Kaka is smiling again

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 28, 2011

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Day 2: What we learned ... ] Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Marseille all have reason to be feeling good about things in the UEFA Champions League. They are the only teams to win their first two games.

Kaka is smiling again. After suffering a string of injuries and enduring two poor seasons after his then-world record transfer from AC Milan, former World Player of the Year Kaka looks like he has rediscovered his form.

The Brazilian scored in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Ajax and most important to the Real Madrid staff, played with a smile on his face.

"He has had a really bad time," said Real Madrid assistant Aitor Karanka. "For those of us who have kept faith in him, seeing the look of happiness he has had on his face for a while now is very satisfying. A great player like him, and considering what he has been through, deserves to be happy again."

Bayern in on a mission. The 2012 Champions League final will be played May 19 at Munich's Allianz Arena, and hometown Bayern Munich wants to be there. With 2-0 wins away to Villarreal and at home against Manchester City, Bayern is playing as well as any team in the competition.

"The whole team played completely flawlessly in the second half," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, "and Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger were simply world class tonight."

Ribery is so happy at Bayern under Heynckes he admits he'd like to finish his career in Munich.

"I want to win the Champions League with Bayern," he said. "It is important to me."

Europe suits Marseille. Winner of one of eight games and already 10 points off the pace in France's Ligue 1, Marseille remained perfect in the Champions League with a 3-0 win over German champion Borussia Dortmund.

"I might have to put the [Champions League anthem] music on in the locker room for league games," Marseille coach Didier Deschamps.

OM showed little effect from another disappointing domestic outing, a 1-1 tie with Valenciennes on a goal conceded in stoppage time, by getting two first-half goals from young Ghanaian star Andre Ayew.

WEDNESDAY:
Group E
Valencia 1 Chelsea 1
Scorers: Roberto Soldado (pen.) 87; Frank Lampard 56
Bayer Leverkusen 2 Racing Genk 0
Scorers: Lars Bender 30, Michael Ballack 90+1

Group F
Marseille 3 Borussia Dortmund 0
Scorers: Andre Ayew 20, 69, Loic Remy 62
Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 1
Scorers:Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 8, Andre Santos 20; David Fuster 27

Group G
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 APOEL 1
Scorers: Jadson 64; Ivan Trickovski 61
Zenit St. Petersburg 3 Porto 1
Scorers: Roman Shirokov 20, 63, Danny 72; James Rodriguez 10

Group H
AC Milan 2 Viktoria Plzen 0
Scorers: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (pen.) 53, Antonio Cassano 66
BATE Borisov 0 Barcelona 5
Scorers: own goal 19, Pedro 22, Lionel Messi 38, 56, David Villa 90

TUESDAY:
Group A
Bayern Munich 2 Manchester City 0.
Scorer: Mario Gomez 37, 45
Napoli 2 Villarreal 0.
Scorers: Marek Hamsik 14, Edinson Cavani (pen.) 17

Group B
Trabzonspor 1 Lille 1.
Scorers: Trabzonspor: Gustavo Colman (pen.) 75; Lille: Moussa Sow 30.
CSKA Moscow 2 Inter Milan 3.
Scorers: Alan Dzagoyev 45+2, Vagner Love 77; Lucio 6, Giampaolo Pazzini 23, Mauro Zarate 79

Group C
Man. United 3 Basel 3.
Scorers: Danny Welbeck 16, 17, Ashley Young 90; Fabian Frei 58, Alexander Frei 60, 76 pen
Otelul Galati 0 Benfica 1.
Scorer: Bruno Cesar 40

Group D
Lyon 2 Dinamo Zagreb 0
Scorers: Bafetimbi Gomis 23, Bakary Kone 42
Real Madrid 3 Ajax 0
Scorers: Cristiano Ronaldo 25, Kaka 41, Karim Benzema 49