Nine-time winner Real Madrid took control of its Champions League group with a 1-0 victory over Auxerre on Tuesday as AC Milan was held to a 1-1 draw at Ajax.
Substitute Angel Di Maria scored in the 81st minute to clinch Madrid’s second straight win in Group G.
The Spanish side has a two-point lead over seven-time champion Milan, which relied on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal against former club Ajax to salvage a point.
Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Marseille kept the London club top of Group F ahead of Spartak Moscow, which also has six points after beating Zilina 3-0.
Arsenal beat 10-man Partizan Belgrade 3-1 to stay top of Group H on goal difference after Shakhtar Donetsk won 3-0 at Braga.
Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Basel 2-1 thanks to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s second-half double, making it two wins out of two in Group E. AS Roma bounced back after its opening defeat to Munich to defeat Cluj 2-1 to join its Romanian opponents on three points.
Defending champion Inter was in action yesterday at Werder Bremen in one of eight matches.
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, who led Inter to its title in May, saw his new Madrid side waste a string of chances in Auxerre despite dominating possession.
Pepe almost scored an own goal with 10 minutes left by heading Kamel Chafni’s cross against the post.
However, a minute later, defender Alvaro crossed from the right and Di Maria controlled it with his chest before beating goalkeeper Olivier Sorin with a powerful shot.
In Amsterdam, Ajax captain Luis Suarez gave the host the lead in the 23rd minute, darting past Alessandro Nesta after playing a one-two with Urby Emanuelson on the left flank before providing a cross for Mounir El Hamdaoui, who slotted in from close range.
However, former Ajax stars Clarence Seedorf and Ibrahimovic marked their return to the Amsterdam Arena by combining to snatch an equalizer in the 37th.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea hit back after consecutive domestic losses with two goals inside 28 minutes to see off Marseille.
Chelsea captain John Terry flicked in Gael Kakuta’s corner at the near post and Nicolas Anelka scored a penalty kick after Stephane Mbia was adjudged to have haMarseille is still without a point like bottom-place Zilina, which was overpowered by Spartak Moscow as Brazilian striker Ari struck twice and Ibson added another.
Injury-hit Arsenal also scored three times in Belgrade to make it nine goals in two matches. Andrey Arshavin put the visitors ahead after 15 minutes, but Cleo leveled from the penalty spot before half time after Denilson handled.
Partizan was reduced to 10 men in the 56th when Marko Jovanovic was dismissed for fouling Marouane Chamakh.
Arshavin missed the resulting penalty, but Chamakh restored Arsenal’s lead in the 71st and Sebastien Squillaci headed in the third.
Shakhtar is Arsenal’s biggest threat in Group H after sweeping aside Braga, with Luiz Adriano scoring twice in the second half before Douglas Costa, whose passes had set up the goals, rounded off the win with a 90th-minute penalty kick.
In Basel, Bayern Munich was showing just why it is languishing in ninth in the German league when Alex Frei put the hosts ahead by curling into the top corner in the 18th.
There were also late goals in the other Group E match, with Philippe Mexes firing Roma ahead in the 69th and Marco Borriello volleying in another two minutes later. Ionut Rada pulled one back for Cluj with a 78th-minute header but the visitors couldn’t find an equalizer.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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