotelli. Peristiwa tersebut memancing emosi pemain lain.

Kiper Juve Gianluigi Buffon bersitegang dengan gelandang Inter Thiago Motta. Perseteruan itu juga melibatkan Martin Caceres (Juve) dan Walter Samuel (Inter).

Di luar lapangan, situasi ikut panas. Bahkan, pelatih Inter Jose Mourinho harus meninggalkan bangku cadangan karena diganjar kartu merah. Bentrok dua tim terbaik di Italia tersebut akhirnya dimenangi Juve dengan skor 2-1.

Melo membawa tuan rumah unggul dulu lewat golnya pada menit ke-20. Tapi, Inter membalas melalui tandukan Samuel Eto'o hanya enam menit berselang. Kemenangan Nyonya Tua -julukan Juventus- ditentukan oleh aksi Claudio Marchisio pada menit ke-58.

Kemenangan itu menjadi modal penting Juve untuk meladeni Bayern Munchen pada matchday keenam Liga Champions (9/12). "Kemenangan selalu menyenangkan. Ini hasil yang sangat penting sebelum kami bertanding dengan Bayern. Tapi, kami harus tetap waspada dan rendah hati," tutur Alessandro Del Piero, bintang Juve, seperti dilansir Sky Sport Italia.

"Permainan yang sangat ketat. Anda tidak bisa memenanginya dengan mudah. Kami telah melalui pertandingan yang sulit dan sempat dua kali kalah. Reaksi yang bagus dari para pemain," ujar Ciro Ferrara, pelatih Juve, seperti dilansir Reuters.

Bagi Marchisio, penentu kemenangan Juve, golnya ke gawang Julio Cesar sangat berarti. "Saya bekerja keras agar pulih dari cedera. Gol ini lahir atas kerja keras semua pemain," katanya.

Kekalahan Inter membuat peta persaingan scudetto semakin menarik. Nerazzurri -julukan Inter- memang masih berkuasa di puncak klasemen. Tapi, mereka kini hanya terpisah empat poin dengan AC Milan yang terus mengancam. Juve pun tak bisa dipandang remeh karena hanya berselisih satu poin dengan Rossoneri, julukan Milan.

"Kompetisi belum akan berakhir. Perjalanan masih panjang. Milan sekarang tampil baik dan terus merebut poin penting. Sampai akhir musim kami akan terus bertarung untuk mempertahankan gelar," tegas Javier Zanetti, kapten Inter.
sumber; Jawapos

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