Results from the third round of matches in the European League.
Group A of Former Champions
Besiktas - Liverpool 2:1 (37)
Olympique Marseille - Porto 1:1
MAR 7 PTO 5 BES 3 LIV 1
Liverpool have a difficult - but not impossible - task ahead of them. Marseille should go through.
Group B of Not As Obvious As We Thoughtness
Rosenborg BK - Valencia 2:0 (41)
Chelsea - Schalke 04 2:0
CHE 7 ROS 4 VAL 3 SNV 3
After the earlier slip-up, it looks like Chelsea have nailed this one. Good to see Rosenborg getting another good result, the competition benefits from their little sprinklings of pixie dust.
Group C of Dividends
Werder Bremen - Lazio 2:1 Real Madrid - Olympiakos 4:2 RMD 7 OLY 4 WER 3 LAZ 2
Every year, we say that Real Madrid won't get out of the group. Every year, they prove us wrong. Werder finally gets the win their play has deserved, Lazio can't open with three draws.
Group D of How Will Portugal Mess This One Up?
Benfica - Celtic 1:0 Milan AC - Shakhtar Donetsk 4:1 (32) ACM 6 SHA 6 BEN 3 CEL 3
How to offend the entire population of Milan in one fell swoop: point out that their victory over the Ukraine's runners-up was, in fact, a Glickoblog Upset. Celtic continue their poor form away from home.
Group E of Death
Stuttgart - Olympique Lyonnais 0:2 Rangers - Barcelona 0:0 (15) BAR 7 RAN 7 LYN 3 STT 0
A great result for Rangers, and Lyon's away win looks to have guaranteed them (at least) UEFA Cup football next year. This one should be decided by Rangers - Lyon in December.
Group F of Tedium
Dinamo Kyiv - Manchester Buccaneers 2:4
Roma - Sporting Lisboa 2:1
MUN 9 ROM 6 SLS 3 KYV 0
Very much going to form here; the return match in Lisbon two weeks hence will determine who goes through with the Bucs.
Group G of Acronyms
CSKA Moskow - Internazionale 1:2 PSV Eindhoven - Fenerbahçe 0:0 INT 6 FEN 5 PSV 4 CSK 1
Inter were last after the first round of matches, and Fenerbahçe must be ruing their draw in Moscow.
Group H of Censored
Seville - Steaua Bucharest 2:1 Arsenal - Slavia Prague 7:0 ANL 9 SEV 6 SLP 3 STE 0
It's hard to get worked up about this group; barring upsets, or a 4:0 defeat in Seville in late November, Arsenal will win, Seville will come second.
UEFA Cup, Group Phase, Match 1
Group A of AZ
Everton - Larissa 3:1
Zenit St Petersburg - AZ Alkmaar 1:1
Idle: Nürnburg
Group B of Mutton
Lokomotiv Moscow - Atlético Madrid 3:3
Panathanaikos - Aberdeen 3:0
Idle: Køvehaben
Group C of Seeding
IF Elfsborg - AEK Athens 1:1
Villarreal - Fiorentina 1:1
Idle: Mladá Boleslav
Group D of Dwarves
Basle - Rennes 1:0 (37)
Brann - Hamburg 0:1
Idle: Dinamo Zagreb
Group E of Goal Difference
Bayer Leverkusen - Toulouse 1:0
Sparta Prague - FC Zürich 1:2
Idle: Spartak Moscow
Group F of Bayern
Bolton - Braga 1:1
Crvena Zvedza - Bayern München 2:3
Idle: Aris Thessaloniki
Group G of Winners
Anderlecht - Hapoel Tel Aviv 2:0
Tottenham - Getafe 1:2
Idle: AaB Alborg
Group H of Upsets
Bordeaux - Galatasaray 2:1
Helsingborgs - Panionios 1:1
Idle: Austia Wien
Bit of a surprise for AZ not to beat Zenit, until we realise that the St. Petersburg side looks set to wrap up the national title. Aberdeen's loss will probably end their contest. The big match in group E ensures Leverkusen should go through; the biggest match of the night was won by München with two goals in the last five minutes. Tottenham are under new management, after Martin Jol resigned following the defeat by Getafe.
Next week's live football
Fr 1900 Lpol/RS Liverpool Reserves -v- Newcastle Reserves Fr 1930 Set1/DE Eintracht Frankfurt -v- Hannover 96 Sa 0000 Set2/SA River Plate -v- Defensor Sa 1715 Set1/E1 Portsmouth -v- West Ham Su 1400 Set1/SC Dundee Utd -v- Rangers Su 1400 C5/IT Match tbc Su 1700 Set1/PT Nacional -v- Sporting Mo 1600 Set2/DE Borussia Dortmund -v- Bayern München Mo 1945 Set1/SS Kettering -v- Boston Mo 2000 Set2/FR PSG -v- Lyon Tu 2000 Set1/FR Marseille -v- Metz We 1945 Set1/DE Bayern München -v- Borussia Monchengladbach Th 1945 Set1/E5 Rushden and Diamonds -v- Oxford
Highlights of the UEFA Cup and European League on Eurosport until Saturday lunchtime, and African Champions League action at 8pm Saturday. Highlights of the French league resume on TV5 at 6.30 Sunday. Setanta highlights include Schalke-Werder, Lens-Rennes, Sparta-PSV, and the return leg in the Copa America.
