LONDON, Sept 15: Coach Jose Mourinho began his quest for a second successive Champions League title in the best way possible when his Chelsea side beat Paris St Germain 3-0 in their opening Group H match on Tuesday.
But his former team Porto, which he led to glory last May by winning the European title, were the only big club who failed to win on the opening night of the competition proper.
The champions were held to a 0-0 draw by CSKA Moscow in front of their own frustrated fans in their opening Group H match and gave little hint that they could repeat last season's success.
Otherwise, all the big clubs won as expected with Arsenal, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and Valencia picking up maximum points. Chelsea, whose billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has spent over $269.9 million on new players since buying the club last year, were far too good for PSG in Paris and won 3-0 with two goals from ex-Olympique Marseille hero Didier Drogba and a header from defender John Terry.
They beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in their opening Group E match at High bury thanks to a 42nd minute own goal by PSV's Brazilian defender Alex who turned a Thierry Henry cut-back into his own net.
Panathinaikos beat Rosenborg Trondheim 2-1 in the same group with Argentine Ezequiel Gonzalez scoring both goals after 42 and 79 minutes. Frode Johnsen pulled one back in stoppage time for the Norwegians in front of just 13,000 fans.
AC Milan, European champions two years ago, began their quest for a seventh title with a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F in Ukraine with Clarence Seedorf scoring the only goal after 84 minutes. Barcelona's Henrik Larsson scored against his old club Celtic as Barca win 3-1.
RESULTS
Arsenal 1 Eindhoven 0
Panathinaikos 2 Rosenborg 1
Celtic 1 Barcelona 3
Shakhtar 0 AC Milan 1
Inter Milan 2 Werder Bremen) 0
Valencia 2 Anderlecht 0
FC Porto 0 CSKA Moscow 0
Paris Saint Germain 0 Chelsea 3
BETTING ODDS
5-1 Arsenal
6-1 Real Madrid 13-2 Chelsea
8-1 AC Milan, Barcelona
9-1 Manchester United
12-1 Juventus, Valencia
18-1 Inter Milan
20-1 Roma
22-1 Bayern Munich
28-1 Deportivo Coruna
33-1 Liverpool, Porto
40-1 Monaco
50-1 Olympique Lyon, Panathanaikos
66-1 Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen
Fenerbahce, CSKA Moscow
80-1 Werder Bremen
100-1 Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven
125-1 Celtic
150-1 Olympiakos, Dynamo Kiev
200-1 Sparta Prague
300-1 Shaktar Donetsk, Anderlecht
500-1 Rosenborg Trondheim, Maccabi Tel Aviv. -Reuters
