Two German clubs were looking for looking for crucial wins. Goup A leaders Bayern Munich traveled to Turin, hoping for a repeat performance against Juventus two weeks ago. A win would have given them a good chance of winning their group. But the pressure’s on Bremen. It was really their last chance to make it through to the quarter-finals, so a win against Udinese was obligatory.

Bayern’s coach Felix Magath threw down the gauntlet before the match against Juventus. “We will play aggressively up front. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t win the second match against Juve”, he said. Fighting talk from the Bundesliga champions. Victory would have been Bayern’s first win in Italy for 17 years. But the 2-1 defeat means it’s now wide open in group A with two more games to play.

Bayern will now have to win those games to avoid confronting big clubs like Barcelona and Chelseas early in the knockout stage.

Despite their optimism going into the game, worries remain about Bayern Munich’s offensive -- Dutch international Roy Makaay’s definetely below his usual goalscoring form and Paraguayan interational Rocqe Sant Kruz is sidelined for the next six months with a nasty ligament injury.

Makaay did had a good chance of ending his goal drought in the 12 minute, but his shot just wide of the Juventus goal. But he was booed off the field, susbsitituted 5 minutes before the final whistle having gone a thousand minutes without scoring.

But Magath insists there are enough players who can score goals – namely Ballack, Zé Roberto, Lucio and also Deisler.

Juventus took the lead early in the second half with a goal by Treseguet, taking full advantage of a goalscoring opportunity. The reward for piling on the pressure. Bayern’s Sebastian Deisler pulled one back -- from 37 metres. But Tresequet hit the target a second time, sealing the victory for the home side. Bayern punished for two mistakes in defence.

Meanwhile Werder Bremen were counting on Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnic to show Udinese why they are the Bundesliga's top goalscoring duo on Wednesday night. But Klasnic missed the game, suffering from a bout of appendicitis.

Bremen’s Champion's League form has been less than convincing so far, leaving them bottom of group C.

The northern German side knew only a win would against Udinese would give them a chance of making it to the last 16 teams in the quarter finals. Goals by Miroslav Klose in the 15th minute and Thomas Baumann in the 24th gave Bremen a helping hand. But in the second half it was the same old story. Within the space of 5 minutes they gave away a 3-nil lead. What looked like a sure win turned into a nail-biting affair. Bremen clinched the win 4-3, but were lucky to come away with the comeback victory. In the dying minutes of the match Bremen’s Nando elbowed the Italian striker – but the referee seemed paralysed and did not award a penalty to Udinese.

So a high-scoring match in Bremen’s Weser stadium, but will it be enough to revive their Champions League aspirations? Bremen are now on four points, level with Udinese and Panathinaikos, but face a tough trip to Group C leaders Barcelona for their next match on November 22.

In other matches played on Wednesday

Bruges 3 Rapid Vienna 2
Barcelona 5 Panathinaikos Athens 0
Arsenal 3 Prague 0
Thun 2 Amsterdam 4
Lille 0 Manchester United 1
Benfica Lisbon 0 Villareal 1

Bayern Munich faced up against their arch rival Juventus Turin on Tuesday, hoping to make amends for last season’s humilitating defeat. And current Bundesliga leaders Werder Bremen were up against Udinese.

Bayern were beaten twice by Juventus in the group stage last season but they put that all behind them. Bayern’s Sebastian Deisler got the first goal for the Bundesliga champions in the 32 minute and Martin Demichelis got the second 7 minutes later.

A late goal by Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Juventus however threatened to put a dampner on the whole evening.The final score 2:1 to Bayern.

The win for Bayern almost guarantees them a place in the knockout phase. But Bayern want to finish top of their group says, coach Felix Magath, which would give them the advantage of playing the return leg at home at their new World Cup stadium -- the AOL Arena. This would mean they would avoid facing tough competition like favourites Chelsea or Barcelona. So there’s still a lot at stake – but Bayern took the game to the Italian side, playing an aggressive, confident style – and it paid off.

Bayern’s captain Michael Ballack was pleased with his team’s performance, but was also was frustrated with the late goal.

“We are really happy that we won. I think we played an impressive game. But the last five minutes again were not good and there was a danger of them puling back another goal”.

Oliver Kahn put his team’s performance in perspective.

"We knew of course that we were playing against a team that is currently the non plus ultra in Europe. But I think we played very well and put pressure on their defence, usually their strength....I think we’ve played a good match this evening”

The Italian champions have been unstoppable this season, winning their opening two Champions League fixtures and all seven of their Serie A games. Bayern knew they could not afford to make a single mistake.

So the record German champions have nine points from three games in Europe.

In constrast Werder Bremen had a disappointing Champions League evening. They drew 1:1 against Udinese. They’ll need to do more in the next matches if they want to get through to the next round.

