Champions League, day 3

Real Madrid drop to second in group H after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Juventus. A second half header from Van Nistelrooy was not enough to overturn earlier strikes from Del Piero and Amauri. And Villarreal are also in second spot in group E, behind Manchester United on goal difference despite a 6-3 win over Aalborg. The Danish side put up a good fight before a hat-trick from half time substitute Llorente finished them off. The following day Barcelona virtually made sure of a place in the next round after thrashing Basel 0-5. And Atlético Madrid regained some of their confidence after recent poor results, a late Simao goal saving a 1-1 draw against Liverpool. (22.10.08)

Basel 0 - Barcelona 5

Barcelona are virtually sure of a place in the next round after an impressive 0-5 win at Basel. Despite resting several key players they were already three up with only a quarter of the game gone, Messi starting things off in the fourth minute from an Alves cross. Busquets got the second after picking up an assist from Xavi, and Bojan made it three after Messi set him up. Guardiola's side got two more in the first three minutes of the second half, Bojan running on to a through ball from Busquets to score his second of the night, and Xavi rifling a shot past Costanzo after Messi laid the ball back. One more and they would have recorded the best away win in Champions League history, but they took their foot off the gas and cruised to the end. (22.10.08)

Atlético Madrid 1 - Liverpool 1

Atlético Madrid recovered from a goal down to save a 1-1 draw against Liverpool, a result which keeps them just ahead of their opponents at the top of group D. After painful league defeats against Barcelona and Real Madrid, Javier Aguirre made seven changes to his line up. But they went behind with quarter of an hour gone when Keane collected a through ball from Gerrard and ran on to beat Leo Franco. Poor refereeing decisions deprived both teams of penalties and Benayoun and Maniche of goals for non-existent offsides. But with seven minutes to go Simao picked up a pass from Forlán to beat Reina and restore some pride for his brow-beaten side. (22.10.08)

Juventus 2 - Real Madrid 1

Real Madrid drop to second in group H after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Juventus. The Merengues had not beaten their old rivals in Turin since 1962, and they fell behind in the fifth minute when Del Piero ran on to Amauri's return pass and fired a long shot past Casillas. Van der Vaart tried his luck two or three times before the beak, but Juve went further ahead when Amauri headed in Nedved's cross just three minutes after the restart. Sneijder hit the post as Madrid came back, and Van Nistelrooy reduced the gap with a header from Heinze's cross midway through the second half. But the Italians closed ranks after that, and Bernd Schuster's side hardly had a look in for the rest of the game. (21.10.08)

Villareal 6 - Aalborg 3

An amazing result at the Madrigal stadium, where Villarreal clocked up a tennis score against Aalborg. The Danish side surprised their opponents when Saganowski headed them in to the lead in the twentieth minute, and although Rossi and Capdevila scored twice in a five minute period to turn the scoreline around, Enevoldsen levelled the scores once again before the interval. Pellegrini brought on Llorente at half time though, and the striker netted twice in quick succession to build up a two goal cushion. Johansson headed one back, but Pires got a fifth and Llorente completed his hat-trick to keep the Spaniards level on points with Manchester United at the top of group E. (21.10.08)