Udinese off to flyer as Barca make winning start
Udinese had a night to remember on Wednesday as a Vincenzo Iaquinta hat-trick gave them a 3-0 win over Panathinaikos in their first ever Champions League tie.
Iaquinta’s treble – one before the break and two in the second half – were enough for the humble side from the north of Italy to register a convincing win for their coach Serse Cosmi who, like most of the team’s players, has spent most of his career in obscurity.
The Greeks were run ragged at the Stadio Friuli by a determined home side who ensured that Italy had a memorable first week of the Champions League with Juventus beating Club Brugge 2-1 on Wednesday and with both Milan clubs (AC Milan and Internazionale) winning on Tuesday.
Also victorious in Udinese’s Group C were Spanish champions Barcelona who were up against Werder Bremen in Germany.
Deco gave Barca the lead with a 13th-minute penalty before FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho scored the second from the spot to seal a 2-0 win.
Juve beat the Belgians in Bruges thanks to second-half goals from Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet before Jeanvion Matondo pulled one back with five minutes from remaining.
Juve’s midfield powerhouse Patrick Vieira then earned a red card for his second bookable offence but the Turin giants managed to hang on.
In Juve’s Group A, Bayern Munich did well to come away from their away match with Rapid Vienna with a 1-0 win.
Bayern took the lead on the hour mark when their Peruvian forward Paolo Guerrero scored from point-blank range although he nearly fluffed the chance.
With 10 minutes remaining Rapid could have equalised but Jozef Valachovic put a penalty wide of the post.
Their were mixed fortunes for the English clubs with Arsenal beating FC Thun 2-1 but Manchester United held 0-0 at Villarreal.
Arsenal needed a stoppage-time goal from Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp to win their Group B match with the Swiss minnows in what had been an eventful match.
When Gilberto Silva scored for Arsenal six minutes after half-time it looked good for the London club who had been rocked before the interval by a sending-off for Robin van Persie for a dangerous tackle that left a gash on the forehead of Alen Orman.
However, just two minutes later Nelson Ferreira scored an equaliser for Thun with a looping shot.
In the other match in that group, Sparta Prague and Ajax settled for a 1-1 draw with Wesley Sneijder equalising in stoppage time for the Dutch side after Miroslav Matusovic’s goal had put the Czechs in charge.
United’s 0-0 draw with Villarreal in Group D was not a disaster but the sending-off of their England striker Wayne Rooney will do nothing for their prospects of getting out of that pool.
In the other match in that group it was Benfica who emerged victorious from their home match with Lille.
Fabrizio Miccoli headed the winner at the Estadio da Luz to deny the French side who had given several scares to the Portuguese champions.
