AC Milan, Werder Bremen draw 1-1

Competition-rusty champions Zenit St Petersburg braved minus 10 Degrees Celsius to beat VfB Stuttgart, St Etienne relived the glory days and AC Milan and Aston Villa drew as 2009 Uefa Cup action kicked off on Wednesday.

Petersburg, fixtureless since December 10, showed no little match fitness in beating their German opponents 2-1 at home in this last 32 match. Szabolcs Huszti scored for St Petersburg after just two minutes and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, who moves to Bayern Munich next season, hit the winner at the end of the first half, sandwiching Mario Gomez’s 15th minute equaliser.

Filippo Inzaghi’s record-equalling 66th goal in Europe, joining Real Madrid’s Raul, looked set to earn AC Milan victory at Werder Bremen. But Diego’s powerful shot past Brazilian ‘keeper Dida near the end meant it ended 1-1.

Many of the 36,000-strong crowd had come to see AC Milan’s David Beckham. But the former England captain spent the majority of the game on the bench, coming on right at the end for Ronaldinho.

Aston Villa will be hoping it is less cold in Moscow than it was in St Petersburg on Wednesday for the return leg against CSKA Moscow following their 1-1 draw at Villa Park. Martin O’Neill’s men welcomed back England midfielder Gareth Barry, suspended for last weekend’s FA Cup defeat to Everton.

On this showing however, the Premier League club have some way to go before they are ready to cut it with the best in Europe which would help in keeping the likes of Barry at the club. –AFP