Atletico Madrid disappoints on European debut

MADRID, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Atletico Madrid's Champions League campaign got off to a disappointing start after the Spaniards could only draw 0-0 against Cypriot outfit APOEL FC.

Atletico had over 20 shots on goal, 10 of which were on target, during the 90 minutes in the Vicente Calderon, but was still unable to find an elusive goal.

Atletico kicked off in the middle o fan internal crisis at the club following demonstrations against the Directors before and after Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander.

Coach Abel Resino made several changes to his side, bringing Diego Forlan in to the starting 11, after the Uruguayan had begun the weekend's game on the bench.

Kun Aguero, Maxi Rodriguez, Simao and Jose Jurado were also in an attack minded team.

However, if anyone was expecting an easy ride against the Cypriot side, the first 45 minutes were to prove them wrong.

The first half was an even affair with APOEL creating chances of their own, although the Atletico fans will argue that Forlan and Simao had good chances to score.

The second half meanwhile was a monologue of Atletico attacks and saves from the excellent Cypriot keeper Dionisios Chotis.

Forlan and Simao tested the keeper in the first 10 minutes of the half, while Maxi also had an opportunity.

The Atletico supporters were clearly loosing patience with their players and the boos that echoed around the ground only served to make their players even more nervous.

To their credit the Atletico team kept on trying until the 90thminute and Forlan almost scored in injury time, but sadly for Atletico it was not to be and the pressure on coach Abel is growing with every game.

Sevilla prepares for Champions League debut

MADRID, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Primera Liga outfit Sevilla looks to begin this season's Champions League campaign with all three points when it entertains Romanian side Unirea Urziceni in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Romanians are theoretically the weakest side in a group that also contains Glasgow Rangers and Stuttgart, but Sevilla coach Manuel Jimenez is taking nothing for granted.

"It would be a lie if I said I knew a lot about them, but another Romanian side - Cluj, were unknowns and they almost knocked Roma out last season. Unirea has players who are all aged around 28 years old and they have a lot of experience," explained Jimenez in his pre-match press conference.

Jimenez expects the game to be a close run affair and he highlighted the strength of the Romanian side in defense.

"They were only the seventh or eighth highest scorers in their league, but they had the best defensive record," he explained.

"We will have to be patient to be able to beat them, because if we get carried away, they are going to try and hit us on the break," he said.

The Sevilla coach has plenty of options in his side and one of the questions he has to answer is whether to keep faith in strikers Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo or recall Freddy Kanoute to his side.

Kanoute was suspended on Saturday and Sevilla responded in style, beating Zaragoza 4-1.

Luis Fabiano scored twice, while his connection with recent signing Negredo seemed to work well, so Kanoute may have start the game on the substitutes, bench.

Jimenez, however, was giving nothing away.

"I don't know what I am going to do: Luis and Alvaro worked hard on Saturday and are almost recovered, but we also have players such as Aruna Kone, who can come in and do a job as well for us," he said.

Real Madrid flatters to deceive in Zurich triumph

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after he scored during their Champions League soccer match against FC Zurich (FCZ) at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich September 15, 2009. (Reuters Photo)

Hannu Tihinen (R) of FC Zurich (FCZ) is challenged by Real Madrid's Kaka during their Champions League soccer match at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich September 15, 2009. (Reuters Photo)

MADRID, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid had to survive a second half fight back from Swiss side Zurich before claiming all three points in the opening game of the Champions League group stage.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two free kicks, while Raul, Gonzalo Higuain and Guti added further goals in the Spanish side's 5-2 away win.

However, Real Madrid struggling to holding on to a 3-2 lead before Ronaldo and Guti scored late goals to give the final result a healthier look.

After the weekend's 3-0 win away to Espanyol, coach Manuel Pellegrino brought Ronaldo back into the starting 11 along with central defender Pepe.

The Portuguese international was making his first appearance for the club after being banned for 10 Primera Liga matches for aggression at the end of last season.

The first half saw Real Madrid in total control against a rival that was not close to the level of the Spanish side.

The only surprise was that it took Real 26 minutes to open the scoring. Ronaldo fired home a powerful free kick from outside of the penalty area.

It was the first free kick he has scored since his 95 million Euro arrival from Manchester United over the summer.

Raul added a second goal after 34 minutes. Higuain did well to work a chance and all the Real Madrid captain had to do was slot the ball home from close range.

Higuain added a third on the stroke of half time. He worked the shooting chance himself and left the Swiss keeper with no chance.

The game looked to be a walkover for Real, but in the second half, Zurich fought back bravely and two goals in the space of a minute got them right back into things.

