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Leverkusen brushed aside by Chelsea
Chelsea's annual pursuit of the continent's biggest club prize that has so far eluded them began in encouraging fashion for the latest coach in the hot seat as Andre Villas-Boas's team beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in Group E.
Chelsea's annual pursuit of the continent's biggest club prize that has so far eluded them began in encouraging fashion for the latest coach in the hot seat as Andre Villas-Boas's team beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in Group E.
The other Anglo-German tussle among the eight matches in Groups E-H ended in a 1-1 draw between Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal in northern Germany. Croatian midfielder Ivan Perisic's 88th minute strike cancelled Robin van Persie's 41st minute effort for 'The Gunners.'
While Chelsea and Arsenal still seek a first Champions League crown, former European champions Porto and Olympique Marseille began with victories. Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Group G although they were helped by their Ukrainian opponents having two players sent off - Yaroslav Rakitskiy for a straight red card in the 40th minute and Dmytro Chygrynskiy late on. In Group F, French side Marseille edged out Olympiakos 1-0.
Newcomers Viktoria Plzen got their first point on the board with a 1-1 draw at home to BATE Borisov of Belarus. Neither are likely to proceed with Barcelona and Milan being part of the group.
