LONDON-- Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-times winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.
On-loan midfielder Gerard Deulofeu's set-pieces proved too hot to handle for Feyenoord as two of his first-half free kicks were turned home by Grzegorz Krychowiak and Stephane Mbia as a new-look Sevilla side comfortably cruised home.
Europe's second-tier competition, so often derided for lacking the sparkle of its Champions League cousin, was ushered back into action with some stand-out individual displays and a glut of goals across its opening 24 group games.
There were hat-tricks from Dinamo Zagreb's El Arbi Hilal Soudani, PAOK Salonika captain Stefanos Athanasiadis and Steaua Bucharest's Claudiu Keseru, whose teams all enjoyed emphatic home wins.
Ex-European champions Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven also got off to winning starts, while Napoli, whose manager Rafa Benitez was heavily criticised after his side failed to make it through a Champions League playoff, came back from a goal down to beat Sparta Prague 3-1 at the San Paolo.
Premier League Everton enjoyed a victorious return to the European stage after a five-year absence with a 4-1 home victory over VfL Wolfsburg, but Tottenham Hotspur were held to a drab 0-0 stalemate at Partizan Belgrade.
Numerous Changes
There have been numerous changes at Sevilla since they beat Benfica on penalties in Turin to lift the trophy in May, with some of last season's heroes departing for new challenges at more glamorous clubs.
Yet even without the likes of midfield playmaker Ivan Rakitic, who left for Barcelona, and left back Alberto Moreno, who joined Liverpool, Sevilla looked sharp and purposeful and well worth their Group G win.
They opened the scoring after eight minutes as a devilish, inswinging free kick from Deulofeu found Krychowiak at the far post and he turned the ball into the net.
It was a case of deja vu on 31 minutes when they doubled the lead as the playmaker on loan from Barcelona curled in another precise set-piece that Mbia rose to head powerfully into the net.
Feyenoord offered little threat and their performance is unlikely to relieve the pressure on coach Fred Rutten, who replaced Ronald Koeman in the close season, but has won only one of his opening five Dutch league matches.
Among the five former European champions in this season's Europa League group stage, Steaua Bucharest made the most eye-catching start, thrashing AaB Aalborg 6-0 in Group J with Keseru scoring three goals in 12 second-half minutes.
The two other three-goal hauls both arrived in the first half.
Dinamo Zagreb's Soudani scored with two headers and a calmly-taken effort from close range in a 5-1 win over Romanians Astra to cap a superb week for Algeria forwards following Yacine Brahimi's hat-trick for Porto in the Champions League.
PAOK's Athanasiadis had wrapped up his hat-trick in 28 minutes as the Greek side beat Dinamo Minsk 6-1 in Group K.
Patient Inter
Serie A's Inter had to be patient in Ukraine against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Group F before Danilo D'Ambrosio grabbed the only goal after 71 minutes, while PSV's Luuk de Jong scored a first-half penalty in a 1-0 home win over Estoril in Group E.
Napoli beat Sparta Prague in Group I thanks to a penalty from Gonzalo Higuain and two second-half goals from Belgium's Dries Mertens after Josef Husbauer had given the visitors an early lead.
Tottenham drew a blank at Partizan Belgrade with striker Harry Kane missing their best chance in the first minute, hitting the woodwork from eight metres after the hosts failed to clear a corner.
The match was soured however by reports of an anti-Semitic banner being displayed by the home fans.
"If it's true it's unacceptable and I am very disappointed, it shows a lack of respect," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez is perhaps a rarity among Premier League managers in welcoming the mountain of extra fixtures that a successful run in the Europa League can bring about and he received an early reward with a comfortable 4-1 win.
"We have worked hard for 12 months to earn the right to play in the Europa League - the more competitions the better," he said after Leighton Baines set up two goals and scored a penalty against Wolfsburg.
Celtic almost pulled off a surprise victory at Austrian champions Salzburg in Group D after Scott Brown put them 2-1 ahead in the second half but Jonatan Soriano netted with a superb free kick to snatch a draw for the hosts.
AMSTERDAM-- Edinson Cavani scored early for Paris St Germain but a series of wasted chances came back to haunt them as Ajax Amsterdam equalised late to deny the French a winning start on the road in a 1-1 draw in Champions League Group F on Wednesday.
Cavani's goal came after 14 minutes following a bad defensive error but Lasse Schone curled home a free kick in the 74th minute to earn Ajax a point.
"We are certainly pleased with the draw. If you look at the mistakes we made, you have to be happy with the result. In the end we came close to winning it, but that would have been unjust," Ajax coach Frank de Boer said.
PSG took the lead just as the two sides were settling into the game. An error from Nicolai Boilesen, who let a long ball slip away from him, enabled Lucas to square a pass to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and although the visiting captain's shot was blocked, Cavani tapped home the loose ball.
Brazilian Lucas was at the heart of the French champions' creativity but was also the main culprit in their profligacy.
