Champions League lessons: Owen finished at Manchester United, Pav's the man for Spurs

It was a clean sweep for teams from England and Scotland in the UEFA Champions League this week as our sides notched five wins from five to give themselves a decent chance of making it into the knockout stages.

After wins for Chelsea and Arsenal on Tuesday, Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers all took maximum points.

Elsewhere holders Inter Milan hit their stride with a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen, but Barcelona were made to struggle once again by Rubin Kazan.

Here Mark Segal looks at what he's learnt from the past two nights of action:

Michael Owen is now Manchester United's fifth-choice striker

After 85 pretty drab minutes at the Mestalla, Sir Alex Ferguson took one last shot at glory by hauling off the largely ineffective Dimitar Berbatov.

As he looked along the line of players who could replace the uninterested Bulgarian his eyes must have fallen on Michael Owen - England goalscoring great, ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid and the man who had earned the Reds a point at Bolton on Sunday.

Taking all this into account, Fergie bunged on Federico Macheda to partner fellow sub Javier Hernandez and the youngsters combined to hand United a vital three points.

However much praise Owen now gets from the Old Trafford chief, it's clear his days as a front-line striker in the biggest of matches are over.

Pavlyuchenko should be the first name on the team sheet at Spurs

Harry Redknapp was taking all the credit on Wednesday night after his decision to start with both Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch played a big part in the slightly fortunate 4-1 victory over FC Twente.

Certainly the Dutch side were troubled by the "two big men" approach, but the selection also served to highlight the difference in quality between the two players.

Crouch is certainly a "trier" and gives his all for the team, but is limited. Pavlyuchenko on the other hand is the more creative of the two and can score goals from anywhere. His attitude has been questioned, but it should not be beyond the realms of possibility for a head coach of Redknapp's standing to get the best out of him.

Careful on the Benitez baiting

There was a certain amount of glee in the pages of the press on Monday when reporting on Inter Milan's defeat at Roma - clearly there are still scores to be settled with Rafa Benitez.

It' still difficult to see how the former Liverpool manager can leave the San Siro with his reputation enhanced after taking over from treble-winning Jose Mourinho, but at the moment he's not doing too badly.

An after Wednesday's 4-0 demolition of Werder Bremen, the signs are that Inter are carrying on where they left off under the Special One - which is really all Benitez can hope for.

Beware the Russians - at least for now

After they took four points off the Catalans last season, Barcelona were again stifled by Rubin Kazan and needed a second-half David Villa penalty to earn a point in deepest Russia.

Meanwhile in Group F, Spartak Moscow followed up their opening night win over Marseille with a more comfortable 3-0 romp against Zilina. A double-header with Chelsea beckons, but the side from the Russian capital can be confident of progress.

However, history shows that the Russian teams which take to the field in the knockout stages are pale imitations of the ones that qualified so well.

The Russian season ends late in the year, so when European competition comes around again the sides from the East are at a disadvantage - at least until the season calendar changes in a couple of years time.

Book your sofa now for Real Madrid v AC Milan

It was the stand out grouping when the draw was made and everything that's happened so far points to two titanic struggles when the multiple European champions go head-to-head in the coming weeks.

Real are still finding their way under Mourinho and after the weekend draw with Levante were again far from at their best in Auxerre.

Milan, with their cast of ageing superstars, have only won twice in five games in Serie A this season and were held at the Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday.

So clearly two sides not firing on full cylinders, but two of the biggest names in European football with players capable of sheer brilliance. It should, hopefully, be brilliant.

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