Roma and Riise in ruins but hope springs eternal

Shakhtar Donetsk's Luiz Adriano (L) shoots and scores past AS Roma's Philippe Mexes during their Champions League soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Rome February 16, 2011

Photo: Reuters

"Crisis" and "nightmare" were phrases bandied about by media on Thursday to describe AS Roma's 3-2 defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, with John Arne Riise's slip for the third goal seen as symptomatic.

The last-16 first leg loss at home came after three games without a win in Serie A while the likely sale of the indebted club to an American consortium has added to the uncertainty surrounding under-fire coach Claudio Ranieri's future.

Ranieri has vowed not to quit and Riise, whose mistake let in Luiz Adriano for the Ukrainians' third on their knockout stage debut, tried to take the blame as Serie A was left reeling again following AC Milan's loss to Tottenham on Tuesday.

"I feel bad, my error was incredible. The fans are angry with me and I say sorry to everyone, team mates included. I don't think we played badly," Norwegian left back Riise, substituted at the break following the mistake, told Sky.

"I was ready to come back on but Ranieri told me I was coming off, I think for the error. I hope the fans know that I always give everything."

Roma took the lead in the 28th minute through midfielder Simone Perrotta's header but Shakhtar equalized a minute later through Jadson's fortunate deflection before fellow Brazilian Douglas Costa netted on 36 minutes.

Following Riise's aberration, Jeremy Menez picked his spot in the top corner after the break to give Roma some hope for the second leg in Ukraine on March 8.

Ranieri was upbeat about the performance and with a 2-0 win in Donetsk being enough to send the Romans through, the doom-mongers are perhaps a little premature despite Roma's eighth place in the Italian league.

New owners will also add impetus, whatever Ranieri's future, and a club the size of Roma can do little more than aspire to reach the Champions League last eight having surprised every fan in Italy with their stunning revival last season.

Whether Riise will be present in Donetsk remains to be seen.

AS Roma's Francesco Totti (L), Paolo Castellini and Nicolas Burdisso (R) react at the end of their Champions League soccer match against Shakhtar Donetsk at the Olympic stadium in Rome February 16, 2011. Shakhtar Donetsk won 3-2

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Real win aristocratic duel, slick Arsenal cruise

Arsenal's Marouane Chamakh (L) scores a goal past Shakhtar Donetsk's goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov during their Champions League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London October 19, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the knockout blow for Real Madrid in their aristocratic battle with AC Milan on Tuesday, as Arsenal, Chelsea and Bayern Munich maintained their own perfect Champions League starts.

While Arsenal provided a breathtaking collective display in a 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk, nine-times European champions Real had the individual brilliance of the world's most expensive player to thank for their 2-0 win at the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo poked a free-kick straight through the wall and set up Mesut Ozil to score a heavily deflected second less than a minute later as Real saw off the seven-times winners with a devastating one-two combination.

Real and Milan make the record of Bayern Munich, the four-times winners, look relatively modest and there was a lot less style about their 3-2 home win over CFR Cluj in group E, which saw them come from behind to take the lead with two own-goals before Mario Gomez gave them breathing space.

Arsenal, who beat Braga 6-0 in their opening fixture in group H, rarely struggle for panache at their own stadium and they were altogether too much for Shakhtar in London.

Alex Song, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamakh picked off the goals, with former Arsenal player Eduardo da Silva getting a late consolation for the visitors and a heartwarming ovation for himself.

There was another goal-scoring return of a sort as Chelsea won 2-0 at Spartak Moscow in group F.

Yuri Zhirkov, who spent five seasons with Spartak's bitter Moscow rivals CSKA, set Chelsea on their way with his first goal for the club before Nicolas Anelka doubled the lead.

Beneath the perfect quartet, Ajax Amsterdam maintained their hopes in Real Madrid's group by winning 2-1 at home to Auxerre, a result that took them level with Milan on four points.

Goals from Brazilian strikers Lima and Matheus gave Braga their first points with a 2-0 win over Partizan Belgrade that leaves the Serbs bottom of group H.

Basel sprang a surprise in group E by winning 3-1 away to AS Roma after two defeats, while Olympique Marseille kept their group F hopes alive as they labored to a 1-0 home win against Slovakians Zilina.

Problem solved

The only question mark over Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid early in the season was a struggle to turn their dominance into goals but that problem is now well behind them.

The Spanish league leaders followed up a 4-1 win over Malaga at the weekend with another performance of energy and guile, capped by goals in the 13th and 14th minutes.

"We needed to impose a strong rhythm from the start, playing with the concentration this type of game deserves, and we were able to do that," Ronaldo told reporters.

While Real have scored five goals in their three wins in Europe, Arsenal have knocked in a whopping 14 and they were irresistible in taking Shakhtar apart on Tuesday.

"We were sharp and played technically at a good level," said manager Arsene Wenger, whose side have Manchester United's group stage record 20 goals in their sights. "I think our goals were down to them becoming fatigued from running after the ball."

Chelsea, who like Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are dreaming of a place in a "home" final in London's Wembley Stadium, were efficient rather than brilliant at the Luzhniki Stadium, scene of their painful defeat by Manchester United in the 2008 final.

"I don't think the players talked about the last defeat at this stadium,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference. "It was not an easy game for us. We scored two great goals."

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