He stole the ball straight after the break but instead of passing to the unmarked Ibrahimovic he went alone and shanked his shot horribly wide.
Ibrahimovic missed from an angle with time to set his sights and then thundered a low free kick past the Ajax wall but straight at goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
Lucas set up Gregory van der Wiel, one of three former Ajax players in the Parisian line-up, as he overlapped down the right wing just after the hour mark but his effort was again easy for Cillessen to stop.
Lucas's floated free kick was then met with some power by the head of Marquinhos in the 67th minute but he was off target as PSG failed to exploit the gulf in class between the sides.
Ajax substitute Anwar El Ghazi might have got a red card just minutes after coming on as he kicked out at PSG full back Maxwell off the ball but instead was shown a lenient yellow by German referee Wolfgang Stark.
The hosts finally broke the shackles and after a rare attack they were awarded a free kick when Thulani Serero was brought down on the edge of the box by Marquinhos.
Schone flighted the ball past the deceived Salvatore Sirigu and three minutes later the Denmark international might have clinched an unlikely win but rattled the upright with another sweetly-struck free kick.
"We played a very strong team. We did well but we must do better. I had a golden chance early in the second half to make it 2-0 and I made a mistake with it," a rueful Lucas said.
LIVERPOOL, England- - After five years away, Champions League drama returned to Anfield like a long lost friend on Tuesday as Liverpool beat debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria 2-1 with Steven Gerrard scoring a last-gasp penalty.
All three goals came towards the end of a pulsating Group B game and, fittingly, it was Liverpool skipper Gerrard, the last remaining hero of their famous 2005 Champions League final victory over AC Milan in Istanbul, who scored the winner.
The midfielder fired home his 40th European goal in the last minute of stoppage time.
But this was no classic to rank alongside that win or other victories at Anfield over the likes of Olympiakos or Chelsea before they took a leave of absence from the competition in 2009.
This was a hard-fought victory after an achingly frustrating night with the Anfield faithful having to endure typical nail-biting tension before going home happy.
Italy striker Mario Balotelli, with his first goal for the club since his move from AC Milan, broke Ludogorets' resistance after 82 minutes, only for Liverpool to self-implode on the stroke of full-time when Dani Abalo took advantage of poor play by Simon Mignolet to round the keeper and equalise for the visitors.
With a draw looking inevitable, Canadian international keeper Milan Borjan, who only joined Ludogorets last week to solve a goalkeeping crisis, then made a terrible mistake at the other end, failing to clear a backpass, losing the ball, tangling with Javi Manquillo and giving away a penalty.
Gerrard, so deadly from the spot, made no mistake to score the winner seconds before the final whistle blew.
But Gerrard, and his manager Brendan Rodgers were not blind to how close Liverpool came to ending the night without a win.
"We did OK but it wasn't better than OK. There's a lot to learn, we were caused problems on the counter-attack, Gerrard said.
"You have to give Mario Balotelli credit, it didn't go his way for long periods but the sign of a good goalscorer is to keep going and get a chance. What's more important is his work rate.
"If we win in Basel now it puts us in a good position but we must do better."
Manager Rodgers, in his first Champions League match in charge, said: "It was a great night in the end because we won, but we are not yet at the level we were last season but we will get there.
"Ludogorets played very well, they are a very good side and to get the win tonight was very important."
Ludogorets coach Georgi Dermendzhiev said other teams would have a different view of his team after this match.
"I'm very pleased with my players. They're brave and they didn't allow Liverpool to create many chances," he said.
"They'll start looking at Ludogorets in a different way in Europe now. I'm confident and I'm sure we're strong enough to finish third and continue in the Europa League."
Hit Woodwork
Ludogorets went closest to a goal before the late flurry started when Roman Bezjak hit a post after 72 minutes and although they deserved a point from an enterprising performance, they will be encouraged ahead of upcoming fixtures against Basel and champions Real Madrid.
It promised to be a memorable night for five-times former European champions Liverpool, but they never really got into their stride and after Ludogorets overcame a cautious start the game was wide open.
The Bulgarians began to stretch Liverpool at the back with Brazilian midfielder Marcelinho a constant menace with his swift breaks.
He was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the first half when Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren shoved him over, and he also went close to a goal himself in the second half.
Liverpool's midfield never took control either and their only real chance in the first half fell to Adam Lallana who failed to capitalise after some rare good work from Raheem Sterling.
But just as the game appeared to be petering out to a goalless draw, Balotelli struck when he got a difficult ball under control and scored with his right foot.
"It was world class," said Rodgers somewhat excessively.
AMSTERDAM-- Edinson Cavani scored early for Paris St Germain but a series of wasted chances came back to haunt them as Ajax Amsterdam equalised late to deny the French a winning start on the road in a 1-1 draw in Champions League Group F on Wednesday.
Cavani's goal came after 14 minutes following a bad defensive error but Lasse Schone curled home a free kick in the 74th minute to earn Ajax a point.
"We are certainly pleased with the draw. If you look at the mistakes we made, you have to be happy with the result. In the end we came close to winning it, but that would have been unjust," Ajax coach Frank de Boer said.
