Disappointing day for British clubs

The Londoners8217; defeat was manna from heaven for group H rivals and five-time European champions AC Milan, who held on by the skin of their teeth to beat the battling Turks of Galatasaray 2-1 in Italy and join Berlin at the head of the group on four points from two outings.

Leonardo and Andrii Shevchenko were on target for Milan at the San siro Stadium.

Chelsea8217;s loss showed just how far they have to go to breach the gap between the likes of themselves and seven-times continental kings Real Madrid, who hammered Norway8217;s Molde 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with goals from Fernando Morientes, a brace from Brazilian ace Savio 8212; including onefrom the spot 8212; and another from Guti.

Andrei Schei Lindbaek hit Molde8217;s sole reply.

Porto head Real8217;s group E, however, after ousting Greek outfit Olympiakos 2-0 in Portugal, having already won at Molde.

Porto, the 1987 European Cup winners, coasted home after taking the lead in the seventh minute through Esquerdinho8217;s brilliantly-flighted free kick from some 35 metres out. Brazilian wizard Jardel bagged the second two minutes after the restart.

In other action, Rangers made it a miserable night for British football after they surrendered two home points against a typically dour Bayern Munich.

A deflected free-kick by Michael Tarnat in the 90th minute salvaged a 1-1 draw for the Germans, last season8217;s runners-up, in their group F clash at Ibrox.

Tarnat8217;s strike deflected off one of his own players and careered past French goalkeeper Lionel Charbonnier just as Rangers looked to have secured a memorable victory.

Dick Advocaat8217;s side had taken the lead in the 22nd-minute when a typically fierceshot by German Jorg Albertz beat Bayern8217;s fourth-choice keeper Stefan Wessels.

The draw leaves Bayern with four points from their first two games after last week8217;s 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven. Rangers have just one point having lost 2-0 to Valencia in their opening match.

In the other game in the same group, Valencia scored a useful 1-1 draw at PSV Eindhoven.

Claudio Lopez scored a spectacular volleyed opener for the Spaniards but Ruud Van Nistelrooy levelled with a second-half penalty.

Bordeaux shrugged off poor league form to see off Dutch outfit Willem II in France and join Spartak Moscow at the head of group G with four points from two matches.

The French went 2-0 ahead through a Raymond Victoria own goal and a close-range effort from Lilian Laslandes before Willem II stunned the Parc Lescure crowd when Yassine Abdellaoui took advantage of slack marking to pull a goal back with a close-range header five minutes before the break.

The second half saw Willem II step up the pace and Ousmane Sanoushowed a sharp turn of pace to smack home the equaliser midway through the half before young substitute Pascal Feindouno snatched a dramatic winner with a cheeky chip from the edge of the box.

Feindouno, an 18-year-old from Guinea with barely half a dozen matches under his belt, already specialises in spectacular late entries, having scored the goal which won the league title at Paris Saint Germain last May.

Spartak Moscow were unable to show the form which brought a 3-1 win at Willem II last week as they settled for a 1-1 draw at home with Sparta Prague, giving the Czechs a second draw.

Despite UEFA8217;s efforts to make the Champions League their showcase at the expense of the UEFA Cup, several matches saw disappointing crowds with the stadiums in Milan, Moscow and Bordeaux less than two-thirds full.

SWITZERLAND: The UEFA reiterated its opposition to staging the 2002 World Cup a month earlier than planned in May. Host nations Japan and South Korea want to bring the date forward from June in orderto avoid the monsoon season.

UEFA secretary general Gerhard Aigner said after executive board meetings in Geneva that the current June 1-30, 2002, date for the event was already bad enough for the Europeans.

8220;We are not too happy with this schedule. The teams have toarrive at least five days before the kickoff and they must also have a fortnight to prepare. But the European leagues don8217;t end their season until mid-May,8221; Aigner said.

Fifa is scheduled to give its final World Cup date on October 1 or 2 in Las Vegas.