Real, Arsenal post wins in Champion League

Real Madrid began their assault on an unprecedented 10th European Champions title with a convincing opening night win at AS Roma on Tuesday -- just as they did last season.

Real beat Roma 3-0 with Guti scoring twice and Raul once, taking his all-time high scoring record in the Champions League to 35 goals.

The victory is a good omen for Real who won 2-1 at Roma on the opening night last season and went on to win the competition eight months later.

Valencia made it a great start for Spain with a 2-0 home win over Liverpool, but Arsenal salvaged a victory for England with a convincing 2-0 win over disappointing German champions Borussia Dortmund at Highbury.

Dutch champions Ajax Amsterdam marked their return to the Champions League after a three-year absence with a 2-1 home win over Olympique Lyon, but Inter Milan's campaign got off to a stuttering start with a 2-2 draw at Rosenborg Trondheim in Norway.

In the two other matches played AJ Auxerre drew 0-0 with PSV Eindhoven and Genk drew 0-0 with AEK Athens.

REAL THING

Real, playing without their new signing Ronaldo who is not yet fully fit, were almost dismissive of one of the strongest sides in Serie A although it took them almost until the break to go in front in their group C match with Guti scoring after 41 minutes.

Raul doubled their lead after 56 minutes before Guti wrapped up the points with their third after leaving two defenders in his wake. Genk and AEK finished scoreless in the other match in the group.

Valencia, European Cup finalists in both 2000 and 2001 and Spanish champions last season for the first time in 31 years, showed poise, control and played superbly to deservedly beat Liverpool 2-0 in Group B.

Ruben Baraja wrapped up the game with a superbly worked second goal after 39 minutes following Pablo Aimar's opening 20th minute strike.

A disappointing night for Liverpool got worse when Dietmar Hamann was sent off for a second yellow card 13 minutes from the end.

Basel marked their Champions League debut in the same group with a 2-0 win over Spartak Moscow with both their goals coming in a five minute spell at the beginning of the second half from Hakan Yakin (50) and Julio Rossi (55).

ARSENAL TOO GOOD

Arsenal had to wait until an excellent Dennis Bergkamp goal after 62 minutes to break through a resilient Dortmund defence at Highbury where they have now won 15 of their last 18 home Champions League matches.

But the Germans were very disappointing in their Group A game and hardly had a shot on target.

Their defence was ripped to shreds when Freddie Ljungberg, playing for the first time this season after injury, shot into an empty net to make it 2-0 after 78 minutes.

Arsenal had broken from one end of the field to the other in a move timed at just 13 seconds.

Auxerre and PSV Eindhoven drew 0-0 in the other match in the group.

CRESPO CRACKER

The two games in Group D produced seven goals and two sendings off.

Inter new boy Crespo made his mark as Ronaldo's replacement scoring both his side's goals after 33 and 78 minutes, while Azar Karadas scored twice for Rosenborg.

While they were ultimately pleased to take a point after trailing 2-1 at one stage, Inter's performance was marred by the late dismissal of defender Fabio Cannavaro.

Ajax Amsterdam also finished with 10 men -- but with three points in the same group. Young Swedish starlet Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored after 11 and 34 minutes to put them in control of the game before Lyon captain Sonny Anderson gave his side some hope with an 84th minute goal.

Ajax had Ghanaian midfielder Abubakari Yakubu sent off for a second yellow five minutes from the end.