February 21, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 19, 1423

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PARIS, Feb 20: Manchester United put five desperate days behind them on Wednesday as they moved to within a point of reaching the Champions League last eight after beating flu-ridden Juventus 2-1.

David Beckham recovered from being struck accidentally over the eye by a flying boot kicked by manager Alex Ferguson to create both their goals - Wes Brown’s first ever for the club and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 11th of the European campaign.

The Group D victory left United five points clear of Juventus and they need just a point in Turin next Tuesday to confirm their place in the quarter-finals.

It also left United still on course to become only the third club to win the trophy at their own ground, following in the footsteps of Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

However the spectre of Real Madrid winning their second successive European title grew larger when a second-half goal from Ronaldo wrapped up a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at home to Borussia Dortmund in Group C.

After taking just one point from their first two games, Real have their work cut out to catch runaway leaders AC Milan, however, as the Italians made it three wins from three with a 1-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow and hold a five-point lead over the Spanish giants.

Juventus did have some good news as in Group D’s other match. Deportivo La Coruna failed to win to go level on points with them as they became the latest scalp of surprise packages Basel, going down 1-0 in Switzerland.

United’s win over a Juventus side missing a host of players was a far from vintage performance.

However it left the irascible Ferguson smiling for about the first time since before Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal.

“That’s great because it takes some of the pressure off us,” he said.

“However I think we deserved the win tonight in what was a real top quality game, you’ll have to go far to see a better one in Europe.

“While I know they were missing three players they still showed what a quality side they are, but at the same time I think we showed also that we have great quality in our one as well,” he beamed.

Despite an injury-time goal from Juventus’s lively Pavel Nedved, Ferguson was keener to focus on the well worked second goal which allowed van Nistelrooy to equal his Champions League record of scoring in six successive matches.

“We had a real sweat for about 30 seconds,” joked Ferguson.

“It was a great ball from David Beckham and a fantastic touch by Ruud.”

However later Ferguson could not be pushed to single out Beckham for praise.

“I don’t think we had an outstanding player. The players all worked well in the framework of the team.

He did however rubbish suggestiions he might have been thinking of dropping Beckham, who has been seen in some quarters as having fuelled the media frenzy surrounding the cut he incurred above his left eye.

“There was never any doubt that he would not be picked,” said Ferguson.

“If you really think that you misunderstand the mentality here. My best team picks itself.”

Dortmund opened with a bang with a goal from Jan Koller but it was cancelled out by Raul two minutes before half-time and Brazilian superstar Ronaldo gave Real the crucial lead 10 minutes into the second half.

Real coach Vicente Del Bosque said that the victory could have been bigger but he wasn’t counting on going to Germany next week and taking another three points.

“We took the three points with a big effort and I think we could have won with a bigger margin,” said Del Bosque.

“There are three matches left to play, and it’s going to be hard.

“If you want to win the Champions League, you have to get through two difficult group phases... and this year you can see how difficult it is.”

Deportivo La Coruna slumped to the bottom of their group after Basel resumed their giant-killing exploits.

The Spaniards never recovered after the first-half goal by Swiss international Hakan Yakin, and appeared to be stifled by a combination of a commanding performance by the Basel midfielder and the freezing Swiss weather.

AC Milan moved a step closer to the last eight with their victory over Lokomotiv Moscow, who showed clear signs of not having played since December and look set to surrender the three points next week which will seal the Italians place in the last eight.

Danish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson scored the decisive goal for the Italians in the 62nd minute, slotting home the rebound after Filippo Inzaghi’s shot was parried by Lokomotiv goalkeeper Sergey Ovchinnikov.

The match was most notable for captain Paolo Maldini making his 117th European appearance, equalling the record held by former Inter Milan defender Giuseppe Bergomi.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was glad to shrug off the Russians who defended deep and played with a lone striker.

“We have struggled against teams that have come here to defend, so I was relieved when the goal went in,” he said.

Collated results:

Group C

In Madrid

Real Madrid 2 Borussia Dortmund 1

In Milan

AC Milan 1 Lokomotiv Moscow 0

Group D

In Manchester

Manchester United 2 Juventus 1

In Basel

Basel 1 Deportivo La Coruna 0.

—AFP