CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WRAP: Man City and Man Utd record draws

The first lot of group stage matches of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League are now complete with Groups A through to D all playing tonight.

Group A saw Manchester City and Napoli make their Champions League debuts but they could not be split on the scoreboard as Aleksandar Kolarov’s 74th minute free-kick canceled out Edinson Cavanis’ opener five minutes earlier for a 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium.

Spanish club Villarreal’s nine game home European winning streak came to an end when German giants Bayern Munich produced a 2-0 result thanks to goals from Toni Kroos and Rafinha either side of the half-time break. It was Bayern’s seventh match in a row without conceding.

In Group B, Trabzonspor caused the biggest upset of the first matchday by defeating 2010 winners Inter Milan 1-0 at the San Siro thanks to Ondrej Celustka’s 76th minute goal which gave the Turkish club an historic win.

In France, French champions Lille were held to a 2-2 draw by Russian outfit CSKA Moscow who fought back from two goals down.

Moussa Sow and Benoit Pedretti netted for the home side before Seydo Doumbia’s late double secured a point for the visitors.

Group C saw Swiss club FC Basel score a 2-1 home win over Romanian newcomers Otelul Galati with both sides reduced to ten men whilst Manchester United had Ryan Giggs to thank as they grabbed a point in Lisbon against Benfica.

The Portuguese club scored first through Oscar Cardozo in the 24th minute before veteran Giggs powered home three minutes prior to half-time to give Sir Alex Ferguson’s hugely-changed side a share of the points.

And in Group D, ten-man Real Madrid got hold of maximum points thanks to Angel Di Maria’s second-half strike to down Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in Croatia whilst Dutch champions Ajax Amsterdam and Lyon played out a scoreless draw in Holland.

GROUP A:

Manchester City (ENG): 1 (Aleksandar Kolarov 74’)
Napoli (ITA): 1 (Edinson Cavani 69’)
Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Villarreal (ESP): 0
Bayern Munich (GER): 2 (Toni Kroos 7’, Rafinha 76’)
El Madrigal, Villarreal

GROUP B

Lille (FRA): 2 (Moussa Sow 45’, Benoit Pedretti 57’)
CSKA Moscow (RUS): 2 (Seydou Doumbia 71’/89’)
Stade Lille Metropole, Lille

Inter Milan (ITA): 0
Trabzonspor (TUR): 1 (Ondrej Celustka 76’)
San Siro, Milan

GROUP C

FC Basel (SUI): 2 (Fabian Frei 39’, Alexander Frei (p) 84’, red card: Benjamin Huggel 86’)
Otelul Galati (ROM): 1 (Marius Pena 58’, red card: Adrian Salageanu 81’)
St Jakob-Park, Basel

Benfica (POR): 1 (Oscar Cardozo 24’)
Manchester United (ENG): 1 (Ryan Giggs 42’)
Estadio da Luz, Lisbon

GROUP D

Ajax Amsterdam (NED): 0
Olympique Lyon (FRA): 0
Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam

Dinamo Zagreb (CRO): 0
Real Madrid (ESP): 1 (Angel Di Maria 53’, red card: Marcelo 73’)
Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

 
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