On Tuesday, the new season of the UEFA Champions League kicked off with the first round of matches in groups A-D.
The European champions, Real Madrid footballers, started their journey in the Old Continent tournament with a resounding victory at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium against the Swiss team Basel.
Five goals were scored in the first half alone, with four of them finding the net of the Swiss team. Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, and Basel's defender Marek Suchy all scored in the first 45 minutes.
Basel found a consolation goal through Derlis Gonzalez in the 38th minute, but Karim Benzema added another goal in the second half by forcing the opponent's goalkeeper to take the ball out of the net. The match ended in an easy 5-1 victory for Real.
In other matches in this group, Liverpool miraculously avoided a humiliating draw against Ludogorets at their home ground.
Mario Balotelli scored in the 82nd minute to put Liverpool ahead, but the Bulgarian team quickly equalized. However, Liverpool managed to secure the victory in additional time when Steven Gerrard scored a penalty.
In Group A, there was a sensation as Atletico Madrid players were defeated 3-2 by Olympiacos in Greece.
The Greeks took a 2-0 lead in the first half, but Mario Mandzukic reduced the deficit. In the second half, Olympiacos refused to give up and Kostas Mitroglou scored their third goal in the 73rd minute. Antoine Griezmann managed to score for Atletico, but the hosts secured a victory against the Champions League finalists.
Meanwhile, Juventus easily defeated Malmo 2-0 and climbed to the top of Group A. Carlos Tevez scored both goals for the Italian champions.
One of the most interesting matches took place in Dortmund, where Borussia faced off against Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp's players proved their superiority against the visitors.
Arsenal were under pressure and failed to create many dangerous opportunities, while the opponents took advantage of theirs and scored two goals. Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the victorious match.
Additionally, on Tuesday, Monaco celebrated a victory over Bayer Leverkusen with a minimal difference, while Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Benfica in Lisbon. Galatasaray and Anderlecht players settled for a draw.
All results:
Olympiacos 3 - 2 Atletico Madrid
9' [1 - 0] A. Masuaku
31' [2 - 0] I. Afellay
38' [2 - 1] M. Mandzukic
73' [3 - 1] K. Mitroglou
87' [3 - 2] A. Griezmann
Juventus 2 - 0 Malmo
59' [1 - 0] C. Tevez
90' [2 - 0] C. Tevez
Liverpool 2 - 1 Ludogorets
82' [1 - 0] M. Balotelli
90' [1 - 1] D. Abalo
90' [2 - 1] S. Gerrard (penalty)
Real Madrid 5 - 1 Basel
14' [1 - 0] M. Suchy (own goal)
30' [2 - 0] G. Bale
31' [3 - 0] C. Ronaldo
37' [4 - 0] J. Rodriguez
38' [4 - 1] D. Gonzalez
Monaco 1 - 0 Bayer
61' [1 - 0] J. Moutinho
Benfica 0 - 2 Zenit
6' [0 - 1] Hulk
22' [0 - 2] A. Witsel
Galatasaray 1 - 1 Anderlecht
52' [0 - 1] D. Praet
90' [1 - 1] B. Yilmaz
Borussia 2 - 0 Arsenal
45' [1 - 0] C. Immobile
48' [2 - 0] P. Aubameyang
