BARTHEZ HAS DEBUT TO FORGET

Luis Figo made his debut for Real Madrid in their earlier 3-2 win over Galatasaray but it was the long expected debut of the irrepressible Frenchman that the Manchester United fans wanted to see.

However, it was Bayern who made all the running in the game, undoubtably looking for revenge for the two goals in injury time that secured United their Champions League success two seasons ago.

Jens Jeremies was first to test Barthez but the ball flew wide and United came back with Andy Cole making a shock start, continuing where he left off with his partnership with Dwight Yorke.

Cole was tackled by Oliver Kahn in the Bayern goal after being played in and Yorke's delicate chip went just over the bar.

In the 13th minute Bayern should have taken the lead, Santa Cruz got clear straight through the heart of the United defence and hurdled a stranded Barthez, still 12 yards out, however amazingly his first touch was so dreadful with an empty goal to aim at that despite a desperate attempt to slide the ball in, it went out of play.

Barthez was looking the part and he fisted away an Alexander Zickler shot that seemed destined for the back of the net, United went up the other end and from David Beckham's cross, Yorke was left free only four yards out but his overhead-kick bounced straight into the ground and up into Kahn's arms.

Both sides missed headers as the first half drew to a close, only for the Germans to be awarded an extremely dubious penalty, when Mikael Silvestre was adjudged to have pushed Santa Cruz in the box, although it was an extremely poor dive by the Paraguayan that won it.

Mehmet Scholl strolled up to smash the spot kick into the roof of the net.  The first half ended with Bayern holding a one goal advantage but early in the second half United could have been level.

First Beckham uncharacteristically snatched at a free-kick and only succeeded in guiding it into the hands of Kahn, then a minute later he missed a penalty after Kahn scythed down Quinton Fortune in the area.

Kahn picked himself up to save Beckham's penalty and Roy Keane fired the rebound over the bar.

Just after the hour the ever-dangerous Zickler finally got on the scoresheet when a Jeremies cross found him in the box, he rose to plant a header past a wrong-footed Barthez.

In the 70th minute it was almost a repeat performance, Jeremies with another cross from the left and Zickler beat Silvestre to place a diving header past Barthez.

Fortune got a consolation goal with five minutes remaining as he stretched to volley a great shot over Kahn and into the net.

Liverpool retained the Belfast challenge cup despite losing a two-goal advantage to Portuguese giants Benfica in a bruising affair that ended 2-2 and was highlighted by two superb goals.

Titi Camara fired the Merseysiders into an 11th minute lead as he rose high to meet a Vladimir Smicer cross from the right and power a header past Robert Enke.  The rest of the first half was a niggly affair and the Portuguese were guilty of several crude challenges which gave the game a real edge.

Fernando Meira in particularly was involved in several brutal clashes which resulted in him being substituted before the first half had ended.

The second period started brightly and it was Michael Owen who lit the game up with a stunning volley and an early contender for goal of the season. 

Markus Babbel's ran down the right before delivering a neat cross that Owen had set himself up for with an acrobatic flying volley that flew past a startled Enke and in off the post.

However this was the cue for Karel Poborsky to highlight where Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier must tighten up on, his defence.  The former Manchester United winger smashed in an overhead kick of his own from a Ricardo Rojas cross in the 64th minute that gave Benfica hope.

Then enthusiasm got the better of the Liverpool defence and a corner that was cleared was picked up by Poborsky who launched into his best George Weah impression, taking the ball over 60 yards before cutting in on himself and firing the ball home.

Barcelona and Lazio battled to a 3-3 draw in the Amsterdam tournament, which gave the Spanish side the lead in the competition courtesy of goals scored.

Despite dominating the first half hour of the match they were bizarrely two-down as the interval approach, Sinisa Mihajlovic showing his prowess at free-kicks with a fine effort to open the scoring and he helped set up the second which Marcelo Salas gratefully accepted.

However, after producing a string of fine saves, Angelo Peruzzi was eventually beaten in the 33rd minute as Dani fired in Boudewijn Zenden's cross from close-range.

Lazio restored their two goal cushion four minutes later when Salas got his second but the introduction of Rivaldo swung the game back in the favour of Barca.

It was his midfield partner Gerard who got Barca back in it with a 25 yard screamer in the 66th minute and although Lazio had chances to win it on the break, with Dejan Stankovic hitting the bar, it was Samba star Rivaldo who crashed in another long-distance effort to give the Catalans a share of the spoils.

Real Madrid beat Galatasaray to secure third place with the odd goal in a five-goal thriller.

Having been beaten 3-1 by Bayern Munich in their first game, the Turkish side cannot avoid the wooden spoon but it all looked likely to be different as Faruk Atalay opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a deflected free-kick.

But five minutes later Vedat Inceefe put through his own net to put Real back in with a shout but a defensive blunder in the 13th minute allowed Dos Santos Marcio to capitalise and give the Turkish side the lead.

Brazilian Savio equalised for Real five minutes into the second half when he converted a cross from Figo and the mercurial Raul sealed victory with 13 minutes to go when he finished clinically from just inside the box.

In the final game of the Amsterdam tournament, host side Ajax beat Arsenal 2-0 to give the trophy to Barcelona.

In a pretty dismal first half neither side really impressed although Shota Arveladze at least enlivened things with his skill and energy.

However, Thierry Henry missed a perfect chance to put The Gunners a goal up when he latched onto a poor defensive header but his attempted lob fell into the arms of Fred Grim in the Ajax goal.

Grim again thwarted Henry a minute later and the French striker must have known it was not going to be his night when only a great last ditch tackle stopped him from having another one-on-one chance.

Arveladze gave the home side their deserved lead in the 36th minute when he beat Gilles Grimandi and Tony Adams before firing a shot past Alex Manninger and into the net.

The second half was more of the same as Ajax continued to dominate and the game was sealed when substitute Brutil Hose got on the end of Jesper Gronkjaer's cross to tap in the second.

Arsenal will point to the fact that Denis Bergkamp had a strong claim for a penalty turned down but all in all Ajax ran out comfortable winners.