The Champions League returns with Arsenal crashing at Dortmund, Real Madrid crushing Basel at home and Liverpool making a triumphant return to the competition although it was far from impressive, finding it very difficult to beat Ludogorets.
Group A
Juvenuts 2 Malmo 0: Not the best of performances from Juventus, but not stumbling right out of the gate is an improvement compared to last season, getting a brace from Carlos Tevez, seemingly the only player on the team capable of scoring these days.
Olympiacos 3 Atletico Madrid 2: An efficient counter attacking performance from the eternal Greek champions against an Atletico Madrid side that defended poorly for most of the match. Arthur Masuaku and Ibrahim Affelay put the hosts up by two goals in the first half before Mario Mandzukic put Atletico back in the match. Kostas Mitroglou scored the clinching goal, which came before a wonderful yet meaningless goal from Antoine Griezmann.
|
Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Juventus |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
 Olympiacos |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 |
 Atlético Madrid |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 0 |
 Malmö FF |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
Group B
Liverpool 2 Ludogorets 1: The visitors from Bulgaria made things difficult and dramatic for the hosts, returning to the Champions League after five seasons. Mario Balotelli put Liverpool ahead in the 80th minute, but Dani Abalo equalized in the 90th minute. Two minutes later Liverpool won a penalty kick which Steven Gerrard converted.
Real Madrid 5 Basel 1: A rough start to the campaign for Basel, getting crushed in Madrid, beginning with a own goal, followed by more from Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema. Four goals down in the 40th minute, Basel pegged one back through Derlis Gonzalez.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 3 |
 Liverpool |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
 Ludogorets Razgrad |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 |
 Basel |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
Group C
Monaco 1 Leverkusen 0: Despite all their financial woes all of a sudden, Monaco kick off their return to the Champions League with a stunning win over Leverkusen, enjoying a fine Joao Moutinho goal.
Benfica 0 Zenit 2: We knew Benfica got weaker in the offseason, but this was a bit much. Zenit scored early (5th minute) with Hulk (who else) getting on the scoresheet, followed by a 22nd minute goal by Axel Witsel, while Benfica had to play for 70 minutes with 10 men after Artur, their goalkeeper, was sent off.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zenit Saint Petersburg |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
 Monaco |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
 Bayer Leverkusen |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
 Benfica |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
Group D
Dortmund 2 Arsenal 0: A brilliant performance from Dortmund in the main spectacle of the evening, beating a sad Arsenal side in every aspect. Ciro Immobile in the first half and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the second half did the finishing.
Galatasaray 1 Anderlecht 1: Dennis Praet nearly gave Anderlecht a stunning away win with his 52nd minute goal but Burak Yilmaz equalized in injury time to avoid a loss that might have ended their chances of qualifying.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borussia Dortmund |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
 Anderlecht |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Galatasaray |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Arsenal |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
Tomorrow
Group E: Roma vs CSKA Moscow; Bayern Munich vs Manchester City
Group F: Ajax vs PSG; Barcelona vs APOEL Nicosia
Group G: Chelsea vs Schalke; Maribor vs Sporting CP
Group H: Athletic Bilbao vs Shakhtar; Potro vs BATE Borisov