Familiar faces back in business

uefa.com rounds up the latest news from the ten UEFA Champions League contenders in action on Sunday.

Group A
AS Monaco FC failed to win for the seventh consecutive Ligue 1 game as they slipped to fifth with a 1-1 draw at LOSC Lille Métropole. Didier Deschamps rotated his team after Tuesday's French League Cup victory against CS Sedan Ardennes, then saw Lucas Bernardi helped from the field with a suspected knee injury.

Group B
David Beckham and Walter Samuel returned from lay-offs for Real Madrid CF and combined for their fourth goal in a 6-1 defeat of Albacete Balompié. Fernando Morientes sat out the match with a sprained ankle and saw fellow strikers Raúl González, Ronaldo and Michael Owen all hit the target. But Iván Helguera sprained his right knee and may miss next weekend's trip to FC Barcelona, while Borja Fernández is still recovering from a foot injury sustained in the 2-1 Spanish Cup win against CD Tenerife in midweek. Shorn of the services of Cristian Chivu, Leandro Cufré, Traianos Dellas and Mido through various muscle sprains, as well as Christian Panucci with an achilles tendon injury and Luigi Sartor through suspension, AS Roma fell to a second defeat in five days, 1-0 at Reggina Calcio, following the 3-0 home loss to Udinese Calcio.

Group C
AFC Ajax suffered fresh casualties as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Feyenoord in the weekend's key Eredivisie fixture. Steven Pienaar damaged left knee ligaments on 17 minutes and captain Rafael van der Vaart hurt his knee during the second half. By that time, Dirk Kuijt had cancelled out Mauro Rosales's opener for Ajax, who will still be without goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont (knee) for up to four weeks and John O'Brien (hamstring) until late December. Willy Sagnol returned to the FC Bayern München lineup for their 3-1 win at VfL Bochum 1848. The French defender shook off a thigh injury to feature while Sebastian Deisler is back in training and should return to action soon. Serie A leaders Juventus FC followed Wednesday's 1-0 home victory against ACF Fiorentina with an identical triumph at US Lecce. David Trezeguet remains sidelined with a long-term shoulder injury but Jonathan Zebina has resumed training after hamstring trouble.

Group D
Mikaël Silvestre limped off 57 minutes into Manchester United FC's 3-1 success at Newcastle United FC. Wayne Rooney scored either side of a Ruud van Nistelrooij penalty to seal the win, which complemented a 2-0 English League Cup victory at home to Crystal Palace FC in midweek.

Group F
Primera División leaders FC Barcelona suffered their first league defeat of the season at Real Betis Balompié, six days before the visit of arch-rivals Madrid. Gerard López's second-half header was not enough to prevent a 2-1 reverse for the Catalan team, who are likely to be without Juliano Belletti (ankle) for another week. AC Milan beat AC Siena 2-1, with Andriy Shevchenko and Gennaro Gattuso restored to the starting lineup following Wednesday's goalless draw at Brescia Calcio. Defender Jaap Stam is still out with an ankle injury while Filippo Inzaghi underwent ankle surgery last week and will be sidelined for at least three months.

Group G
FC Internazionale Milano were held to a 3-3 draw at Cagliari Calcio but remain undefeated in Serie A. South American trio Alvaro Recoba, Fabián Carini and Carlos Gamarra were all away on international duty while Juan Sebastián Verón (thigh) and Christian Vieri (hand) are still injured.