Striking sensations hit headlines

Olympiacos CFP 1-0 Liverpool FC 
Olympiacos were disciplined and based their supremacy on their defensive work. They did not play catenaccio, but instead were pushing and marking on all lines. A wrinkle-free Olympiacos beat an English team for the first time in 32 years and showed they can go a long way. (Goal, Greece)

The Rafael Benitez revolution may yet be in its early stages but it came to a shuddering halt last night at the feet of a 32-year-old Brazilian with creaky knees and a taste for flamboyant overhead kicks. It took a masterclass from Rivaldo to teach Liverpool how far they have to come in the Champions League. (Daily Telegraph, England)

AS Monaco FC 2-0 RC Deportivo La Coruña 
When the story of a game is revealed in the first ten minutes, a part of the contest is overshadowed. By striking twice at the very beginning, Monaco changed the sense of the tie. (L'Equipe, France)

The Louis II stadium once again proved to be a cursed ground for Deportivo. This time there were no eight goals but the phantoms returned to watch over Monaco. The executioner was a relatively unknown 20-year-old called Adebayor, and he provided goalscorers Kallon and Saviola with two assists in ten minutes. (AS, Spain)

FC Dynamo Kyiv 4-2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 
This match, in which Dynamo stole the victory from Bayer, was earthshaking. It was a battle of the two leaders, and this battle was carried out in the best of styles. (www.sport.com.ua, Ukraine)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have been brought back down to earth in the Champions League. Substitute Andrei Voronin and skipper Jens Nowotny had given Bayer a 2-1 lead, but defensive blunders and lack of discipline cost Leverkusen dear. At least Nowotny looked back to his best after six weeks on the sidelines. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany)

Real Madrid CF 4-2 AS Roma
Madrid chose the most unexpected night to produce an epic. Led by Raúl, who had a glorious game, they overcame every obstacle that came their way. For a long time they have been up against the ropes, teetering on the edge of a colossal crisis. Now fed up of hearing bad news, the supporters braced themselves for the worst after Roma's opening goals. But up popped Raúl, who literally lifted Madrid to victory. (El País, Spain)

A two-goal lead is not enough for this Roma. In 21 minutes the Giallorossi scored twice against a Real Madrid side booed by their own fans. It would have been enough to keep possession of the ball and continue to counterattack against a defence in clear trouble. But Roma sat back giving Real the opportunity to regain courage and conceded four goals. The Giallorossi have conceded 13 goals in their last four matches. Where can a team with this weak defence go? (Corriere dello Sport, Italy)

FC Bayern München 4-0 AFC Ajax
Finally! For weeks Bayern have terrorised their own fans with terrible football, but the games against Osnabrück and Freiburg are in the past now. Bayern treated everyone to a fantastic evening of football in their first home game in this season's UEFA Champions League. Roy Makaay had a magical evening. (Bild, Germany)

Showing no mercy, Bayern Munich underlined the weakness of the Amsterdam side and the 4-0 did not flatter them. It was the biggest European defeat for Ajax in 24 years. Roy Makaay lived up to the prediction that it is almost impossible to defend against him. For the first half hour Ajax resisted nicely, and Makaay was invisible, but the final score told the very hard truth. (Algemeen Dagblad, the Netherlands)

Juventus FC 1-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
The marriage between the most concrete club and the most pragmatic coach in Italy is yielding the expected and hoped-for results. Juve win almost every match. However, we could have expected a more exciting game. Juve's weapons are the power of Nedved, the sense of position of Emerson and the coolness of Trezeguet in the penalty box. There is not much space for technique and creativity. Is solidity enough for winning major trophies? (Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy)

After losing by the same result to Bayern Munich a fortnight ago, Maccabi turned in yet another impressive display and frustrated one of Europe's best teams. Nir Klinger's side, which suffered its second defeat in the group stage, climbed to third place out of four teams, due to a better goal difference than Ajax. (Jerusalem Post, Israel)

Manchester United FC 6-2 Fenerbahçe SK
Rooney's mere inclusion was guaranteed to generate a crackle of excitement inside Old Trafford but there was still something extraordinary about the way he consigned the likes of Van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs, as well as they played, to a place in the supporting cast. Every time he took possession he shimmered with menace. He showed anticipation, courage, immaculate control and his goals were exquisite. (The Guardian, England)

Fenerbahçe made unbelievable mistakes when dealing with throughballs sent over the defence and the quick attacks of Manchester United caused the Fenerbahçe defenders to make positional errors. The man of the match was Wayne Rooney, the youngster proving himself by scoring three goals with a stunning performance on his debut. (Hürriyet, Turkey)

AC Sparta Praha 1-2 Olympique Lyonnais
Sparta gave a poor performance and their defeat was deserved although Wiltord´s winning goal was apparently scored from an offside position. Straka's team started well but fell away after the first goal - they stopped moving and Lyon showed more skill. They simply outplayed Sparta to earn three good points. (Sport, Czech Republic)

Lyon will soon ask to play all their games away. Previously OL had proven that they can travel well in France. They have now confirmed it in the UEFA Champions League, recording their fourth win from the beginning of the season away from Gerland. (L'Equipe, France)