Juve break the shackles

Del Piero, who has scored 41 goals in the Champions League, took a pass from Amauri in the fifth and beat Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a hard shot from outside the area. Early in the second half, Amauri8217;s header from close range bounced off Madrid8217;s Gabriel Heinze and past Casillas. Ruud van Nistelrooy got one back in the 66th.

8220;Tonight we were a little bit lucky, but we played well and didn8217;t give them the space to play like they are used to,8221; Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said.

Juventus have seven points in Group H, one more than Madrid. BATE Borisov, with two points, drew 1-1 with Zenit St. Petersburg, who have one.

8220;We want to finish first in the group, so we will have to beat Juventus in Madrid,8221; Madrid coach Bernd Schuster said.

Madrid were rarely dangerous until falling behind by two, and the Spanish champions were unable to capitalise on the absence of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who is out for two months with a muscle injury.

English clubs march on

Meanwhile, defending champions Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich also took big strides toward the next round with easy victories.

Dimitar Berbatov scored twice and Wayne Rooney took his total to nine goals in seven games as United outplayed Scottish champions Celtic 3-0. Arsenal won at Fenerbahce 5-2 and Bayern shrugged off their poor Bundesliga form with a 3-0 victory over Fiorentina.

United lead Group E on goal difference with seven points, ahead of Villarreal, who beat Aalborg 6-3 with a second-half hat-trick from Joseba Llorente on a night when 36 goals were scored in the eight matches. Both teams are six points clear of Celtic and Aalborg.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead in the first 11 minutes and, although Gunners defender Mikael Silvestre deflected a 19th-minute shot into his own net, Abou Diaby and Alexandre Song put the visitors up 4-1 by the 48th minute. Daniel Guiza made it 4-2 but 17-year-old Wales international Aaron Ramsay added a fifth in the final minute. Arsenal lead Group G, two points ahead of Dynamo Kiev, who won at FC Porto 1-0. Porto are four points behind Arsenal and Fenerbahce six behind.