體壇英語資訊：Hotspur stuns Inter, while Barca stall at Copenhagen

Tottenham Hotspur stunned European champions Inter Milan 3-1 at home to go top of Group A on Tuesday, while Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at FC Copenhagen.

Rafael Van der Vaart opened the scoring for the home side in the 18th minute. Winger Gareth Bale was once again the star of the show as he provided the assist for Peter Crouch to extend Tottenham's lead and then again for Roman Pavlyuchenko to seal the victory after Inter had struck back through Samuel Eto'o.

Inter coach Rafael Benitez reckoned that Tottenham's superior physical strength was the difference between the two sides.

Tottenham Hotspur's Rafael van der Vaart scores a goal against Inter Milan during their Champions League soccer match at White Hart Lane in London November 2, 2010.

"They were physically stronger and faster than us," he said."This was the difference every time we lost the ball.

"We also had to play better one-on-one football, marking our opponents, but we were not able to do that and this is what determined the loss."

Manchester United scored three second-half goals against Turkish champions Bursaspor to cruise to a 3-0 win and move to within a point of a place in the knockout phase.

Darren Fletcher broke the deadlock in the Group C clash two minutes after the break before Gabriel Obertan grabbed his first goal for the club and Bebe struck in a four-minute spell later in the game.

Group D leaders Barcelona will have to wait to book their spot in the next round after being held to a 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen at the Parken Stadion.

Barca knew a victory in Denmark would guarantee themselves a place in the knock-out stages and the two-time reigning Spanish champions looked on course to achieve that after taking a 31st-minute lead through Lionel Messi.

However, second-placed FC Copenhagen went down the other end and drew level almost immediately through Claudemir to earn a share of the points - although they survived a big let-off in the final minute when Barca substitute Pedro Rodriguez hit the post.

Lyon scored three late goals but missed their chance to reach the last 16 with games to spare as Benfica boosted their own hopes of progressing from Group B with a thrilling 4-3 win.

The hosts began the night six points adrift of Lyon, but swept aside their French visitors in the early going with first-half goals from Alan Kardec, Fabio Coentrao and Javi Garcia.

Coentrao's second made it 4-0 midway through the second half before Lyon began their fightback. Jorge Carlos Martins provided the assist for all four Benfica goals.

Yoann Gourcuff got the first before Bafetimbi Gomis struck five minutes from time. Dejan Lovren headed home in the fifth minute of injury time, but the points went to Benfica.

FC Twente kept alive their faint Champions League hopes with a crucial 2-0 win away to ten-man Werder Bremen.

The game was a succession of half-chances until the 74th-minute dismissal of Torsten Frings swung the balance in the Dutch side's favour. Twente seized their chance, Nacer Chadli quickly finding the breakthrough before Luuk de Jong confirmed the win just moments later.

Rangers suffered their first defeat in the Champions League this season as Roberto Soldado grabbed a double to hand Valencia a 3-0 victory at the Mestalla.

He netted on both sides of the interval, before Tino Costa sealed the win late on, as the Spaniards leapfrogged Rangers into second place in Group C. Steven Naismith hit the woodwork twice on a frustrating night for Walter Smith's men.

Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos saw their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knock-out stage recede further with a goalless draw in Russia.

The hosts were the only side to carve out any chances of note, with Alexander Ryazantsev's fierce header which goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas did well to turn away the closest they came to breaking the deadlock.

Hapoel Tel Aviv recorded their first ever point in the Champions League with a 0-0 draw against Schalke - but Bloomfield was rarely lit up on a lacklustre European night.

Tottenham Hotspur stunned European champions Inter Milan 3-1 at home to go top of Group A on Tuesday, while Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at FC Copenhagen.

Rafael Van der Vaart opened the scoring for the home side in the 18th minute. Winger Gareth Bale was once again the star of the show as he provided the assist for Peter Crouch to extend Tottenham's lead and then again for Roman Pavlyuchenko to seal the victory after Inter had struck back through Samuel Eto'o.

Inter coach Rafael Benitez reckoned that Tottenham's superior physical strength was the difference between the two sides.

Tottenham Hotspur's Rafael van der Vaart scores a goal against Inter Milan during their Champions League soccer match at White Hart Lane in London November 2, 2010.

"They were physically stronger and faster than us," he said."This was the difference every time we lost the ball.

"We also had to play better one-on-one football, marking our opponents, but we were not able to do that and this is what determined the loss."

Manchester United scored three second-half goals against Turkish champions Bursaspor to cruise to a 3-0 win and move to within a point of a place in the knockout phase.

Darren Fletcher broke the deadlock in the Group C clash two minutes after the break before Gabriel Obertan grabbed his first goal for the club and Bebe struck in a four-minute spell later in the game.

Group D leaders Barcelona will have to wait to book their spot in the next round after being held to a 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen at the Parken Stadion.

Barca knew a victory in Denmark would guarantee themselves a place in the knock-out stages and the two-time reigning Spanish champions looked on course to achieve that after taking a 31st-minute lead through Lionel Messi.

However, second-placed FC Copenhagen went down the other end and drew level almost immediately through Claudemir to earn a share of the points - although they survived a big let-off in the final minute when Barca substitute Pedro Rodriguez hit the post.

Lyon scored three late goals but missed their chance to reach the last 16 with games to spare as Benfica boosted their own hopes of progressing from Group B with a thrilling 4-3 win.

The hosts began the night six points adrift of Lyon, but swept aside their French visitors in the early going with first-half goals from Alan Kardec, Fabio Coentrao and Javi Garcia.

Coentrao's second made it 4-0 midway through the second half before Lyon began their fightback. Jorge Carlos Martins provided the assist for all four Benfica goals.

Yoann Gourcuff got the first before Bafetimbi Gomis struck five minutes from time. Dejan Lovren headed home in the fifth minute of injury time, but the points went to Benfica.

FC Twente kept alive their faint Champions League hopes with a crucial 2-0 win away to ten-man Werder Bremen.

The game was a succession of half-chances until the 74th-minute dismissal of Torsten Frings swung the balance in the Dutch side's favour. Twente seized their chance, Nacer Chadli quickly finding the breakthrough before Luuk de Jong confirmed the win just moments later.

Rangers suffered their first defeat in the Champions League this season as Roberto Soldado grabbed a double to hand Valencia a 3-0 victory at the Mestalla.

He netted on both sides of the interval, before Tino Costa sealed the win late on, as the Spaniards leapfrogged Rangers into second place in Group C. Steven Naismith hit the woodwork twice on a frustrating night for Walter Smith's men.

Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos saw their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knock-out stage recede further with a goalless draw in Russia.

The hosts were the only side to carve out any chances of note, with Alexander Ryazantsev's fierce header which goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas did well to turn away the closest they came to breaking the deadlock.

Hapoel Tel Aviv recorded their first ever point in the Champions League with a 0-0 draw against Schalke - but Bloomfield was rarely lit up on a lacklustre European night.