Five-star Barcelona rout Basel as Adriano saves Inter’s blushes

BARCELONA were a class apart as they hammered Basel 5-0 in Switzerland last night to go clear at the top of Champions League Group C.

First-half goals from Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Bojan Krkic gave the visitors a three-goal cushion at the break, but it could have been many more.

And Barcelona hit two goals in the first three minutes of the second half through Bojan again and Xavi to complete the rout.

The win gives Barca a maximum nine points from three games, which puts them three clear of Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon, winners in Ukraine against Shakhtar.

The Ukrainian side dominated the game from start to finish, but they were made to pay for their inability to score when Liedson finished with Sporting’s first shot on target after 75 minutes.

In Chelsea’s Group A, Bordeaux kept their Champions League hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Romanian side Cluj.

Having lost 4-0 to Chelsea and 3-1 to AS Roma already in Group A, Laurent Blanc’s side desperately needed three points and they were secured in bizarre fashion in the 53rd minute.

International playmaker Yoann Gourcuff crossed from the left and, though not a single Bordeaux player was in the penalty area, Cluj’s Portuguese central defender Ricardo Cadu inexplicably got a touch to put the ball past his own keeper Eduard Stanclou.

The Romanian team’s misery was compounded when midfielder Eugen Trica was red-carded in the last minute.

Liverpool’s Group D rivals PSV Eindhoven breathed new life into their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over rudderless Marseille thanks to a Danny Koevermans brace of second-half headers.

The match was delicately poised with 19 minutes left when the Holland striker broke the deadlock, connecting sweetly with Stijn Wuytens’ corner.

And the 29-year-old made the game safe for the Dutch side five minutes from time when he stooped to glance a header past Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda following a right-wing cross from Edison Mendez.

Marseille are still without a point and, after three defeats in a row, they can only really hope for a third-placed finish and a place in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.

The two sides meet again in two weeks’ time at the Stade Velodrome.

Italian champions Inter Milan were made to battle all the way by a spirited Anorthosis Famagusta at the San Siro last night before securing a 1-0 Champions League Group B victory.

Brazilian striker Adriano scored the winner late on in the first half for Jose Mourinho’s side, to put Inter in control of the group with seven points from three games.

The Cypriots did themselves justice, though, by hanging in to the end and they are still in a position to qualify for the knock-out stages.

Werder Bremen striker Hugo Almeida equalised seven minutes from time to give his side a valuable point from their 2-2 draw at Panathinaikos in last night’s other group game.

Almeida was left unmarked in the Greek penalty area, and his header gave Bremen their third draw in Group B to keep alive their hopes of reaching the first knock-out phase.

Bremen managed to take the lead through Germany defender Per Mertesacker on 29 minutes.

But headers by Panathinaikos striker Evangelos Mantzios either side of half-time had looked like giving the Greek Cup holders their first Champions League points of the season, before Portugal striker Almeida struck.