Madrid march on as Milan fall

Neville wins it
Manchester United FC scored the first goal of the night, Phil Neville's fifth-minute strike enough to secure Sir Alex Ferguson's 50th win as a manager in the competition at his boyhood club, Rangers FC. The English champions have six points in Group E along with VfB Stuttgart, who left Panathinaikos firmly rooted to the bottom of the section following a 2-0 victory.

Stuttgart in control
Conquerors of United last time out, Stuttgart made it successive wins in the group thanks to first-half goals from Imre Szabics and Zvonimir Soldo at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion. Group H also has new leaders after four-times European champions AFC Ajax defeated RC Celta de Vigo in Amsterdam, Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahomivic scoring eight minutes after half-time.

Famous victory
Club Brugge KV pulled off the shock of the night in the pool's other game as they beat Milan 1-0 at the San Siro. Andrés Mendoza was the scorer of Brugge's famous goal, his 33rd-minute effort ensuring it was a grim midweek for Milan's clubs after Internazionale FC lost 3-0 at FC Lokomotiv Moskva yesterday.

More misery
There was more misery for a Serie A side in Group G as Chelsea FC's expensively assembled team showed their battling qualities to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Lazio at Stamford Bridge. Simone Inzaghi gave the Roman club a half-time lead but Chelsea made it two wins from three matches courtesy of goals from Frank Lampard and Adrian Mutu.

Sparta leave it late
AC Sparta Praha joined Lazio on four points after defeating Besiktas JK 2-1 in the Czech capital. Karel Poborský won the match for Sparta in the 84th minute after Daniel Pancu had levelled for the Turkish champions following Lukáš Zelenka's opening goal in the 58th minute.

Porto hold on
Another team to come from behind were the UEFA Cup holders FC Porto, who triumphed 3-2 at Olympique de Marseille despite having trailed to Didier Drogba's fifth strike of the 2003/04 Champions League. Maniche and Derlei scored within four first-half minutes before Dmitri Alenichev added Porto's third with nine minutes left. There was still time for Steve Marlet to reduce arrears, but Porto held on.

Madrid on top
However, it is Real Madrid CF who head Group F after they battled to a 1-0 victory against FK Partizan. The competition's all-time leading goalscorer, Raúl González, registered the only goal in the 38th minute as the Spanish champions made it three wins from three, an ominous sign.