Top spots for United, Juve, Bayern and Porto

Manchester United equalled a Champions League record of 19 games without defeat and secured top spot in Group E following a 2-2 draw with Danish underdogs AaB Aalborg last night.

Holders United will go into the pot for the last 16 draw as one of the top-placed teams in the group along with Bayern Munich, Juventus and Porto who also finished on top of their sections yesterday.

Despite the draw, United ensured they would finish as group winners after their nearest rivals, Villarreal, were beaten by already-eliminated Celtic in the other Group E encounter.

United, fielding a weakened team, took an early lead through Carlos Tevez but their unbeaten run in the competition was under threat at half-time after Aalborg scored through Michael Jakobsen and Jeppe Curth.

Aalborg's hopes of winning their first away game in the competition were dashed soon after the restart, however, thanks to Wayne Rooney's 51st-minute equaliser.

First-half goals from Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady handed Celtic their first win in nine Champions League matches when they beat 10-man Villarreal 2-0.

Celtic's win was in vain as Villarreal had already qualified for the first knockout round while Celtic had been eliminated before this match.

Maloney headed Celtic in front after just 14 minutes, while McGeady cracked home a superb second in first-half stoppage time following a surging run from the halfway line.

The Spanish side were reduced to 10 men after 35 minutes when Mexican forward Guille Franco was shown a straight red card for aiming a blow at Celtic's Gary Caldwell in an off-the-ball incident.

Celtic finished their campaign bottom of the group with five points.

Sebastian Giovinco missed a penalty but Juventus still secured top spot in Group H with a dull 0-0 home draw against BATE Borisov.

Juventus finished on 12 points along with Real Madrid but top the group because they beat the Spanish champions home and away.

Juve were already assured of qualification for February's last 16 and took few risks while Belarus side BATE, knowing they would finish bottom of the group whatever the result, rarely threatened.

Giovinco blasted over a 52nd-minute penalty after Mikhail Sivakov was penalised for handball under pressure from Olof Mellberg, who was lucky not to give away a spot-kick at the other end. Marco Marchionni headed Amauri's cross against the post five minutes into the second half.

"We tried not to concede. It is important no one was injured," Juve coach Claudio Ranieri said.

"Whoever we get in the last 16 will be difficult."

Juande Ramos made a winning start as Real Madrid coach with a 3-0 victory over Zenit St Petersburg.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Sevilla boss, who replaced Bernd Schuster on Tuesday, saw his side take the lead through Raul midway through the first half following an error from visiting goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev.

Arjen Robben doubled the advantage just after the re-start and set up Raul for his second soon after.

Although Zenit twice hit the woodwork late on, they rarely threatened the home goal.

After a poor run of form, a victory with a clean sheet will give Real a much needed lift ahead of Saturday's trip to face arch-rivals Barcelona in the Primera Liga.

Porto beat an under-strength Arsenal side 2-0 to leapfrog the Londoners at the top of the standings in Group G.

With the two teams already guaranteed a place in the first knockout round, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger rested several first choice players, fielding young reserves instead.

The home side opened the scoring when defender Bruno Alves headed home a Raul Meireles corner after 39 minutes and doubled their lead thanks to a fine finish from Argentina striker Lisandro Lopez on 54 minutes.

The victory gained some revenge for the Portuguese champions' 4-0 defeat at Arsenal in September.

Two goals by Miroslav Klose helped Bayern Munich to a 3-2 win at Olympique Lyon that gave the Germans top spot in Group F.

Bayern struck three times before the break but Lyon made a spirited comeback in the second half of a lively game played on a soggy pitch.

The visitors, who also struck through Frenchman Franck Ribery, finished the group three points ahead of Lyon.

Lyon paid the price for clumsy defending but woke up after the break with goals by Sidney Govou and Karim Benzema.

From the same group, a second-half goal from Alberto Gilardino secured Fiorentina a 1-0 win over Steaua Bucharest and a place in the UEFA Cup.

Fiorentina finished third in Group F on six points while bottom of the table Steaua extended their miserable record to 17 Champions League games without a win.

Steaua's Polish defender Pawel Golanski was sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 72nd minute.

Group winners: Roma, Barcelona, Liverpool, Panathinaikos, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Juventus, Porto.

Second placed: Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Inter, Lyon, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Villarreal.