Barcelona 4 - Leeds Utd 0

Barcelona: Dutruel; Abelardo, Frank De Boer, Sergi; Gerard, Cocu (Petit 57'); Simao, Rivaldo (Alfonso 73'), Overmars; Kluivert, Dani (De la Peña 66'). 3-2-3-2.

Goals:
1-0. 10. Rivaldo. Took Simao's pass, beat defender and shot wide of Martyn.
2-0. 20. Frank De Boer. Curling free kick from edge of area to top corner of net.
3-0. 74. Kluivert. Ran on to pass from Simao on right and shot under keeper.
4-0. 82.Kluivert. Received pass from De la Peña, controlled and beat keeper.

A capacity 98,000 crowd turned up to see Barcelona thrash a depleted Leeds United side to start their new Champions League campaign with a bang. Patrick Kluivert had recovered from his injury and came back into the side in place of Alfonso, himself not fully fit. The only other change from the team which started the league was the return of Abelardo for Reiziger. Leeds manager David O'Leary must have dreamed of being able to pick his first choice players, having seven of his regular first team unavailable, including injuries to Harry Kewell, out for three months, and Jason Wilcox, who broke an ankle in training a few days before this match. Their makeshift side was no match for a Barça side brimming with confidence after a change of management and the signing of several new players. Rivaldo picked himself up from a crunching tackle by Alan Smith in the first minute to open the scoring ten minutes later, and Frank De Boer took over the mantle from Koeman to strike a curling free kick over the defensive wall ten minutes later. Smith was not in a mood to make friends, and another vicious tackle on Cocu left him with a yellow card, and the Dutch player out of football for a week or so. Kluivert added two more goals in the second half as the Leeds defence gave up, and with the game stopped when Radebe was laid out unconscious on the pitch after an accidental clash of heads with his own player, the crowd started a Mexican wave. Radebe's injury appeared serious as he was taken off on the motorised stretcher wearing a neck brace, leaving O'Leary looking even more concerned, but in the end it appeared to be only a mild concussion. Leeds problems don't end there though, and they have to pick themselves up for their next match against Milan. Barcelona couldn't have had a better start.