Three former European champions advance in Champions League
Published:Wednesday | December 9, 2009 | 9:25 AM
Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich clinched their places in the next round of the Champions League yesterday.
The trio, European champions a total 20 times between them, advanced alongside CSKA Moscow after their final group matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help nine-time European champion Real Madrid win 3-1 at Marseille and take Group ‘C’ from AC Milan, which needed a penalty by Ronaldinho to equalize for a 1-1 draw at FC Zurich.
Bayern Munich advanced behind already-qualified Bordeaux in Group ‘A’ with a 4-1 win at Juventus that eliminated the Italian side, while CSKA Moscow won 2-1 at Besiktas.
Michael Owen scored a hat trick to give Manchester United a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg to take first place in Group B from CSKA.
Group D had already been settled before yesterday.
First-place Chelsea conceded an 87th-minute equalizer to draw 2-2 with APOEL Nicosia, losing midfielder Michael Essien in the process to what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
FC Porto won 3-0 at Atletico Madrid, which ended even with APOEL on 3 points, but advanced courtesy of the away goal scored against the Cypriot side.
The final four places will be decided today.