Bayer Leverkusen recovered from last week's 4-0 thrashing by Juventus as three second-half goals gave them a stunning 3-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna in their Champions League Group D match last night.

The German league leaders kept alive their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages with a precious victory, just five days after the Italian giants taught them a lesson in Turin.

Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto showed the home side the way with a superb free-kick from outside the area on 64 minutes.

Striker Oliver Neuville added a second three minutes later after collecting a fine pass from midfielder Carsten Ramelow, before midfielder Michael Ballack sealed the win by heading home a corner 11 minutes from time.

Deportivo, who impressed in the first stage and had started the second group phase with a 2-0 win over Arsenal, showed very little form this time and collapsed under pressure in the last 25 minutes.

Raul scored twice as Real Madrid beat Panathinaikos 3-0 at the Bernabeu to make it two wins out of two in Group C yesterday.

Real were set on their way by Ivan Helguera, who squeezed in a shot from a tight angle after Zinedine Zidane found him with a brilliant cross to the far post four minutes before half-time.

Vicente del Bosque's side had a nervous few moments just after the break as Panathinaikos finally tried their luck, but Raul clinched victory with two goals in quick succession. The Spain striker headed his first on 66 minutes after the ball broke to him in the box and he wrapped up a convincing win six minutes later by side-footing his second from close-range.

Libor Sionko scored the winning goal last night as Sparta Prague claimed a valuable Group C victory at Porto. Sionko pounced 14 minutes from time as Sparta bounced back from their 3-2 home defeat to Real Madrid.

The Czech Republic midfielder's header was helped into the net by Porto goalkeeper Paulo Santos.

The victory leaves Porto, who drew their opening game at Panathinaikos last month, facing an uphill battle to qualify for the quarter-finals.

But the Portuguese side were unfortunate not to take a point from the match, especially after bombarding Sparta in the last 10 minutes as they strove for an equaliser.

Helder headed Capucho's cross against a post, while Carlos Paredes fired just wide of Petr Cech's goal.