▶ Arsenal got their first points of the Champions League second phase
[2001/12/06]
Arsenal got their first points of the Champions League second phase with a superb victory over Italian giants Juventus.
The game was a personal triumph for Freddie Ljungberg, whose two goals started and ended the scoring in this great game.
Thierry Henry added the other Gunners goal from a free-kick, while the Juventus goal came from an unlucky own goal by Arsenal goalkeeper Stuart Taylor.
With Deportivo La Coruna losing their game, Group D is wide open again with all four teams taking three points from the opening two games.
Bayer Leverkusen produced three second-half goals to stun Deportivo La Coruna and keep alive their chances of qualifying to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto started the rout with a superb free kick from outside the area on 64 minutes. The second goal came from In-form striker Oliver Neuville, three minutes later after collecting a fine pass from midfielder Carsten Ramelow. The night was completed by German international Michael Ballack, who headed home a corner 11 minutes from time.
Real Madrid, lacking midfielders Claude Makelele and Steve McManaman, didn’t had much problems winning over Panathinaikos 3-0. Two goals from Raul propelled them to a comfortable home win over the Greek Champions League Group C rivals.
Raul added two second-half strikes after Ivan Helguera had opened the scoring just before the interval.
The Spanish champions now have six points out of a possible six points in their group while the Greek club has just one point from two outings.
Sparta Prague's Libor Sionko scored against the run of play to secure a 1-0 win for the Czech Republic side against FC Porto in the European Champions League group C game.
The win, only the Czechs' third victory on the road in their last 16 matches in the competition, revived Sparta's campaign.
