Inter hit four as Lyon, United and Barcelona move clear
0 
Inter Milan survived a late surge from ten-man Tottenham Hotspur to win 4-3 at home on Wednesday, while Barcelona and Manchester United also scored wins in the Champions League group contentions.
Inter took control of Champions League Group A with seven points, followed by Spurs in four, while FC Twente and Werder Bremen have two apiece.
Hotspur trailed 4-0 before the break, and Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick in the second half in a futile attempt to salvage the English Premiership side.
Rafa Benitez hoped that this match would teach his players a lesson.
"We have got to learn how to control the game better, as we simply cannot finish like this," he said.
"With 11 men against 10 the tactics weren't important, as it was all about the mentality. I hope this lapse in concentration can teach Inter a lesson," the Spaniard said.
Inter had their job almost done early on when captain Javier Zanetti scored in the second minute, before Samuel Eto'o hit in a brace and Dejan Stankovic added one in the first half.
After the break Gareth Bale pulled one back for Spurs and added two late on, but they could not find the equalizer as time ran out.
In other group action, Manchester United put the news of Wayne Rooney's intention to leave Old Trafford behind them to beat Turkish side Bursaspor 1-0, and Barcelona had two goals from Lionel Messi to thank for their 2-0 win at home to FC Copenhagen.
Alex Ferguson got a thunderous reception from United fans still digesting Rooney's decision to leave the club ahead of their Group C clash with Bursaspor, which was decided by a superb Nani strike after just seven minutes.
The win sees United lead Group C on seven points from three games while Glasgow Rangers sit second in Group C on five points after playing out a 1-1 draw with Valencia.
In Group B, Schalke put their Bundesliga woes behind them - where they are rooted in the relegation zone - as two goals from Raul and a third from Jose Manuel Jurado helped Felix Magath's side to a 3-1 win at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Schalke are now second in the group on six points, three behind leaders Lyon, who enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Benfica.
Jimmy Briand put the French side in front on 20 minutes just seconds after Michel Bastos hit the woodwork with a shot from the edge of the area.
Benfica's hopes of staging a comeback all but ended two minutes before the break when Nicolas Gaitan was sent off for a second bookable offence and, in a similar sequence to Lyon's opener, Lisandro Lopez secured the win after a Briand effort came back off a post.
Barcelona top Group D on seven points thanks to a 2-0 win against Copenhagen, who remain in second spot, one point adrift.
Messi opened the scoring on 19 minutes with a well placed shot but the Spanish champions had to wait until the last minute to be sure of all three points when the Argentine added his second of the game.
Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan played out a scoreless draw in the other group game.
