Real Madrid held by Lyon; Chelsea wins at Copenhagen

The first-leg result in the round of 16 preserves Lyon’s unbeaten record in the competition against nine-time champion Real Madrid,which has failed to reach the quarterfinals since 2004.

Chelsea,which has never won Europe’s biggest prize,secured a valuable 2-0 away win against Copenhagen after Nicolas Anelka scored either side of the break.

The victory should ease the pressure on manager Carlo Ancelotti after Chelsea was eliminated from the FA Cup at the weekend and with the club languishing in fifth place in the Premier League.

“This is football,you must be able to move quickly after a bad result,you must continue to stay focused,” Ancelotti said. “My players worked hard,played good football and the result is good.”

Even before the season started,the Champions League was the key competition for both Chelsea and its former manager Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.

Mourinho,who has already lifted the European Cup with FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan last season,is trying to become the first coach to win it with three different clubs.

Benzema’s 65th-minute goal appeared to put him closer to fulfilling that mission. He cut inside the penalty area with his first touch,weaved past three defenders and calmly beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

But Brazilian defender Cris headed on a free kick and Gomis clipped the ball past goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the 83rd to extend Lyon’s unbeaten record against Madrid to seven matches.

In Copenhagen,the stage was set for Chelsea striker Fernando Torres to score his first goal since being signed from Liverpool last month for 50 million pounds ($81 million).

But the misfiring Spaniard couldn’t find the net against a Danish side lacking sharpness,having not played a competitive game for more than two months because of the country’s winter break.

Instead,Chelsea’s top scorer Anelka was relied on for the goals.

The French forward’s first came after 17 minutes,pouncing on a misplaced pass by former Chelsea midfielder Jesper Gronkjaer and powering the ball past Johan Wiland.

A perfected placed pass in the 54th released Anelka to fire a low shot past Wiland into the far corner.

Ancelotti defended Torres,who squandered several chances after being let down by his final touch.

“The key to this game was the work the strikers did,always dangerous,” the Italian manager said. “Torres was unlucky he didn’t score but had a fantastic game.”

The second legs will be played on March 16.

In Wednesday’s first-leg matches,defending champion Inter Milan hosts Bayern Munich in a repeat of May’s final and Manchester United is at Marseille.