Beckham rouses the galacticos

He never seems to have quiet ones but this has been a very big week for Beckham. After witnessing the delivery of his son, Cruz - the Spanish for cross - on Sunday he delivered his own stunning cross last night from which Ivan Helguera headed the only goal of the game. How long before the name of his third child appears on the boots with which he delivers his crosses?

Beckham is still desperate for acceptance in his new home but if he keeps producing performances like this he has no need to worry. The England captain was at his energetic best as he marauded all over the pitch, tackling, spraying passes around and displaying his usual accuracy with a dead ball.

Zinedine Zidane, too, enjoyed one of his better evenings, using the ball like a magician. The Frenchman's legs may be going the way of his thinning hair but his mind remains as agile as ever, and he created several openings that Ronaldo and Raul should have exploited. The finishing of his firstchoice strikers must be a concern for Luxemburgo as the home side deserved more than one goal, with Ronaldo and Raul firing over the bar after receiving inch-perfect crosses from Roberto Carlos. Once the king of this most royal of clubs Raul's crown is slipping, and the standing ovation Michael Owen received at his 76th- minute introduction is a sign of the times.

But if Owen is winning over the Real fans, he is becoming increasingly frustratedat having to spend much of his time on the substitutes' bench and his future at Real remains a subject for conjecture. Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has added fuel to the rumours by making the England striker his No1 target for the summer.

Souness may lose Alan Shearer at the end of the season, although he still hopes to persuade the 34-year-old to postpone his retirement. He sees Owen as the ideal replacement and admitted: "He comes into the category of players who would excite the fans at this club."

Earlier this month Owen issued a thinly-veiled threat to Real Madrid that he is ready to quit Spain in order to save his international career. Souness said: "I know Michael well. He is a great centre-forward and he is only 25. But I don't think we are the only ones monitoring the situation at Real." There is no guarantee that Real will go through at the expense of Juventus, who paid the price for their own cynicism after Helguera's opener.

Their cause was hardly helped by Pavel Nedved's enforced withdrawal with a head injury after 37 minutes but thereafter they showed little invention, collecting more bookings than attempts on goal.

Coach Fabio Capello still has plenty of reasons to be cheerful however as, for all their verve, Real are essentially vulnerable. Roberto Carlos' surges down the left leave his centrebacks exposed, while the former Leeds defender Raul Bravo exuded nervousness after replacing the injured Michel Salgado at right-back, possessing all the poise of Titus Bramble in a pair of roller skates.

Real may have a slight advantage but they are skating on thin ice.