Champions League returns with plenty of goals
The Champions League returned last night and there were plenty of goals to savour.
Reigning champions Inter Milan, now under the guidance of former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, had to settle for a point against Dutch champions FC Twente. Wesley Sneijder gave Inter the lead, before Theo Janssen’s free-kick and an own goal from Diego Milito put the home side 2-1 up. Samuel Eto’o’s neat finish from outside the box ensured a share of the spoils at 2-2.
Barcelona put behind them a shock 2-0 home defeat to Hercules in the league at the weekend by demolishing Panathinaikos 5-1 at the Camp Nou. Sidney Govou gave the visiting time a shock lead, but it only took a minute for Barcelona to equalise, with Lionel Messi running onto the end of a Xavi wonder-pass.
Messi added another but missed out on the chance to grab a hat-trick as his tame penalty was saved, showing he is human after all. David Villa, Pedro and Dani Alves completed the rout.
Barcelona’s Spanish counter-parts Valencia hammered Turkish champions Bursaspor 4-0. As the first club outside of Istanbul to compete in the Champions League, Bursaspor couldn’t cope with Valencia. Strikes from Tino Costa, Aritz Adruiz, Pablo Hernandez and Roberto Soldado made it an emphatic win.
Portuguese champions Benfica won 2-0 at home to Hapoel Tel Aviv with goals from defender Luisao and striker Oscar Cardozo, while FC Copenhagen left it late to secure a 1-0 win over Rubin Kazin, Dame N’Doye scoring three minutes from time. Last season’s semi-finalists Olympique Lyonnais beat German side Schalke 1-0 at home with an own goal from Benedikt Howedes all that separated the two sides.
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