Carlos Tevez broke his Champions League duck as he scored twice to lead Juventus to a hard-fought 2-0 victory at home to Malmo in their opening Group A fixture on Tuesday.
Juventus struggled at times before Tevez broke the deadlock in the 59th, following good interplay with Kwadwo Asamoah. It was the Argentina forward's first goal in Europe's elite club competition in more than five years.
Tevez then sealed the result in stoppage time with a well-placed free kick that sailed into the top corner.
Juventus were without key playmaker Andrea Pirlo, who was injured along with Arturo Vidal and Andrea Barzagli, while Roberto Pereyra was suspended. The Italian side was eager to get off to a good start following last season's disappointing group stage exit, while it was Malmo's first appearance in the Champions League proper.
Juventus struggled during the first half and it was Malmo which had the best chance in the 19th minute when Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon did well to parry Magnus Eriksson's shot at point-blank range.
Tevez had not scored in Europe since netting for Manchester United more than five years ago and the Argentinian had several opportunities to break his duck.
In the other group match, Atletico Madrid slipped to a surprise 3-2 defeat to Olympiakos on Tuesday in a disappointing return to the Champions League for last season's finalist.
Atletico fell behind in the 13th minute of the Group A match when defender Arthur Masuaku aimed a left-footed drive past goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who was making his debut for the Spanish club.
Striker Kostas Mitroglou unselfishly left the ball to Imbrahim Afellay who made it 2-0 in the 31st. But Mario Mandzukic pulled a goal back before the break, left unmarked to head in a cross from Cristian Ansaldi.
Mitroglou scored with a stylish move that proved to be the winner in the 73rd, turning on the ball to beat Oblak, before Antoine Griezmann finally found the net in the 86th for Atletico. Griezmann was twice denied by Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto - who joined Atletico as a schoolboy and was loaned out by the club last year to Greece.
"This is a huge win for us," said Olympiakos captain Giannis Mantiatis, who recovered from an ankle injury to make the starting lineup. "We had to sweat the whole match. These were very valuable points we got tonight."
Atletico coach Diego Simeone watched from the stands at Karaiskaki stadium, as he served a one-match European ban.
"We threatened throughout the game, but Olympiakos was very tough and they got a valuable win," Simeone said.
Simeone defended his choice to replace first-choice goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya, arguing that rotation was needed to cope with the domestic and European workload.
"What decided the game was that they were more effective with their chances that we were," he said. Obviously this was a very negative result for us. Clearly Olympiakos is in a good position. What we feel now is a sense of responsibility."
Joao Moutinho scored against the run of the play as Monaco recovered from a terrible start to beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in their Group C opener.
Moutinho broke the deadlock in the 61st minute from former Leverkusen striker Dimitar Berbatov's assist as the Bundesliga leaders were made to pay for their profligacy.
Roger Schmidt's side was in complete control and created the best chances but Monaco's defense remained resolute, before Moutinho ended the visitors' unbeaten run in all competitions this season with his first shot on target. The win gave some respite to Monaco, which lost Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez over the summer, and has also endured a miserable start in the French league.
Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim did not change his tactics, with Andrea Raggi and Ricardo Carvalho picked as the centre-back pair and Dimitar Berbatov playing in front of Lucas Ocampos and winger Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco.
Playing in front of a sparse attendance, Monaco created an opening immediately as Ferreira-Carrasco went down in the area after a challenge from Sebastian Boenisch, but referee Pavel Kralovec did not stop play.
Jardim's side spent the opening minutes camped in Leverkusen's half but its enthusiasm quickly faded. A heavy touch from Joao Moutinho gave the visitors the chance to show their pace on the break only for Gonzalo Castro to fire his shot wide in the 13th.
Two minutes later, playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu dummied three defenders but his low-shot from a tight angle ended in the side-netting.
Applying a strong pressing, Leverkusen gradually took the initiative though Stefan Kiessling could not connect with Karim Bellarabi's powerful cross in the box in the 28th.
Bellarabi, who scored the Bundesliga's quickest ever goal after nine seconds earlier this season, missed a golden opportunity to put his team ahead in the 36th as he completely fluffed his shot from Calhanoglu's superb through ball.
Monaco crumbled towards the end of the first half but Leverkusen failed to build on the momentum, with Son Henh-Min missing the target from close range in the 44th and Castro's attempt blocked by a defender's back.
The German side carried its dominance into the second half but was finally punished for their inability to score as Moutinho netted shortly after the hour mark following striker Berbatov's assist.
Following a quick move ignited by Layvin Kurzawa down the left side, Berbatov headed the ball into the Portuguese midfielder's path, and Moutinho slotted past goalkeeper Bernd Leno albeit courtesy of a deflection.
Galatasaray striker Burak Yilmaz scored in stoppage time to seal a 1-1 draw for his side against Anderlecht.
Yilmaz spared the hosts' the embarrassment of defeat in the first round of matches, netting in the 91st minute after Aurelien Chedjou rounded defenders before feeding a deft pass into the Turkish international's path.
After a goalless first half, Anderlecht's Dennis Praet knocked in a low shot from the edge of the box in the 52nd.
Hulk and Axel Witsel scored first-half goals to give Zenit St. Petersburg a 2-0 win against 10-man Benfica in their opening Champions League Group C game Tuesday.
Hulk put Zenit ahead in the fifth minute. The Brazilian striker was unmarked on the right when he received a pass from Oleg Shatov before curling the ball past Artur. Hulk almost got another five minutes later with a thundering free kick that Artur struggled to hold.
The Benfica goalkeeper was sent off in the 18th after obstructing Danny on the break, and Witsel extended Zenit's lead with a glancing header at the front post in the 22nd as the visitor capitalized on their man advantage.
Zenit, the Russian league leader with seven wins from seven, looked more dominant than its Portuguese opponent.
Benfica, the defeated Europa League finalist in the past two seasons, didn't give up the fight despite playing with 10 men for more than an hour.
Luisao almost pulled one back for Benfica with a powerful header from a 59th-minute free kick, demanding a keen save from Yuri Lodygin, and Lima's shot was cleared off the Zenit line by Nicolas Lombaerts in the 66th.
Hulk continued to threaten and he struck the post in the 61st, in between the hosts' two chances.
In the group's other game, French side Monaco beat German club Bayer Leverkusen 1-0.
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