Winning start for Real, Chelsea, United in Europe

Real Madrid's stars lived up to expectation with a 5-2 demolition of FC Zurich while the trio of Chelsea, Manchester United, AC Milan also recorded victories as the UEFA Champions League kicked off on a lively note across Europe.

World Player of the Year,Cristiano Ronaldo started where he left off last season, grabbing a brace to lead the Los Galaticos to a comprehensive triumph in Zurich.

The trio of Raul, Gonzalo Higuain and Guti were also on target for the Spanish giants who also had the duo of Kaka and Xabi Alonso on parade.

At Stamford Bridge, Nicolas Anelka delivered in the absence of top striker, Didier Drogba to lead Chelsea to a lone goal victory over Porto as the English side extended their unbeaten run at home in Europe to 19 games.

Anelka fired in at second attempt in the second half to ensure a victorious start in the competition for new manager, Carlo Ancelotti.

Porto's Fernando was sent off on the dot of 90 minutes after he lunged into Ashley Cole for a second bookable offence.

Manchester United defeated Besiktas to earn their own three points, thanks to a 77th minute strike from Paul Scholes who was sent off in his team's last Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspurs last weekend at White Hart Lane.

Brazilian striker Grafite netted a hat-trick to lead Wolfsburg to a 3-1 victory at the Volkswagen Arena on their debut in the UEFA Champions League.

Nigeria's Obafemi Martins was handed a start by the German Bundesliga side, marking his return to the European competition with a lively performance before he was replaced by Karim Ziani on 65 minutes.

In France, AC Milan defeated Olympique Marseille 2-1 with ever-reliable striker, Filipo Inzaghi grabbing their two goals.

Gabriel Henze netted for the Ligue 1 who also had Nigeria's Taye Taiwo in 90 minutes action.

The other results saw Juventus endure a 1-1 draw with Bordeaux in Turin while Atletico Madrid were also held to a goalless draw by Cypriot side, APOEL Nicosia in Spain.

Bayern Munich also defeated Maccabi Haifa 3-0 away in Israel with Thomas Muller netting a brace.