Claudio Ranieri's job will be a bit more secure this morning after Juventus held out to beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Stadio delle Alpi last night.

After a minute's silence for two Juve fans who died in a coach crash on the way to the match, Alessandro Del Piero lightened the mood five minutes in with a superb 25-yard drive (photo) that flew past Casillas for 1-0.

Amauri added a second soon after half-time with a back post header that rebounded off Gabriel Heinze after a superb cross in from the left wing by Czech international Pavel Nedved.

Ruud van Nistelrooy pulled one back midway through the half with a powerful downward header that bounced into the roof of the net after Heinze's chipped cross, but the Italians held out for a valuable win that leaves them a point clear at the top of Group H.

In Group E, there were wins last night for both Man Utd and Villarreal, who jointly top the table this morning with seven points apiece.

Villarreal came from behind to beat Aalborg 6-3 in a highly entertaining game that featured a hat-trick for second-half substitute, Joseba Llorente, as well as a magnificent goal by Spain left-back, Joan Capdevila, who unleashed a wickedly curling, right-foot drive that flew into the top right corner from around 20 yards out.

Tuesday, 21st October
Villarreal 6-3 AaB
Man Utd 3-0 Celtic

Zenit St Petersburg 1-1 BATE Borisov
Juventus 2-1 Real Madrid

Group E, points after 3 games
1 Man Utd  7
2 Villarreal  7
3 Celtic  1
4 Aalborg BK  1

Group H, points after 3 games
1 Juventus  7
2 Real Madrid  6
3 BATE Borisov  2
4 Zenit St. Petersburg  1

Wednesday, 22nd October
Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool
PSV vs Marseille

Basle vs Barcelona
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Sporting