French soccer isn't all that bad.
In recent years, France's Ligue 1 has been relegated to the status of the fifth league in Europe, behind leagues in England, Spain, Italy and Germany, in large part because of the flight of the best young French players to teams abroad. But the three French clubs in the UEFA Champions League are on quite a run. Bordeaux, the defending Ligue 1 champion, won, 2-0, at Bayern Munich to clinch a berth in the knockout phase, while Marseille buried FC Zurich, 6-1. That gives French clubs a sweep of the five games in Days 3 and 4. (Lyon hosts Liverpool Wednesday with a chance to wrap up a berth in the second phase.)
Yoann Gourcuff, who opened the scoring for Bordeaux after 37 minutes, said his team has grown since last season's early exit in the Champions League. "We learned from that experience," he said. "We matured." Marseille's second win over Zurich put it back in the hunt in Group C, two points behind Real Madrid and AC Milan, with two games to play, but Coach Didier Deschamps tried to down play the size of the win. "It's a score you don't see very often in a Champions League match even if the game was more difficult than the result could mislead to believe," he said. "The draw between AC Milan and Real Madrid will force us to grab four points from our last two games."
Trouble at Real Madrid? What trouble?
Two days after President Florentino Perez gave Coach Manuel Pellegrini a vote of confidence following a 2-0 win over Getafe, Real Madrid played perhaps its best game of the season, earning a 1-1 tie at AC Milan. The tie came a week after a 4-0 Copa del Rey loss at third division Alcorcon threatened to throw the White House in chaos.
Real Madrid had a strong first half, going ahead on Karim Benzema's goal, and had its chances in the second half. "At the end, there were a couple of chances to get the three points which we would have deserved," said Pellegrini.
Manchester United can't get by without Wayne Rooney.
Wayne Rooney had been up most of the previous night to be with his wife for the birth of their first child and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had hoped to save him for Sunday's game against Chelsea, but those plans were thrown out the window when United fell behind CSKA Moscow, 3-1, at home. Rooney came on in the 58th minute, and United rallied to earn a 3-3 tie that assured it of a berth in the second round.
"He's not had much sleep, to be honest with you," said Ferguson. "But the third goal forced my hand really. He was a safety player for us in the sense that if we needed him he was there."
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