Real Madrid first into Champions League second phase

Real Madrid became the first team to qualify for the second phase of the Champions League on Tuesday when they beat Anderlecht 2-0 in Brussels to secure their fourth successive victory in group A.

Raul and Steve McManaman scored before halftime to give Real all three points and a place in the last 16 after outclassing the Belgian champions.

AS Roma, playing in the same group, took a big step towards joining them in the next phase with a 1-0 away win over Lokomotiv Moscow.

Real have 12 points from their four matches, Roma seven, Anderlecht (2) and Lokomotiv Moscow (1), though despite the paltry totals of the bottom two, neither is yet technically eliminated.

There was plenty to cheer for the two English clubs in action with Liverpool winning 2-1 at Dynamo Kiev to go top of group B, and Arsenal winning 2-1 at home over Panathinaikos to keep their hopes alive in group C.

Liverpool, whose French manager Gerard Houllier is in hospital after heart surgery, gave him a boost by going top of their section by a point as Borussia Dortmund came from behind to beat previous leaders Boavista of Portugal 2-1.

Goals from Danny Murphy and Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool all three points and they head the group with eight points, followed by Boavista (7), Dortmund (5) and Kiev (1).

HENRY AT THE DOUBLE

Two Thierry Henry goals gave Arsenal their 2-1 win over Panathinaikos at Highbury who missed a first half penalty when Aggelos Basinas saw his spotkick saved by Richard Wright, making his home debut.

Emmanuel Olisadebe scored for the Greek side after 50 minutes to cancel out Henry's 23rd minute strike, but the Frenchman put Arsenal back in front from the penalty spot two minutes after Panathinaikos's equaliser.

Schalke, without a point after three defeats before Tuesday, turned the formbook upside down with a 4-0 win at Real Mallorca.

The Spanish side ended the match with 10 men after Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o was sent off for using abusive language after 26 minutes when Dutch referee Jan Wegereef turned down his appeal for a penalty.

Marco van Hoogdalem (14), Tomasz Hajto (21pen), Gearld Asamoah (78) and Ebbe Sand (84) scored for Schalke who still have a slim chance of qualifying.

Panathinaikos, who would have reached the second phase with a win at Highbury, lead the group with nine points, followed by Mallorca (6), Arsenal (6) and Schalke (3).

Galatasaray moved to the top of group D despite failing to score or beat Nantes. But their 0-0 draw against the French champions in Istanbul lifted them to seven points, the same as Nantes, but the Turkish team are top by virtue of their 1-0 win over Nantes two weeks ago.

Lazio, who lost their three opening matches, mirrored Schalke's performance by winning their fourth match away from home to keep alive their hopes of qualifying.

Lazio beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 at home with goals from Stefano Fiore (39) and Claudio Lopez (55pen). Mateja Kezman pulled one back for PSV a minute later.

Champions League matches in groups E to H take place on Wednesday.