Title holders Barcelona kicked-off their UEFA Champions League campaign with a 5-0 annihilation of Bulgaria's Levski Sofia in their Group A match on Tuesday. Goals from Andres Iniesta, Ludovic Giuly, Carles Puyol, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho gave the Spanish champions a big win over debutants Levski. The victory put the Catalan giants in charge of their group with three points. Iniesta opened the score as early as the seventh minute when he sent a low drive from just outside the area into the back of the net after being set-up by Eto'o. Cameroonian striker Eto'o orchestrated Barca's second six minutes before the break when he sent a neat pass to Giuly, who picked the ball on the edge of the area and went forward with only the keeper to beat before slotting home. Barca skipper Puyol added the third three minutes after re-start when he pounced on the rebound from Ronaldinho's free-kick that saw Levski keeper Georgi Petkov fumble the ball.
Essien opened Chelsea's account against Bremen Eto'o dug deeper into Levski's wound in the 58th minute after side-stepping two defenders inside the area and sending a left-footed strike past the hapless Petkov. Ronaldinho completed the rout in stoppage time after curling a brilliant drive into the far top corner of the net. Elsewhere, English champions Chelsea cruised past Germany's Werder Bremen with a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Michael Essien broke the deadlock in the 24th minute after capitalizing on a dreadful error by Bremen defender Petri Pasanen. Pasanen failed to clear an easy ball outside of his own area only for the Ghanaian international to pounce and fire home into the bottom corner of the net. Michael Ballack sealed the victory from a controversial penalty nine minutes past the hour after Ivorian striker Didier Drogba was allegedly brought down by Clemens Fritz inside the area. Chelsea are in second place with three points, trailing Barcelona on goal difference.
