Aaron Ramsey (left) and Emmanuel Eboue of Arsenal celebrate after Ramsey's goal against Fenerbahce during their Group G Champions League soccer match at Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday. Arsenal won 5-2. - AP

LONDON (AP):

Defending champion Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich took big strides towards the next round of the Champions League with easy victories yesterday, and Juventus beat Real Madrid 2-1 on a night of high scoring across Europe.

Dimitar Berbatov scored twice and Wayne Rooney took his total to nine goals in seven games as United outplayed Scottish champion Celtic 3-0. Arsenal won at Fenerbahce 5-2 and Bayern shrugged off its poor Bundesliga form with a 3-0 victory over Fiorentina.

United lead Group E on goal difference with seven points, ahead of Villarreal, which beat Aalborg 6-3 by getting a second-half hat-trick from Joseba Llorente on a night when 36 goals were scored in the eight matches.

Both teams are six points clear of Celtic and Aalborg, with only two clubs advancing from each group.

Marvellous performance

"We got a break for a change (with the refereeing)," United manager Alex Ferguson said in a reference to Berbatov's goals possibly being offside. "It was a marvellous performance by Berbatov again. He brought composure to the final third of the field again."

Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead in the first 11 minutes and although Gunners defender Mikael Silvestre deflected a 19th-minute shot into his own net, Abou Diaby and Alexandre Song put the visitors up 4-1 by the 48th minute.

Daniel Guiza made it 4-2 but 17-year-old Wales international Aaron Ramsay added a fifth for Arsenal in the final minute.

"I think it was a good game because Fenerbahce were dangerous as well," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who fielded a team with an average age of 22. "Overall, I believe our mobility, our technique, our pace was superior and that made a big difference tonight."

Arsenal lead Group G, two points ahead of Dynamo Kiev, which won at FC Porto 1-0 and replaced the Portuguese team in second place. After two defeats in a row and its first home loss in the competition since 2005, Porto are four points behind Arsenal and Fenerbahce six behind.

Goals by Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the first 25 minutes put Bayern on the way to a victory over Fiorentina and the Germany champions, currently 11th in the 18-club Bundesliga standings, are two points clear of Lyon, which won at Steaua Bucharest 5-3.

"It was an important game for us because it is the start of the next few weeks of playing two games a week," Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann said. "I was really satisfied that we kept up the tempo for a full 90 minutes. And we need that in the coming weeks."