The first round of matches in the Champions League group stage came to a close on Wednesday night. Alessandro Florenzi scored a long-range cracker
ADVERTISEMENTThe first round of matches in the Champions League group stage came to a close on Wednesday night.
Alessandro Florenzi scored a long-range cracker from almost the halfway line to cancel out Luis Suarez’s opener and hand Roma a one all draw with defending champions Barcelona in Group E.
The Germans of Bayer Leverkusen meanwhile went straight to the top of the table courtesy of a 4-1 thrashing of Bate Borisov.
In Group F five-times European champions Bayern Munich kick-started their campaign on a winning note beating the Greeks of Olympiakos 3-0.
Thomas Muller hit a brace for Pep Guardiola’s Bavarians while Mario Goetze scored the other.
A ten-man Arsenal suffered a day one defeat at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb, the Gunners, who lost Olivier Giroud to two yellow cards, were shot down 2-1 in the Croatian capital.
Zagreb celebrated their first win in the competition since 1999.
Willian, Oscar, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas were all on target to help Chelsea welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv back to the competition after a ten-year absence with a 4-0 thrashing.
The Blue’s become the only English Premier league side out of four to win their opening Group game.
They top Group G after rivals Dynamo Kyiv and FC Porto drew 2-2 in Ukraine – Vitaly Buyalsky scoring a last minute equalizer for the home side.
In Group H Hulk scored twice and Axel Witsel hit a third as Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg downed two-times runners up Valencia in their own back yard.
Andre Villas-Boas winning the battle of the Portuguese coaches against Valencia opposite number Nuno.
In Wednesday’s other Group H game, Champions League regulars Olympique Lyonnais drew 1-1 with Ghent in Belgium.