Zürich shock AC Milan & Real Madrid 3-0 Marseille

AC Milan 0-1 FC Zürich

FC Zürich pulled off one of the shocks of the UEFA Champions League group stage as Hannu Tihinen's tenth-minute goal earned the Swiss titleholders a memorable win at AC Milan.

Cheeky
Tihinen's touch of impudence – a back-heel from Milan Gajić's corner – stunned the Rossoneri, who created enough chances to equalise in an excitingly open match, but found ill fortune and an inspired Johnny Leoni in their way at every occasion. The Finnish international's goal proved enough to earn Zürich their first Group C victory, lifting them to second place, above Milan on head-to-head record thanks to this result.

Tihinen's moment
Milan, despite shaky domestic form, began with the composure of a side seasoned in European football and came close to a breakthrough when Ignazio Abate, on his first UEFA Champions League start, sent over a right-wing cross which almost fooled Leoni, who cleared off the line with his feet. Yet it was Leoni's opposite number Marco Storari who was most surprised when, from their first corner, Zürich took the lead as Tihinen steered in Gajić's centre with a clever back-flick.

Lost chances
Storari was furious at his team-mates, who responded by charging upfield and creating a chance for Filippo Inzaghi. The prominent Clarence Seedorf combined with Marek Jankulovski, whose pass to the far post eluded the stretching Inzaghi by fractions. Seedorf himself blazed over after Pato had teed him up midway through the first period, and Inzaghi glanced a header wide from another quality Abate delivery. As the Italian outfit turned the screw, Seedorf tried his luck again, blasting a 20-metre shot narrowly wide.

Zürich improvement
It was by no means one-way traffic though: Dušan Djurić, Silvan Aegerter and Gajić causing the hosts problems with their quick passing and movement. Indeed, Zürich looked the stronger of the sides as the half progressed. Djurić had already fired wide on 14 minutes before Xavier Margairaz sent an even better opportunity over the bar following a slick interchange and, on the stroke of half-time, Gajić elicited a diving stop from Storari.

Milan onslaught
Coach Leonardo introduced Ronaldinho at the break and Milan soon upped the tempo. Within minutes, the Brazilian had warmed Leoni's palms with a powerful free-kick. The Zürich No1 saved again on 58 minutes, brilliantly turning Inzaghi's goal-bound header away from the top corner. Nor could Inzaghi believe his luck seven minutes later when he met Ambrosini's cut-back only for Leoni's feet to deny him. During the onslaught, Pato had also raced on to Ronaldinho's slide-rule pass, only to chip narrowly wide.

To the rescue
Against the run of play, Milan were almost caught out when Margairaz hared through on goal but Storari's left foot kept his side in the match. Two-nil would have been an unfair reflection of events and, as the Serie A giants poured forward late on, Ambrosini and Inzaghi both came agonisingly close to equalising with the seconds ticking down. Gianluca Zambrotta even hit a post with a curling effort, but the night belonged to Zürich.


Real Madrid 3-0 Marseille

Real Madrid CF made sure of their second triumph in UEFA Champions League Group C after three second-half goals in quick succession helped Manuel Pellegrini's side break down a stubborn Olympique de Marseille at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Decisive spell
After a subdued first-half showing, the Spanish club finally opened up their Mediterranean guests with Cristiano Ronaldo registering twice and Kaká scoring from the penalty spot. Amid the flurry of goals, OM were reduced to ten men by Souleymane Diawara's sending-off.

Confident start
Marseille came into the match on the back of five straight away defeats in the competition and without the injured Bakari Koné, Garry Bocaly and Hilton, yet the visitors began confidently and Benoît Cheyrou missed the game's first chance with a shot over the crossbar. Didier Deschamps' team continued to seek out an opening as the half progressed and Stéphane Mbia almost found Mamadou Niang with a low pass into the centre, but Iker Casillas was alert to the danger.

Solid goalkeeping
Madrid had enjoyed a 100 per cent start to their season prior to this encounter with Ligue 1 opposition, yet against a five-man Marseille defence, Los Merengues struggled to show any fluidity and were limited to speculative efforts from Kaká and Ronaldo which Steve Mandanda handled comfortably. Just after the midway point, the visiting supporters sensed their moment had arrived when Lucho fed the sprightly Niang who eased past Pepe before firing straight at Casillas. At the other end, Ronaldo tested Mandanda with another strike from distance before Benzema almost found the target with an overhead kick that dropped over the bar. Benzema was again involved moments before the break when he accepted Kaká's flick-on and had his ensuing attempt saved by the Marseille keeper.

Madrid blitz
After a sluggish opening to the second period, the match changed completely in the space of six minutes as Madrid scored three times and Marseille lost a man. Ronaldo made the difference when he raced on to Pepe's long punt forward before rolling the ball underneath the leaping Mandanda. Shortly afterwards Ronaldo was the centre of attention again, the referee awarding a penalty after he had zipped past Gabriel Heinze and been halted by Diawara. The defender received a second yellow card. Kaká dispatched a cool penalty. With the hour mark reached and Madrid's fans in full voice, Benzema played a one-two with Kaká on the edge of the area before laying a ball across goal for Ronaldo to net his second, and his fourth of this UEFA Champions League campaign.

Record breaker
Raúl González kept the festive mood going when he entered the fray as a 78th-minute substitute – the 32-year-old becoming the capital club's record appearance maker with 709 outings in all competitions. Fellow replacement Gonzalo Higuaín might have added to the winning margin late on but failed with two attempts, before Brandão had an effort kept out by the otherwise underemployed Casillas.