Champions League: Bayern Munich and Chelsea win, Barcelona draw Roma while Arsenal lose

Chelsea scored four goals past Maccabi Tel Aviv to get their Champions League campaign off to a strong start and were joined by Bayern Munich, who disposed off Olympiacos 3-0 with relative ease. Leverkusen and Zenit were the other two teams that picked up victories on the second day of Matchday 1, with the former comfortably winning their match and the latter managing a tight 3-2 win.

Florenzi scored an absolute stunner for Roma to deny Barcelona from taking home three points in the Group E fixture between the two clubs, which was just one of three draws that played out on the day. Arsenal, on the other hand, fell to a disappointing defeat at Zagreb despite walking into the match as favourites.

Barcelona celebrate after Luis Suarez scores with a header from close range

Group E

Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw in their Group E fixture against Italian side AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in a match that marked Lionel Messi’s 100th Champions League career appearance. Luis Suarez opened the scoring for the visitors in the 21st minute with a slightly lucky goal, which was created when Ivan Rakitic’s shot was deflected off defender Antonio Rudiger.

Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi went on to pick out a sublime wonder goal within 10 minutes of Barcelona’s opener, shooting from near the halfway line to pull one back for the home side. Despite dominating plenty of possession throughout the game, the Catalan club couldn’t find a winner as the match ended with both sides sharing the spoils.

In the other Group E fixture, Bayer Leverkusen ran out comfortable 4-1 winners against Belarussian club BATE Borisov at the Bay Arena stadium in Leverkusen. Mehmedi scored the only goal of the first half after just four minutes on the clock before BATE Borisov pegged one back via a Nemanja Milunovic header.

Two second-half goals from Hakan Calhanoglu and Javier Hernandez's first goal for his new club ensured that the result would go the German's way.

Group F

Arsenal succumbed to an unexpected 2-1 defeat away against Croatian League champions Dinamo Zagreb to begin their Champions League campaign in terrible fashion. The hosts took a shocking lead in the 24th minute when full-back Josip Pivaric nipped in behind the Arsenal defence, before having his first shot blocked by Ospina and forcing the resulting rebound off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into the net.

Arsenal lost their opening match to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia

Arsenal tried to get back into the game but couldn‘t fashion out any clear-cut chances and their efforts were made even harder when Olivier Giroud got sent off for a second yellow card five minutes before the break. Junior Fernandes doubled the lead to almost certify their victory with a 58th-minute header, which arose courtesy poor defending by Laurent Koscielny in the Arsenal box.

Three substitutions from Arsene Wenger led to a consolation goal for the Gunners, as a lovely finish from Theo Walcott off an Alexis Sanchez lob over the defence just 11 minutes from the final whistle set up the game for a tense finish.

Meanwhile, Bundesliga champions and group favourites Bayern Munich began their campaign with a 3-0 win over Olympiacos in the Group F clash between the two sides at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After a goalless first half, Thomas Muller grabbed a brace with a fortunate goal in the 57th minute followed by a 92nd-minute penalty. His goals sandwiched a Mario Gotze goal, which was scored a minute before the final whistle.

Group G

Chelsea had four different goalscorers as they beat Tel Aviv 4-0

Chelsea roared to a 4-0 home victory over their Israeli opponents Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Group G match between the two sides at Stamford Bridge. A free kick from Willian and a penalty from Oscar just before half-time gave the London side a commanding lead in the first half and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there on.

Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas then went on to score a goal apiece that will do wonders to their confidence, in the 58th minute and 78th minute respectively. Costa’s goal was a wonderful volley while Fabregas scored into an empty net from a flowing counter-attack move.

Dynamo Kiev and Porto played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the other match. Gusev’s 20th-minute goal for the Ukrainian Champions was cancelled out by Aboubakar in the 23rd minute before the Cameroonian striker scored another in the 81st minute to give the Portuguese side the lead. Buyalsky had other ideas though, as he salvaged a draw for the home side with a late goal one minute before full time.

Group H

Hulk helped Zenit St. Petersburg get an away win at Valencia

A masterclass display from Hulk helped Zenit St Petersburg steal a 3-2 victory over Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium. The Brazilian striker was all over his opposition throughout the game, scoring two first half goals with his left foot to give the Russian side a huge advantage heading into the break.

Valencia came back to tie the scoreline with the help of an own goal from Witsel and Andre Gomes’ goal in the 73rd minute, although the Belgian international rectified his earlier mistake just three minutes later with a winner from outside the box after being set-up by Oleg Shatov.

KAA Gent and Lyon played out a pulsating 1-1 draw at the Ghelamco Arena in Belgium, with the result being decided by goals from Jallet in the 58th minute and an equaliser from the home side via a Danijel Milicevic strike 10 minutes later.