PSG took the lead just as the two sides were settling into the game. An error from Nicolai Boilesen, who let a long ball slip away from him, enabled Lucas to square a pass to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and although the visiting captain's shot was blocked, Cavani tapped home the loose ball.
Brazilian Lucas was at the heart of the French champions' creativity but was also the main culprit in their profligacy.
He stole the ball straight after the break but instead of passing to the unmarked Ibrahimovic he went alone and shanked his shot horribly wide.
Ibrahimovic missed from an angle with time to set his sights and then thundered a low free kick past the Ajax wall but straight at goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
Lucas set up Gregory van der Wiel, one of three former Ajax players in the Parisian line-up, as he overlapped down the right wing just after the hour mark but his effort was again easy for Cillessen to stop.
Lucas's floated free kick was then met with some power by the head of Marquinhos in the 67th minute but he was off target as PSG failed to exploit the gulf in class between the sides.
Ajax substitute Anwar El Ghazi might have got a red card just minutes after coming on as he kicked out at PSG full back Maxwell off the ball but instead was shown a lenient yellow by German referee Wolfgang Stark.
The hosts finally broke the shackles and after a rare attack they were awarded a free kick when Thulani Serero was brought down on the edge of the box by Marquinhos.
Schone flighted the ball past the deceived Salvatore Sirigu and three minutes later the Denmark international might have clinched an unlikely win but rattled the upright with another sweetly-struck free kick.
"We played a very strong team. We did well but we must do better. I had a golden chance early in the second half to make it 2-0 and I made a mistake with it," a rueful Lucas said.
LIVERPOOL, England- - After five years away, Champions League drama returned to Anfield like a long lost friend on Tuesday as Liverpool beat debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria 2-1 with Steven Gerrard scoring a last-gasp penalty.
All three goals came towards the end of a pulsating Group B game and, fittingly, it was Liverpool skipper Gerrard, the last remaining hero of their famous 2005 Champions League final victory over AC Milan in Istanbul, who scored the winner.
The midfielder fired home his 40th European goal in the last minute of stoppage time.
But this was no classic to rank alongside that win or other victories at Anfield over the likes of Olympiakos or Chelsea before they took a leave of absence from the competition in 2009.
This was a hard-fought victory after an achingly frustrating night with the Anfield faithful having to endure typical nail-biting tension before going home happy.
Italy striker Mario Balotelli, with his first goal for the club since his move from AC Milan, broke Ludogorets' resistance after 82 minutes, only for Liverpool to self-implode on the stroke of full-time when Dani Abalo took advantage of poor play by Simon Mignolet to round the keeper and equalise for the visitors.
With a draw looking inevitable, Canadian international keeper Milan Borjan, who only joined Ludogorets last week to solve a goalkeeping crisis, then made a terrible mistake at the other end, failing to clear a backpass, losing the ball, tangling with Javi Manquillo and giving away a penalty.
Gerrard, so deadly from the spot, made no mistake to score the winner seconds before the final whistle blew.
But Gerrard, and his manager Brendan Rodgers were not blind to how close Liverpool came to ending the night without a win.
"We did OK but it wasn't better than OK. There's a lot to learn, we were caused problems on the counter-attack, Gerrard said.
"You have to give Mario Balotelli credit, it didn't go his way for long periods but the sign of a good goalscorer is to keep going and get a chance. What's more important is his work rate.
"If we win in Basel now it puts us in a good position but we must do better."
Manager Rodgers, in his first Champions League match in charge, said: "It was a great night in the end because we won, but we are not yet at the level we were last season but we will get there.
"Ludogorets played very well, they are a very good side and to get the win tonight was very important."
Ludogorets coach Georgi Dermendzhiev said other teams would have a different view of his team after this match.
"I'm very pleased with my players. They're brave and they didn't allow Liverpool to create many chances," he said.
"They'll start looking at Ludogorets in a different way in Europe now. I'm confident and I'm sure we're strong enough to finish third and continue in the Europa League."
Hit Woodwork
Ludogorets went closest to a goal before the late flurry started when Roman Bezjak hit a post after 72 minutes and although they deserved a point from an enterprising performance, they will be encouraged ahead of upcoming fixtures against Basel and champions Real Madrid.
It promised to be a memorable night for five-times former European champions Liverpool, but they never really got into their stride and after Ludogorets overcame a cautious start the game was wide open.
The Bulgarians began to stretch Liverpool at the back with Brazilian midfielder Marcelinho a constant menace with his swift breaks.
He was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the first half when Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren shoved him over, and he also went close to a goal himself in the second half.
Liverpool's midfield never took control either and their only real chance in the first half fell to Adam Lallana who failed to capitalise after some rare good work from Raheem Sterling.
But just as the game appeared to be petering out to a goalless draw, Balotelli struck when he got a difficult ball under control and scored with his right foot.
"It was world class," said Rodgers somewhat excessively.
