Madrid march on as champions Milan miss out

REAL MADRID continued their smooth progress towards the knock-out stages of the Champions League by easing to a third victory in three games with a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade in Group F last night.

Real cruised in the first half as Partizan sat back and concentrated on getting men behind the ball, but still managed to go in front six minutes before the break when Raul got the faintest of touches to a Luis Figo header after a David Beckham corner.

Real had several chances to extend their lead, Figo sending a swirling shot narrowly over the bar, Beckham firing straight at keeper Djordje Pantic and Ronaldo going close with a stinging 20-metre effort.

Partizan somehow managed to keep Real at bay, though, thanks in large part to an outstanding display from Pantic, but their chances of qualification remain slim after taking just one point from their first three matches.

Also in Group F, Olympic Marseille were beaten 3-2 at home by Porto.

Marseille took the lead through Didier Drogba on 24 minutes, but Porto struck back with goals from Maniche and Derlei before the break and Dimitri Alenitchev sealed with win on 81 minutes. Steve Marlet got one back for Marseille on 84 minutes.

Champions League holders AC Milan suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Belgium’s Club Bruges in Group H.

Bruges went ahead against the run of play in the 33rd minute when, after a swift counter attack, Ivan Gvozdenovic fed Andres Mendoza and the tall Peruvian cut inside before firing a superb shot with the outside of his left foot into Dida's bottom left corner.

It was one-way traffic throughout the second half but Milan were unable to make the most of their possession, or the chances they managed to create, with both Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko failing to find the target from good positions.

Veteran midfielder Karel Poborsky scored six minutes from time to give Sparta Prague a 2-1 victory over Turkey's Besiktas in Group G. The former Manchester United man volleyed home the winner to hand the Czech side their first group win.

Sparta went ahead in the 58th minute when Lukas Zelenka dribbled past the Besiktas defence and slotted home. The lead lasted just two minutes, Sparta keeper Jaromir Blazek bringing down Sergei Yelcin in the penalty area and Daniel Pancu scored from the spot.

VfB Stuttgart earned their second win in three Champions League matches with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Panathinaikos in Group E. The German side opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a diving header by Imre Szabics.

Stuttgart, who beat Manchester United 2-1 in their previous Group E match, made it 2-0 12 minutes later with a close-range header by midfielder and captain Zvonimir Soldo.

Felix Magath's side go top of the group on six points from three games, the same as United but ahead of the English champions on head-to-head record.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second-half goal gave Ajax Amsterdam a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo and sent the Dutch side to the top of Group H.