Cluj stun Roma as Gerrard lifts 'Pool

Juan Culio scored twice as CFR Cluj came from behind to beat Roma 2-1 and make a stunning Champions League debut in their Group A opener at the Stadio Olimpico last night.

In France, two first-half goals by Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a 2-1 win at Olympique Marseille in their opening Group D match while a goal in each half from Mancini and Adriano gave Inter a 2-0 win over Panathinaikos in Group B.

Chelsea, last season's beaten finalists, began their new campaign with a convincing 4-0 victory over Bordeaux at Stamford Bridge.

Headers by Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, in his 50th European match for the club, put Chelsea in control after 30 minutes and only wayward shooting by Lampard and Nicolas Anelka before the break prevented the London side winning by a bigger margin.

Florent Malouda brightened up an uneventful second half with Chelsea's third in the 82nd minute after fine approach work by Jon Obi Mikel and a Lampard backheel set up the French winger for his shot.

Anelka made it 4-0 with the last kick of the game.

Christian Panucci had headed Serie A side Roma in front in the 16th minute after Daniele De Rossi stole the ball near the corner flag and whipped a cross to the near post.

Argentine forward Culio levelled in the 28th with a diagonal strike from outside the area set up by a sweet lay-off from Eugen Trica.

He then volleyed home a loose header from Marco Cassetti four minutes after the break to give the Romanian champions a night to remember.

Mancini struck in the 27th minute for Inter when Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic held off two defenders to slide the ball through to him.

Inter did not have it all their own way as Bryce Moon hit Julio Cesar's crossbar and the Greek side missed several other opportunities to level.

The home side dominated the second half but were undone five minutes from time when substitute Adriano latched on to a through ball from Ibrahimovic and lashed the ball past Mario Galinovic.

Marseille opened the scoring 23 minutes into a lively game when captain Lorik Cana beat an offside trap to collect an astute lob over the Liverpool defence by fellow midfielder Benoit Cheyrou and leave Pepe Reina no chance.

Midfielder Gerrard put Liverpool level with a splendid goal three minutes later, latching on to a fine Dirk Kuyt pass and firing into the top corner from the edge of the box.

The Liverpool captain then gave his side the lead from a penalty which he had to take twice on 32 minutes. The visitors were awarded the spot-kick after Ryan Babel was brought down in the area by Marseille defender Ronald Zubar.

Former European champions Marseille, who were thrashed 4-0 the last time Liverpool came to their Velodrome stadium in December 2007, put up a brave fight but suffered against opponents physically superior and better organised.

From the same group, Atletico Madrid celebrated their first Champions League match in 11 years with an impressive 3-0 away win over PSV Eindhoven.

The Spaniards dominated the match from the start with Argentina striker Sergio Aguero scoring twice in the first half to give them a comfortable advantage at the break.

Atletico settled the match nine minutes into the second half when Maniche added a third goal to put his team on top of the group.

Barcelona rediscovered their scoring touch to beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1. Pep Guardiola's side had failed to win in their last three matches, scoring just once from the penalty spot coming into the game, but Rafael Marquez headed them in front midway through the first half.

Striker Samuel Eto'o doubled the lead by converting a penalty on the hour but Barca looked vulnerable when Sporting's Tonel pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute.

Xavi settled Barca's nerves and sealed the points for the home side with a well-worked goal three minutes from time.

Meanwhile, Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta made a great start to life in the Champions League when they held wasteful Werder Bremen to a 0-0 draw.