Juventus player (R) rivals with Real Madrid players today. Juventus beat Real Madrid 2-1.- Xinhua/Reuters

Defending champion Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich took big strides toward 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 leads 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.

"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 marvelous 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.