Champions League: Liverpool relief as Arsenal outplayed

The return of Champions League football brought its usual mix of drama, emotion and action. There was relief on Merseyside where Liverpool, returning to the Champions League after a five year absence, lacked fluency and looked lethargic but luckily managed to escape with a 2-1 win against Bulgarian surprise package Ludogorets. The Bulgarian side cancelled out Balotelli's opening strike early in injury time, only for Gerrard to score a 93rd minute penalty winner after a foul by the Bulgarian keeper.

The other English club in action, Arsenal, had a shocker, losing 2-0 away to Dortmund. The result could have been much worse for Wenger's side who were completely outplayed by a pacey, solid Dortmund outfit.

Elsewhere there were big wins for Real Madrid who smashed five past Basel, a Tevez brace gave Juventus a 2-0 win against Malmo and Atletico Madrid went down in a shock defeat to Olympiakos. Champions League Results:

Juventus-2-0-Malmo FF

Olympiakos-3-2-Atl Madrid

Liverpool-2-1-Ludogorets

Real Madrid-5-1-FC Basel

Benfica-0-2-Zenit St P

Monaco-1-0-Bayer Leverkusen

Bor Dortmund-2-0-Arsenal

Galatasaray-1-1-Anderlecht

(BM)