Artists open show

Real Madrid are unlikely to change their policy of all-out attack in the Champions League after beginning their quest for a 10th European cr...

Real Madrid are unlikely to change their policy of all-out attack in the Champions League after beginning their quest for a 10th European crown with an exhilarating 4-2 victory over Olympique Marseille on Tuesday.

Real, Champions League winners three times in the past six years, made a ragged start to their opening Group F match at the Bernabeu and fell behind to a Didier Drogba goal after 26 minutes. That was merely the cue for a breathtaking attacking spell by the Spanish champions, however, as they ripped their opponents apart with two goals in five minutes from Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo. Ronaldo added a second goal early in the second half before Portugal midfielder Luis Figo wrapped up victory with a penalty.

Highlights

European champions AC Milan and the pretenders to their throne, Real Madrid and Manchester United, all enjoyed victories on the opening night of action in the Champions League on Tuesday. Here’s a look at how the top matches went:

Story continues below this ad

REAL MADRID 4 OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE 2
The French side opened the scoring in a competitive first 20 minutes through Didier Drogba. But Roberto Carlos, then Ronaldo (34th and 57th) and Luis Figo closed the issue. Daniel van Buyten pulled one back in the 83rd minute for Marseilles. And yes, Beckham did play and crossed to Carlos for Real’s opener

MANCHESTER UNITED 5 PANATHINAIKOS 0
Man U’s was the strongest statement of all, with a 2-0 lead established within 14 minutes. Mikael Silvestre, Quinton Fortune, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Nicky Butt in the first half, and Cameroonian Eric Djemba-Djemba were the scorers against the overawed Greek outfit. Surprise: No Ruud on the score-sheet!

SPARTA PRAGUE 0 CHELSEA 1
All those millions of pounds spent on strikers and creative midfielders almost came to nothing till defender William Gallas scored in the 85th minute. Still, the Blues will take their 3 points happily…

AC MILAN 1 AJAX AMSTERDAM 0
The holders began their defence with a hard-fought win at the San Siro, secured after Filippo Inzaghi scored in the 67th minute — his sixth goal in 10 matches. The dampener was a stoppage-time red card for midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.

Story continues below this ad

While Real are unarguably the most attractive attacking side in Europe, their defence is paper thin and Marseille added a second goal through Daniel van Buyten’s header and might have added a late third. Real coach Carlos Queiroz has expressed concern about the number of goals conceded but the team’s leading striker, at least, is happy to continue in the same style.

“We’re always going to have problems defending,” said Ronaldo, who might have notched a hat-trick as Real ran riot early in the second half. “Our intention is always just to score more goals than the opposition and that implies risk,” he added.

Ferguson all praise for his goalless strike pair

MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was full of praise for his strike partnership of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs following the 5-0 demolition of Panathinaikos on Tuesday — even though neither player got on the scoresheet.

The Greek league leaders could not get to grips with the fast-moving United duo as they played a part in four of the goals the rampant home side scored in their Champions League Group E opener at Old Trafford.

Story continues below this ad

“The first-half performance was superb. The movement and speed of the front two players was fantastic,” Ferguson said.

Two goals in two minutes from Mikael Silvestre and Quinton Fortune (13th and 14th minutes) had United cruising and two more from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Nicky Butt had them 4-0 up by the break. Substitute Eric Djemba Djemba then capped things off with his first goal for the club late on to give the English champions a flying start in their quest to repeat their 1999 triumph.

“People will look at the scoreline and see that Ruud hasn’t scored. They will probably think he hasn’t played, but his overall contribution was fantastic, as was Ryan Giggs. He was terrific, Ferguson said. “When you’re not scoring goals it’s important to contribute in other ways and Ruud showed himself to be a really good footballer tonight. He likes to score goals but he didn’t let his head down when he didn’t get one. He kept going and we’re pleased with that. If you’ve got a home game first it’s important to get off to a good start. Now we can look at that 10 points (target) with a bit more optimism,” Ferguson added..

Panathinaikos manager Yitzhak Shum, who was on the end of another five-goal Old Trafford thrashing when in charge of Maccabi Haifa in the first game of last season’s competition, was happy to praise the Premier League champions.

Story continues below this ad

“We can play a lot better than that but you have to recognise how good Manchester United are,” he said.

“No-one will win here in the group.” (Reuters)