LONDON, 15 September 2005 — Liverpool continued its Champions League defense with a 2-1 victory at Real Betis on Tuesday, and nine-time winner Real Madrid was outplayed 3-0 by Lyon.
The first round of the group phase also brought victories for six-time champion AC Milan, neighbor Inter Milan, Chelsea, Rangers, PSV Eindhoven and Rosenborg.
Madrid had a nightmare start at Lyon, where shots by John Carew, Juninho Pernambucano and Sylvain Wiltord all hit the target for the French champions in the first 31 minutes. Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas also saved a penalty.
“We deserved to win this match,” said Lyon coach Gerard Houllier, who was at Liverpool until last season. “Even though Real Madrid had a lot of possession in the second half, we were able to conserve the score. It’s a good start for us and for the fans.”
Also in Group F, Rosenborg began with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory at Olympiakos with goals from Pe Ciljan Skjelbred, a Dimitris Mavrogenidis own-goal and a third by Oyvind Storflor. An own-goal by Alejandro Lago had given the Greek club an early lead.
Forced by UEFA to start its defense from the first qualifying round, Liverpool was boosted by early goals from Florent Sinama Pongolle and Luis Garcia in the first 14 minutes. Garcia Arzu replied for Betis in the 51st, but the English team held on to capture three points.
“We started really well with two goals and good counter-attacks. But, after we conceded, it was difficult,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. “But the most important thing is to start with a win.”
In the same group, Chelsea, which finished a massive 37 points and four places ahead of Liverpool last season, posted its sixth shutout in a row by beating Anderlecht 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard scored with a powerful, 25-meter (yard) free kick for the only goal of the game as the English Premier League leaders made a perfect start. But Anderlecht’s 17-year-old midfielder, Anthony Vanden Borre, almost snatched an equalizer with a surprise 35-meter (yard) shot that took a deflection and hit the post.
“In the first half we played very well, it was not so good in the second half,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “But realistically we defended well. They had one single shot at goal and the ball hit the post.”
Brazil midfielder Kaka scored twice as Milan, which lost on penalties to Liverpool in last season’s final after being 3-0 up at halftime, beat Fenerbahce 3-1 at San Siro.
The Turkish champions threatened an upset when Alex canceled out Kaka’s early strike with a penalty. But Kaka restored the lead and Andriy Shevchenko added a third near the end.
“We were worried, but it’s also only the start of the season and we still have a lot of room to improve,” Kaka said.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed PSV’s winner in a 1-0 victory over visiting Schalke in the other Group E game.
Julio Ricardo Cruz scored Inter Milan’s winner at Artmedia Bratislava as the Italian soccer giant captured a 1-0 victory on the road despite the ejection of Juan Sebastian Veron in the 56th minute.
“A great goal, a beautiful action by Adriano and Cruz,” Inter coach Roberto Mancini said. “We could have tried to score a second goal to close out the game in the first half.”
Artmedia is one of the surprise teams in the last 16. The Slovakian champions knocked out Dynamo Kiev and Sweden’s Malmo in the qualifying rounds.
The other Group H game was a five-goal thriller as a glancing header five minutes from the end by Greece defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos gave Rangers a 3-2 victory over 2004 champion FC Porto.
Porto’s Pepe Ferreira had twice canceled out strikes by Peter Lovenkrands and Dado Prso before Kyrgiakos headed the winner at Ibrox.
