Barthez the villain as Coruna dump Man U

LONDON, OCTOBER 18: FRENCH World Cup goalkeeper Fabien Barthez made two horrendous blunders as Manchester United tumbled 2-3 at home to Deportivo de La Coruna yesterday and surrendered the lead in their Champions Cup group.

Defending champions Bayern Munich overwhelmed Spartak Moscow 5-1 to move closer to round two but was beaten there by group leader Sparta Prague. Barthez twice raced off his line and completely missed the ball to yield goals to Sergio Gonzalez and Diego Tristran. It was Tristran’s second of the game as Deportivo, who downed United 1-2 three weeks ago, wiped out two strikes by Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Olympiakos beat Lille

Salaheddine Bassir gave Lille a first half lead but Olympiakos hit back with second half goals by Alekos Alexandris and Andreas Niniadis to leave all four teams still in contention with two games to go.

While Bayern was giving the Russian champions a soccer lesson with two goals each by Peruvian forward Claudio Pizzaro and Brazilian Giovane Elber, the Czechs won 2-0 at Feyenoord to stay top of Group H. Goals in each half by Jiri Jarosik and Jiri Novotny mean that Sparta has 10 points and a tally of 8-0 after three wins and a tie. Bayern is two points behind and needs just a point from its last two games to make a place in round two. Glasgow Celtic dropped from first to third in Group E after losing 0-3 at FC Porto. Brazilian forward Clayton headed the first of his two in the first minute with Silva Mario adding the other just before half time.

Juventus win

Juventus jumped to the top by edging Rosenborg 1-0 thanks to a first half goal by David Trezeguet. Marcelo Lippi’s team has a one point lead from porto with Celtic in third place a further point behind. Bayer Leverkusen squandered a chance of joining Sparta Prague and Real Madrid in the second round but lost 1-2 at Barcelona. Patrick Kluivert gave the Spanish soccer giant a 12th minute lead and, although Carsten Ramelow levelled, Martinez Luis Enrique hit the winner which puts Barcelona and Leverkusen level on nine points.

Real Madrid advance

On Tuesday, eight-time champion Real Madrid became the first team into the second round with a 2-0 victory at Anderlecht but Panathinaikos must wait after a 1-2 loss at Arsenal.

First-half goals by Raul Gonzalez and Steve McManaman eased Madrid to victory in Brussels to give Vicente del Bosque’s team, which last won the title two seasons ago, a maximum 12 points from four Group A games. In the same group, AS Roma made almost certain of a second round spot by winning 1-0 at Lokomotiv Moscow and holds a five point advantage over Anderlecht with just two games still to play. Panathinaikos needed just point at Highbury to join Madrid in the second round with two games to spare but went down 2-1 thanks to two strikes by Thierry Henry. (Associated Press)