Madrid brush aside Milan, five-star Gunners crush Shakhtar

Cristiano Ronaldo, in particular, was in imperious form as he scored a free-kick before providing an assist for Mesut Ozil to double the lead in a frantic 65-second period.

Real dominated throughout and though Milan showed some fight after going two goals down, it was a performance of consumate professionalism from Jose Mourinho's side.

In the other game in Group G, Demy De Zeeuw and Luis Suarez both hit fine goals as Ajax recorded their first win of the group stage, despite playing the final half an hour with 10 men against Auxerre in the Amsterdam ArenA.

De Zeeuw and Suarez both scored in the first half as Ajax dominated, but following the sending-off of defender Andre Ooijer after the break the visitors pulled a goal back through Valter Birsa but could not find an equaliser.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas returned from injury to help the Gunners all but secure their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League with a 5-1 romp against Group H rivals Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Gunners barely got out of second gear as Alex Song was gifted an early goal following a terrible fumble by Shakhtar keeper Andrei Pyatov - and Arsene Wenger's men never looked back. In-form winger Samir Nasri smashed home his second goal in three days to make it 2-0 before the break, with Fabregas' spot-kick ending the game as a contest on the hour while Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamakh completing the rout.

Croatia striker Eduardo, sold during the summer, netted a fine consolation goal on the return to his former club with seven minutes left, which brought a round of applause from the home fans. Arsenal now head out to Donetsk in a fortnight knowing a point from their remaining three matches, one at home, would probably secure a top-two finish.

Goals from Rodrigo Lima and Matheus gave Braga the advantage over Partizan Belgrade in the race for third place in Group H as the Portuguese outfit recorded a 2-0 victory. Lima curled home a free-kick 10 minutes before the break and Matheus converted a close-range clincher in the last minute to give the hosts their first points of the competition while condemning Partizan to a third straight defeat.

Chelsea banished the memories of their 2008 Champions League final defeat in the Luzhniki Stadium with an impressive victory over Spartak Moscow. First-half goals from Yuri Zhirkov and Nicolas Anelka gave Chelsea the momentum to secure a win that now puts them three points clear at the top of Group F.

Souleymane Diawara's goal early in the second half gave Marseille their first points in this season's Champions League. Didier Deschamps' side were dominant for much of the game against Slovakian minnows MSK Zilina, but had only the defender's header to show for their efforts. And the visitors could easily have snatched a point, with Steve Mandanda making two fine saves to preserve his side's advantage.

Bayern Munich were thankful for a pair of own goals as they maintained their perfect start in Champions League Group E with victory over CFR Cluj at the Allianz Arena. The result gave last season's beaten finalists a firm grip over their section, however, they won with some fortune after falling behind to Cluj skipper Ricardo Cadu's header after 27 minutes.

Cadu's night turned sour soon after when he unluckily put the ball into his own net before Cristian Panin did the same six minutes later. It proved the decisive period on a night when Cluj otherwise matched their hosts and Mario Gomez added a third for Bayern to render Juan Emmanuel Culio's late strike a consolation effort.

Basel stunned Roma at the Stadio Olimpico to get their Champions League challenge up and running. The Swiss outfit took a 12th minute lead through Alexander Frei before Marco Borriello restored parity in the 21st minute.

Samuel Inkoom put the visitors back in front before half-time, and Roma midfielder Rodrigo Taddei was unlucky not to equalise in the 58th minute with his effort rebounding off the post. But deep in stoppage time, substitute Adilson Cabral put the game beyond Roma's reach to cap a wonderful night for the visitors.

Source: espnsoccernet.com