Werder’s captain Frank Baumann said they have to win their next two matches and get at least a point against Barcelona.

In other matches played Tuesday evening (18.10.2005) Swiss newcomers Thun were beaten soundly 2:0 by Ajax Amsterdam. The Dutch side getting their first victory in group B.

But Arsenal achieved possibly the best result of the evening, with a fanstastic performance from Frenchman Thierry Henry, back after a six-week break due to injury. He scored both of Arsenal’s goals and was only supposed to play for 30 minutes maximum. The English team, struggling in their domestic league, now has three wins out of three – thanks to this confidence-building win in the Czech Republic against Sparta Prague.

Another English club, 1999 winners and Group D leaders Manchester United, did not do as well holding French side Lille to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. ManU’s Paul Scholes got his marching orders in the 63rd minute.

Second-placed Benfica traveled to Spain's Villarreal in group D's other game, sharing the points after a 1-1 draw.

And in Group C, Barcelona could only managed a scoreless draw against Greek side Panathinaikos.

Rapid Vienna lost to Bruges 1:0

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Previous Champions League reports

The eyes of all football Germany were on Schalke on Wednesday evening. The game got off to a furious start.
In the first minute, AC Milan move forward majestically and stylishly and Dutch midfield veteran Clarence Seedorf unleashed a tremendous shot from outside the penalty area...Schalke goalie Frank Rost was taken completely by surprise...1-0 to Milan...This the third quickest goal in the Champions League history.
Only two minute later, the stadium erupted. Schalke equalised through Sören Larrsen after the experienced Milan defence failed to clear a corner....1-1 the half-time score line
Milan sat back at the beginning of the second half and let Schalke do the attacking. But it was the Italian side who regained the lead when Andre Schevshenko scored. Schalke did not give up and took the game to Milan. The equaliser was deserved as substitute Hamit Altintrop
rifled the ball into the net. Minutes later Milan goalie Dida was at full stretch, pulling off a spectacular save from Sören Larrsen. German coach Ollie Bierhoff was in the stadium. The former Milan striker said the Italian giants would be well advised to start rejuvenating their legendary defense.

2-2 the final score...Schalke will be pleased with their display and with the point.

In the same group Fenerbahçe Istanbul beat Eindhoven by three goals to nil.

Real Madrid were also successful. They beat 2 Pireus by 2-1. Spanish striker Raul became the first player to score 50 goals in the Champions League, beating the record of the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano of the 1950`s Real Madrid side.

Dark horses Olympique Lyon won 1-0 in Norway against Trondheim.
Other Champions League matches finished Anderlecht 0 Betis Seville 1 whilst the Premiership giants Liverpool and Chelsea battled out a 0-0 draw at Anfield

There was a surprise in Portugal where Porto were beaten by 3-2 by new boys Artmedia Bratislava.
At the San Siro stadium in Milan Inter were playing behind closed doors because of the misconduct of their fans last season.
They beat Glasgow Rangers 1-0

On Tuesday, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich played their first-ever Champions League match at the new Allianz Arena and it was a successful debut, a 1-0 victory over Belgian side Bruges. Coach Felix Magath’s team had suffered their first Bundesliga defeat on the weekend after a 15-game winning streak and was looking for Roy Makaay to break a silence spell after scoring six goals in the first three Bundesliga matches.

But it didn’t happen, so defender turned goalscorer Martin Demichelis took over. Just like against Rapid Vienna, he was again the man on the spot in a chaotic sequence in the Bruges penalty box and from close distance hammered the ball into the top of the net. The goal was not without controversy because during the hectic scene, Bayern defender Valerien Isamel had inadvertently hit the ball with his hand.

For Bayern, it was the second 1-0 result against a less than strong opponent but three points are three points.

"We’re playing against other league champions from Europe and they play good soccer in Belgium too. There aren’t any beauty prizes in this tournament, just the results and we got the right one this evening,“ said team director Uli Hoeness.

Just like the goal, the game was not pretty for the home squad but the Bavarians sit atop Group A together with Juventus Turin, who handily beat Vienna, 3-0.

Bremen go away empty-handed again

The second German team to play on Tuesday evening was Werder Bremen who travelled to Athens to play Panathanaikos.

It was Bremen who came up with the short end of the stick in Athens, losing 2-1. The home side broke out in front with a poor call by the referee that led to a penalty kick in the sixth minute. Two minutes later, a Bremen mistake at midfield led to the second goal. Despite some heavy pressure on the Germans part, Miroslav Klose scored the only goal for Bremen in the 41st minute. A hard loss for Bremen in both matches and they now rest at the bottom of group C.

In the evening’s other matches: Barcelona 4, Udinese 1. Ajax 1, Arsenal 2. Thun 1, Sparta Prague 0. Manchester United 2, Benfica Lisbon 1 and Lille 0, Villareal 0.