London: The Champions League's two most successful teams resembled a pair of punch-drunk prize-fighters as AC Milan spoiled a big night for Raul by pulling off a surprise 3-2 victory at the Bernabeu.
While nine-times winners Real and seven-times champions Milan were trading novice mistakes, including the howler that let in Raul to equal Gerd Mueller's European goalscoring record, the other tournament heavyweights were looking coolly efficient.
Manchester United made light of a plastic pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium, the scene of their 2008 final triumph, to make it maximum points from three Group B matches with a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow, Antonio Valencia swooping late for the only goal.
Chelsea extended their perfect record in Group D by swatting aside Atletico Madrid 4-0, Salomon Kalou putting a terrible early miss behind him to score the first two, and Juventus revived their Group A hopes with a 1-0 win over Maccabi Haifa.
Tuesday's matches had featured a string of last-gasp goals and shock results and there was more of the same in Group C in Madrid, where an AC Milan side struggling in eighth place in Serie A handed Real an embarrassing defeat.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 08:16