Juventus, Barcelona and Arsenal secured comfortable wins in the first-leg of the Champions League third qualifying matches. English side Arsenal defeated Dutch side Twente Enschede 2-0 away from home. Despite missing nine players against Twente, Arsenal found no difficulty in overcoming Steve McClaren's men. Two second-half goals from skipper William Gallas and Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor helped the Gunners take a first-leg advantage. Italian giants Juventus returned to Champions League action with a convincing 4-0 victory over Artmedia Bratislava. The Bianconeri last played in the elite competition in the 2005/2006 season before being relegated to Serie B for their part in the Italian match-fixing scandal.
Del Piero scored for Juve Mauro Camoranesi opened the scoring after seven minutes and veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero doubled the lead in the 26th minute. Defender Giorgio Chiellini added the third six minutes before the break. Nicola Legrottaglie wrapped up the victory in stoppage time. Spanish giants Barcelona thrashed Polish side Wisla Krakow 4-0 at Nou Camp. Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto'o, who is set to carry on with Barcelona despite Pep Guardiola's initial comments that he did not feature in his plans, scored twice. EURO 2008 best player Xavi Hernandez and French striker Thierry Henry were also on the scoresheet to give Barca a comfortable win.
