AS Roma clung on for a 1-1 draw away to Porto despite having Thomas Vermaelen sent off on his debut before halftime in a dramatic Champions League playoff first leg last night.

Porto defender Felipe gifted Roma the lead with an own goal but the Serie A side had Vermaelen dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 41st minute and Andre Silva replied for the twice European champions with a second-half penalty.

A superb individual goal by midfielder Bernardo Silva gave Monaco a 2-1 win away to Villarreal in another of Wednesday's five ties while much-travelled Brazilian Alexandre Pato scored on his debut for the hosts.

Leigh Griffiths scored twice to help Celtic thrash Hapoel Beer Sheva 5-2 in Glasgow, although the Scottish champions suffered a scare as their 3-0 halftime lead was at one point reduced to 3-2 by the Israeli visitors.

Polish champions Legia Warsaw won 2-0 away to Irish counterparts Dundalk and Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad beat Viktoria Plzen 2-0 in a meeting of the Bulgarian and Czech league winners.

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