Things began to go wrong after Xabi Alonso had to leave the pitch with knee injury.

After 64 minutes Xavier Margairaz scored a penalty after Iker Casillas had fouled Alexandre Alphonse and a minute later it was 3-2 after Sylvan Aegerter nodded home from a corner.

That was the sign for Zurich to go all out for the equalizer as Madrid suffered for 25 minutes.

However, Ronaldo's second goal of the night following a disastrous error from Zurich keeper Johnny Leoni, calmed nerves among the Spaniards and Guti's 94th minute goal following a Kaka pass gave the final score a sheen that five minutes earlier had looked unlikely.

Germany's Wolfsburg, Munich overcome rivals in Champions League

Bayern Munich's Daniel van Buyten (C) celebrates his goal against Maccabi Haifa during their Champions League soccer match at Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv September 15, 2009. (Reuters Photo)

VfL Wolfsburg's Grafite scores past CSKA Moscow's goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev during their Champions League soccer match in Wolfsburg September 15, 2009. (Reuters Photo)

BERLIN, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- German Bundesliga newly-crowned champion Wolfsburg and record champion Bayern Munich overcame their rivals in the opening games of this season's Champions League on Tuesday.

Wolfsburg beat ZSKA Moskau 3-1 at home to win their first match in group stage of UEFA Champions League, while visiting Bayern Munich swept Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in Israel.

The first appearance of VfL Wolfsburg in the Champions League ended with a well deserved victory thanks to game-decider Grafite.

Shortly before the end of the first half, Wolfsburg striker Grafite opened the scoring with a right footed shot at the 36th minute. Five minutes later Grafite again converted a penalty after he was fouled by Moskaus defender Deividas Semberas in penalty area.

After interval ZSKA Moskau pressed hard, but only at the 77th minute Moskaus midfielder Alan Dzagoev shortened the gap with a right-footed goal. Champions League newcomer Wolfsburg showed their capacity and Grafite soon hat-tricked with a left-footed goal.

Also on Tuesday, Bayern earned their first victory with a mediocre performance in Maccabi Haifa. Bayern showed their sharp offensive after the interval when Bayern's defender and Dutch national Daniel van Buyten scored from 13 meters after Haifa failed to clear the ball.

Just like the last Bundesliga game between Bayern and Dortmund, Youngster striker Thomas Mueller who sealed the victory of Bayern by two goals at the 88th and 89th minute.

On Wednesday, German soccer powerhouse Stuttgart will start their group stage of Champions League by facing FC Rangers.

Ronaldo's return is postponed

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ronaldo returned to practice with the rest of his teammates at the Corinthians soccer team on Tuesday for the first time in nearly two months.

The player finally recovered from his left hand surgery and liposuction, but is not in game shape.

The team's head coach, Mano Menezes, postponed the player's return to the field. The decision comes in order to better prepare the player physically and get him ready for game-like conditions.

"We are going to wait just a little longer. His hand has fully recovered and he was given the go-ahead to participate in all physical activities. We will continue to monitor him and see when he will be ready to play," described Menezes.

Ronaldo was expected to play on September 20 against Coritiba. The new date for his return to the Brazilian Championship is set for September 27 against Sao Paulo, their cross-town rivals, at the Morumbi stadium.

Ecuador announces decisive match against Uruguay

QUITO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Ecuadorian soccer national team will face its Uruguayan counterpart on Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. (2100 GMT) in a decisive match of the South American qualifiers to the World Cup South Africa 2010, the Ecuadorian Soccer Federation (FEF) announced on Tuesday.

The match will be played in Atahualpa Stadium of Quito, the FEF said in a statement.

The FEF said that on the same day there will be the matches of Colombia vs Chile, Argentina against Peru, Brazil vs Bolivia and Venezuela against Paraguay.

Maradona's doctor confirms trip to Italy for losing weight

BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Diego Maradona's doctor Alfredo Cahe said on Tuesday that Maradona's trip to a spa in Italy to lose weight was planed "since more than 20 days ago".

Cahe denied that Maradona's trip to the "Henri Chenot" center of Merano, in the north of Italy is for receiving treatment for his drug and alcohol addiction, saying Maradona "has surpassed" both addictions.

"Any time there is a medical checkup for Diego, the first thing people think is that he returned to his addictions. People think he has not left or surpassed those addictions and I consider him as an example for youth because it is possible to leave them," Cahe said.

Cahe told local TV sports channel TyC Maradona's trip was planed 20 days ago aimed "to attempt balancing his diet," who won several kilograms after he was appointed coach of the national team.

Maradona's trip was aimed "for him to exercise, get a diet and check all Diego's food," Cahe said.