Wayne Rooney

Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League provided action aplenty as the European heavyweights booked their places in the last 16 of the tournament.

Wayne Rooney returned to the starting lineup and this he did in style – by scoring from the penalty spot to give Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Rangers and book their spot in the last 16. They were joined by Inter Milan, who had a nervy 1-0 win over FC Twente, and Tottenham who thrashed Werder Bremen 3-0.

Pedro scored a brace on either side of Messi’s goal as Barcelona secured their place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 thrashing of Panathinaikos while Rubin’s 1-0 victory moved them to 6 points, 1 less than second placed Copenhagen in Group D. There were goals galore in Spain as Valencia hammered Turkish champions Bursapore 6-1 to move into the knockout stages along with Manchester United from Group C. Lyon lost 3-0 to Schalke but their qualification from Group B was assured as Benefica lost 3-0 to Tel Aviv.

Earlier on Tuesday, Arsenal suffered a shock defeat at the hands of FC Braga as two late goals from Matheus meant that Arsenal still needs a win on Matchday 6 to move further in the tournament. The game of the week came from Group E as AS Roma came from two goals down to beat Bayern Munich 3-2 at home. Mario Gomez’ double strike had put the German team ahead at halftime. But goals from Boriello, De Rossi brought them level before Totti completed the turnaround with a penalty.

In Group F, Chelsea maintained their 100% record as Malouda’s late strike in addition to Daniel Sturridge’s goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over MSK Zilina. Spartak Moscow kept their hopes alive of progressing further with a 3-0 thumping of Marseille.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace and goals from Benzema and Arbeloa meant that Real Madrid will finish on top of Group G. They were joined in the knockout stages by AC Milan who beat Auxerre 2-0 with goals from Ibrahmovic and Ronaldinho.

It was a week filled with action where 12 out of the 16 places were confirmed for the further stages of the tournament.

Tags: Champions League, FC Twente, Football, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Rangers, Tottenham, Wayne Rooney, Werder Bremen