Partizan’s Vladimir Volkov (right) holds off Tottenham’s Paulinho.

Tottenham held firm in intimidating conditions to kick off the Europa League group stage with a hard-fought, goalless draw at Partizan Belgrade yesterday.

In Zagreb, Algeria’s El Arbi Hilal Soudani scored a first-half hat-trick for Dinamo who began the group stage by crushing Romanians Astra 5-1, while there were also wins for ex-European champions Inter and PSV Eindhoven.

Spurs lacked creativity but defended resolutely to secure a 0-0 draw in a daunting atmosphere at Partizan Stadium, where some home fans displayed what appeared to be an anti-Semitic banner.

It was an unsavoury sight and one Spurs may well complain about to governing body UEFA, just two years on from the disgusting racial abuse suffered by England Under-21s in Serbia.

Soudani capped a superb week for Algeria forwards, following Yacine Brahimi’s hat-trick for Porto in the Champions League, with two headers and a calmly-taken effort to seal the points for Dinamo before the break in Group D.

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.

Torino escaped with a goalless draw at Club Brugge in their Group B opener.

The Italian outfit had just one shot on goal in the entire game and relied on the saves of their returning Belgian goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet to come away with a point.

Former European champions 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.

Holders Sevilla launched their campaign with a 2-0 home win over Feyenoord in Group G.

Grzegorz Krychowiak and Stephane M’bia scored the goals for the Spanish side.

Napoli hit back from a goal down to see off Czech side Sparta Prague 3-1. Gonzalo Higuain (penalty) and a Dries Mertens brace handed coach Rafa Benitez a much-needed boost after Napoli lost 1-0 at home to Chievo in the Serie A on Sunday.

Fiorentina were easy 3-0 winners against French side Guingamp while Everton hammered Bundesliga team Wolfsburg 4-1.

Yesterday’s results

Group A
A. Limassol vs FC Zurich 3-2; B. M’gladbach vs Villarreal 1-1.

Group B
Club Brugge vs Torino 0-0; FC Copenhagen vs HJK Helsinki 2-0.

Group C
Besiktas vs A. Tripolis 1-1; P. Belgrade vs Tottenham 0-0.

Group D
D. Zagreb vs Astra 5-1; Salzburg vs Celtic 2-2.

Group E
PSV vs Estoril 1-0; Panathinaikos vs D. Moscow 1-2.

Group F
Qarabag vs St Etienne 0-0; Dnipro vs Inter 0-1.

Group G
Sevilla vs Feyenoord 2-0; S. Liege vs Rijeka 2-0.

Group H
Everton vs Wolfsburg 4-1; Lille vs Krasnodar 1-1.

Group I
Napoli vs S. Prague 3-1; Young Boys vs S. Bratislava 5-0.

Group J
Rio Ave vs D. Kiev 0-3; S. Bucharest vs Aalborg 6-0.

Group K
Fiorentina vs Guingamp 3-0; PAOK vs D. Minsk 6-1.

Group L
L. Warsaw vs Lokeren 1-0; Metalist Kharkiv vs Trabzonspor 1-2.