Real Madrid 2 - Olympiakos 1

Madrid: Casillas; Michel Salgado (Diogo 80'), Iván Helguera, Sergio Ramos, Roberto Carlos; Pablo García (Gravesen 84'), Guti; Beckham, Raúl, Baptista (Soldado 77'); Robinho. 4-2-3-1.
Olympiakos: Nikopolidis; Mavrogenidis (Kapsis 39'), Anatolakis, Kostoulas, Georgatos; Kafes, Touré, Stoltidis (Babangida 88'), Djordjevic; Rivaldo, Konstantinou (Okkas 85'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 09. Raúl. Got ahead of defence to head Beckham cross past Nikopolidis.
1-1. 47. Kafes. Picked up pass outside area and fired shot in off post.
2-1. 86. Soldado. Headed past keeper at second attempt after Beckham cross.

A late goal by young substitute Soldado saved the day for Real Madrid, who had more problems than they expected beating Olympiakos. The "Galacticos" over-ran their rivals in the first half and it was a miracle they were not way ahead by the break. Guti was back in the side and a clever back-heel pass set up Baptista to shoot over the top early on. And Raúl headed the opening goal soon afterwards from a cross by a David Beckham who probably had his best match since joining the club. It was the club captain's 50th in Europe's top competition, making him the all-time top scorer.

After that it was one way traffic, Nikopolidis saving from a Roberto Carlos thunderbolt and then from a dangerous Beckham free kick. The Greek side briefly got back in the game, Casillas saving well from a Rivaldo free kick and Konstantinou heading another chance wide. But successive passes from Beckham set up Baptista and then Robinho for them both to test the visiting keeper, who also pushed out another effort from the England midfielder before the break.

The surprise came though just a couple of minutes after the restart, Kafes (who curiously wears the number one shirt) picking up a seemingly safe ball outside of the area and beating Casillas with a long shot in off the post. That caught Madrid off guard, and their flowing football dried up as the Greeks sat back to defend. Baptista and Raúl both failed to find the target, and with Ronaldo still suspended Luxemburgo was forced to turn to under 21 international Roberto Soldado. That did the trick though, and the substitute rose to meet another Beckham cross and head past the keeper at the second attempt.

There was still time for Sergio Ramos to get himself sent off rather harshly after a retaliation on Okkas, but the final whistle went seconds later and Madrid had their first points in the bag.