valencia,Arsenal, Ajax also triumph

    SPANISH soccer continued to dominate Europe as the Champions League began its eight-month run toward the final in Manchester.

　　Despite playing without Ronaldo, nine-time champion and holder Real Madrid opened with a resounding 3-0 victory at AS Roma Tuesday. Spanish league champion Valencia, losing finalist in two of the last three seasons, showed it could be there again as the team outclassed Liverpool 2-0.

　　Spain is widely regarded as Europe’s top league with FC Barcelona and Deportivo de La Coruna swinging into action Wednesday.

　　Real Madrid, winners of Europe’s top club prize in three of the last five seasons, did nothing to diminish its role as the favorite to repeat a title it won four months ago.

　　In the night’s other key matches, Arsenal picked up a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

　　Four-time champion Ajax also opened with a 2-1 victory in Amsterdam against Lyon.

　　In Tuesday’s other four matches: Auxerre 0, PSV Eindhoven 0; FC Basel 2, Spartak Moscow 0; Racing Genk 0, AEK Athens 0; Rosenborg 2, Inter Milan 2.

　　After Roma had mounted an all-out — but fruitless — assault on Madrid’s goal in the opening 40 minutes of the match, Jose Maria Gutierrez’s 41st-minute score took the hosts by surprise and changed the game’s tone.

　　The first quick counterstrike silenced what had been a boisterous sold-out crowd of 71,000 at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

　　Raul made it 2-0 in the 56th and Guti got his second in the 74th.

　　Ronaldo was back in Madrid working on his fitness.

　　The loss continued Roma’s poor start to the season following a surprising loss to Bologna in its opening Serie A match Saturday.

　　In London, Freddie Ljungberg marked his first appearance of the season with a memorable goal for the Gunners, seen by some as the top threat to Real.

　　Dennis Bergkamp fired the English champion ahead of the German titlist in the 62nd minute before Ljungberg, who has been sidelined with a hip injury suffered in the World Cup, finished off a 13-second move that started with goalkeeper David Seaman’s throw.

　　In Auxerre, France, Guus Hiddink’s PSV Eindhoven was denied a win as Danish striker Dennis Rommedahl came close to scoring for the visitors in the 39th minute.

　　In Valencia, Spain, the Spanish champion took a 2-0 first-half lead on goals by Pablo Cesar Aimar (20th) and Ruben Baraja (38th). Aimar’s goal was perfectly worked off a series of passes. Baraja hammered the ball home from 15 meters. Liverpool’s Dietmar Hamann was sent off in the 77th on his second yellow card.

　　In Trondheim, Norway, Hernan Crespo scored in the 33rd to give Inter a 1-0 lead at halftime. But Azar Karadas equalized in the 52nd for the Norwegians and then gave his side the lead in the 65th. Crespo got his second and the equalizer in the 78th. (SD-Agencies)