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On Tuesday, the UEFA Champions League group stage Matchday 3 began, and almost all favorites celebrated victories in their matches. The only surprise was in Moscow, where "CSKA" forced the "Arsenal" team to surrender. In the same group, "Porto" left no hope for "Hamburg". In groups E and F, "Lyon", "Real Madrid", "Celtic" and "Manchester United" secured crushing victories, while in group H, after a fierce battle, "Milan" and "Lille" defeated their opponents.
The day's matches started with early games in the Russian capital - the group leaders of Group G, the local "CSKA", and last year's finalist London's "Arsenal" met. The visitors started the match more successfully, controlling the game, but "CSKA" defended organized and without mistakes.
After repelling attacks from the English club, in the 25th minute, "CSKA" broke through with Dudu being fouled right in front of the goal and after a clever pass from S. Ignashevich, Brazilian Daniel Carvalho defeated goalkeeper Jens Lehmann with a powerful shot from about 20 meters.
Inspired by the goal, the hosts switched to attack, and after six minutes, J. Lehmann already saved the "Gunners" after another D. Carvalho attempt from a distance. In the 42nd minute, a beautiful goal from the Russian club's striker Vagner Love was disallowed due to offside, and at the very end, "Arsenal" goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev stopped Robin van Persie's breakthrough.
In the second half, the English visitors continued to struggle to break through the "CSKA" defense. Although Kolo Toure and Thierry Henry managed to send the ball towards I. Akinfeev's goal, both goals were disallowed by the referee for offside and handball. Towards the end of the match, the Croatian Ivica Olic of the Moscow club missed a clear chance to double the score, failing to hit the goal from a free position.
The second round of matches was played in Group H, where Brussels had a tough battle against "Anderlecht" and the 2003 champion "Milan". The Italian team played unsteadily in the first half and failed to capitalize on their opportunities to score. After the break, they were reduced to ten men as defender Daniele Bonera received his second yellow card.
This allowed the hosts to take the initiative, but in the 58th minute, in a quick counter-attack by "Milan," Brazilian Kaka scored the first goal with a beautiful shot from about 27 meters. This disrupted the "Anderlecht" players, but the visitors still had to defend, and they were saved by goalkeeper Dida, who blocked a dangerous shot from Mohamed Tchite and a cross, which was hit by Rolando Juhasz in the 87th minute.
Another important step towards the next stage was taken by the "Lille" team, who defeated the resistance of Athens' "AEK" at home and secured their first victory. The first goal came in the middle of the second half, when Mathieu Robail scored after a pass from Kader Keita, but the "Lille" advantage lasted only four minutes as Vladimir Ivic equalized with a powerful shot in the 68th minute. However, the "AEK" player had to leave the field due to injury shortly after, and in the 82nd minute, after another K. Keita pass, Daniel Gygax scored. In added time, "Lille" secured the victory through Jean Makoun.
