bordeaux win group with juve scalp published: thursday 26 november 2009, 0.42cet
fc girondins de bordeaux 2-0 juventus
headers from fernando and marouane chamakh ensured the ligue 1 titleholders secured top spot in their group with a game to spare.
by matthew spiro from stade chaban-delmas
second-half headers from fernando and marouane chamakh secured fc girondins de bordeaux's fourth consecutive uefa champions league victory and ensured the french titleholders progressed to the last 16 as group a winners.
no pressure the ligue 1 outfit, unbeaten in the section, put their domestic toils behind them to seal a deserved success against an off-colour juventus side who must now avoid defeat at home to fc bayern münchen to book their place in the knockout stages. as has so often been the case this campaign, les marine et blanc did the damage from a set-piece, fernando sending a deft header from jaroslav plašil's cross beyond gianluigi buffon after 54 minutes. chamakh confirmed victory in added time, and while the serie a team will sweat it out on 8 december, bordeaux have the luxury of travelling to maccabi haifa fc with the pressure off.
plašil efforts plašil was the only player to have found a way through the bianconeri's defence in their first four group matches, the czech international's strike having earned a point for the french club in september, and the 27-year-old was soon posing problems again. in the third minute, buffon's fingertips diverted plašil's goal-bound free-kick from the left flank, and moments later the blond midfielder volleyed benoît trémoulinas's cross wide.
buffon save the section pacesetters may have lost four of their last six league games yet they showed no signs of frailty here, dominating for long spells. although giorgio chiellini nodded a free-kick over the crossbar and diego had his low shot saved by cédric carrasso on the half-hour, ciro ferrara's charges were largely on the back foot. they were indebted to buffon seven minutes before the break, the italian international standing tall and expertly denying chamakh, who had been played through by matthieu chalmé's canny pass.
headed goal les girondins finished the opening period strongly, yoan gouffran jinking in from the right only to rifle a low strike straight at buffon. laurent blanc stressed the importance of winning the pool before kick-off and his players had clearly been listening as they continued to play with urgency in the second half. chamakh drew a series of fouls through his powerful running, and from one of the resulting free-kicks fernando struck, glancing plašil's lofted cross over a stranded buffon.
late strike the visitors instantly sparked to life, diego hitting a rasping drive from the edge of the box that carrasso did well to beat away. the former werder bremen playmaker was then guilty of a bad miss on 64 minutes, failing to get a clean contact on alessandro del piero's centre and merely taking the ball away from amauri, who had looked certain to score. ferrara sent ciro immobile and sebastian giovinco on for the closing phase, yet bordeaux showed impressive composure and added a second when the unmarked chamakh headed in wendel's corner.
