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On Tuesday, the group stage 5th round matches of the UEFA Champions League kicked off. Unexpected failures in their away matches were experienced by the leaders of groups F and H, "Man Utd" and "Milan," who still secured their place in the next stage. In Madrid, "Real" had to settle for second place in Group E, while "Lyon" clinched the first place. In Group G, "Arsenal" and "Porto" surged ahead by defeating their opponents, as did "Benfica," earning three points. Two matches between the bottom teams in Groups E and H ended in draws.
In the central match of Group E at the Madrid's "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, Real Madrid faced Lyon. In the first half, it seemed like a repeat of the first match between these teams in Lyon, where Lyon won 2-0 in September.
In the 11th minute, French forward John Carew deceived Fabio Cannavaro and scored the first goal with a precise shot from the penalty area, while in the 31st minute, Florent Malouda scored from a few meters away after a pass from Juninho – 0-2.
However, Real quickly recovered and, with six minutes left in the first half, former Lyon player Mahamadou Diarra, receiving a header from Ruud van Nistelrooy, scored in the same manner.
After the break, the hosts tried to attack more and equalize the score. After many unsuccessful attempts, they finally succeeded in the 83rd minute. Raul's shot hit the post and rolled across the goal, and Ruud van Nistelrooy was the first to reach it and scored – 2-2. This was his 47th goal in the Champions League throughout his career.
Real could have secured a victory and intensified the fight for the first place in the group. In the 89th minute, as Cristian blocked a shot from the same R. Van Nistelrooy inside the penalty area, a penalty was awarded. The Dutchman took the penalty kick himself, but it was not very successful, as Gregory Coupet, the Lyon goalkeeper, parried it. The match ended in a draw, securing the first place in the group for the French team.
In the match between Steaua and Dinamo in Bucharest, the home team failed to break the deadlock, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
In Group F, Manchester United suffered their second consecutive defeat with a minimal score of 0-1 against Celtic Glasgow as guests. Despite their dominance, "The Red Devils" failed to break the Scottish defense, and at the end of the match, they conceded a goal from a penalty kick converted by Celtic's Japanese legionnaire Shunsuke Nakamura.
In Lisbon, Benfica easily beat Kobenhavn 3-1. The Portuguese dominated the match from the first minute, with Brazilian defender Leo opening the scoring in the 14th minute. Fabrizio Miccoli doubled the lead shortly after, and F. Miccoli scored his second goal after a mistake by the Danish goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen. Marcus Allback scored a consolation goal for Kobenhavn in the 89th minute.
In Group G, CSKA Moscow, with Deivid Šemberas, lost 0-2 at home to Porto. The Lithuanian played the entire match and replaced the injured center-back Sergei Ignashevich on the field.
In the match between Arsenal and Hamburger, the visitors surprisingly took the lead in the 4th minute with a precise shot to the top corner by Rafael van der Vaart. The London team struggled to break through the defense of the group's bottom team, but Robin van Persie scored in the 52nd minute after a pass from Francesc Fabregas. Arsenal then dominated the match and scored two more goals through Emmanuel Eboue and Julio Baptista, securing a 3-1 victory.
In Group H, Milan suffered an unexpected defeat, losing 0-1 away to AEK Athens. After giving the powerful opponents the initiative, the Greeks chose a defensive style of play more based on counterattacks. One of them led to Milan goalkeeper Clarence Seedorf fouling Nikolaos Liberopoulos near the goal, resulting in a goal scored by Julio Cesar. Despite numerous attacks from their opponents, AEK defended well and preserved the winning result, giving them hope to play in the round of 16.
In another match, Lille and Anderlecht played a 2-2 draw, which blocked the path for the Belgian club to advance to the next stage. The French team dominated the entire match but failed to score a winning goal.
Statistics for Tuesday's matches:
Group E:
Real 2 - 2 Lyon
Steaua 1 - 1 Dinamo
Group F:
Benfica 3 - 1 Kobenhavn
Celtic 1 - 0 Man Utd
Group G:
CSKA 0 - 2 Porto
Arsenal 3 - 1 Hamburger
Group H:
AEK 1 - 0 Milan
Lille 2 - 2 Anderlecht
Standings:
Group E:
1. Lyon 5 4 1 0 11-2 13
2. Real 5 3 1 1 12-4 10
3. Steaua 5 1 1 3 6-10 4
4. Dinamo 5 0 1 4 3-14 1
Group F:
1. Man Utd 5 3 0 2 7-4 9
2. Celtic 5 3 0 2 7-6 9
3. Benfica 5 2 1 2 6-5 7
4. Kobenhavn 5 1 1 3 2-7 4
Group G:
1. Porto 5 3 1 1 9-4 10
2. Arsenal 5 3 1 1 7-3 10
3. CSKA 5 2 2 1 2-2 8
4. Hamburger 5 0 0 5 4-13 0
Group H:
1. Milan 5 3 1 1 8-2 10
2. AEK 5 2 1 2 4-7 7
3. Lille 5 1 3 1 6-5 6
4. Anderlecht 5 0 3 2 5-9 3
