There was a win for Schalke 04, but draws between FC Twente and Werder Bremen as well as Panthinaikos and Rubin Kazan. Those ties may have effectively finished off all four sides in terms of playing in anything but the Europa League next spring.
Inter's Javier Zanetti needed just 70 seconds to put the San Siro side up on Spurs with a blistering strike set up by Coutinho and Samuel Eto’o. Then: disaster. Tottenham’s keeper Gomes was sent off for a clear professional foul on Johnathan Biabiany. Gomes’ gaffe would also force the removal of midfield dynamo Luka Modric so number two Carlo Cudicini could enter, and Cudicini wasn’t able to keep Eto’o’s penalty out, either.
Then, after a sharp passing sequence and more horrific defending by Tottenham, Dejan Stankovic was allowed in on Cudicini thanks to Eto’o to make it 3-0. Time elapsed? Just 15 minutes.
But the critical goal proved to be the fourth, again at the hands of Eto’o in the 35th after more sumptuous passing. It was nothing short of imperious for the defending champions — and nothing short of disastrous for the English side with such grand dreams.
But the cliché is that soccer is a game of two halves, and so it was tonight at the San Siro. Inter stopped passing the ball around, started playing sloppy football, and Bale leapt on the chances. His first, in the 52nd, hardly seemed to ruffle Inter at all. It was a superb individual strike across the face of the goal from the left channel, but Julio Cesar picked himself up and the game went on.
At its best, Barcelona patiently attacked a defense that alternately attacked the ball or cut off passing lanes. That proved frustrating for the Spanish champions, but it also cost Copenhagen when they did neither in the 21st minute. A flowing sequence of passes reached Lionel Messi, pretty much alone 19 yards from goal, and he curled his shot well beyond Johan Wiland in the Copenhagen goal.
There was, however, no rush of goals, nor any sign that Copenhagen felt out of place on the big Camp Nou stage. It was not until stoppage time that Messi fashioned the second for the winners and a 2-0 final scoreline is actually hard on the Danes. Barcelona now tops Group D, but Copenhagen remain second on six.
Jimmy Briand gave Lyon a 2lst-minute lead in a scrappy game against Benfica and when Benfica's Nicolas Gaitan collected his second yellow card of the night in the 43rd minute the Portuguese were left to navigate the second half with 10 men.
After he missed what seemed a straight-forward chance, Lisandro Lopez gave Lyon a comfortable cushion in the 51st minute, converting his own rebound after his initial shot off a cross from Briand had been palmed away. Down two goals and a player, there was no way back for Benfica as the French all but completed their group stage work. Lyon are perfect on nine points atop Group B; Benfica sunk to third on three.
In Gelsenkirchen there was an early lead for Schalke 04, but only slight evidence that the early-season erratic form that has shadowed Felix Magath's side has been expunged. A neat step-over by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar set Raul onto a perfect through pass to finish in the third minute, but instead of signaling a night of complete ease against the winless Israeli side from Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Bundesliga team struggled for an hour to impose its will.
Huntelaar was denied by Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama on a first half one-on-one breakaway and twice headed off the crossbar from four yards early in the second before Raul finally got the second goal in the 57th minute. That gave Raul a share of the all-time European scoring record, his 68 goals good enough to share honors with the great Gerd Muller.
Jurado had plenty of net to shoot at for number three so in the end it was job done for Magath's bunch as they moved second in Group B. Etey Shechter, with practically the last kick of the night, got Hapoel's consolation.
In Holland, a Theo Janssen goal in the 75th minute put FC Twente ahead but Werder Bremen sub Marko Arnautovic replied five minutes later with a shot both unstoppable and darn lucky. Both teams are stuck on two points in Group A behind both Inter (7) and Spurs (4).
Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan played out a 0-0 draw in Athens that did little for either side. Rubin, on two points, is five behind Barcelona and four back of Copenhagen in Group D. The Greeks have only one, so are in even worse shape.
Jamie Trecker is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the UEFA Champions League.
