(REUTERS) – Inter Milan suffered a shock home defeat by Trabzonspor as the Turkish club took full advantage of their lucky entry into the Champions league group stages for the first time yesterday. Serie A club Inter, who beat Bayern Munich to win the trophy in 2010, slipped to a 1-0 defeat in their Group B opener at the San Siro, by far the biggest surprise of the first week of action in Europe’s premium club competition.
Last season’s runners-up Manchester United survived a grilling in Lisbon where a goal by 37-year-old Ryan Giggs earned a 1-1 draw against Benfica in Group C while Real Madrid got a gritty 1-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb despite having Marcelo sent off.
Before seeing red for diving, Marcelo showed his better side by carving out the chance which Angel De Maria stylishly converted in the 53rd minute.
The other Group D match saw Ajax Amsterdam draw 0-0 at home to Olympique Lyon while France’s other side in action on the night, Ligue 1 champions Lille, squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to CSKA Moscow.
In Group A, regarded as the toughest of the eight, Bayern Munich produced an authoritative display to win 2-0 at Villarreal while Manchester City and Napoli, both making their debuts in the competition, earned a point apiece in a 1-1 draw.
With Lille drawing against CSKA Moscow, Trabzonspor are the unlikely early leaders of Group B — an incredible turn of events given that they are only in the competition because Turkish champions Fenerbahce were expelled.
While conceding most of the possession to Inter, they looked perfectly at home and a solid performance turned into a memorable victory 14 minutes from time when Ondrej Celustka turned the ball home after Halil Altintop’s shot rebounded off the crossbar and Inter failed to clear.
While the Turks celebrated, Inter’s new boss Gian Piero Gasperini will come under early pressure after his side lost their third match out of three this season, as a subdued Inter struggled to create chances although they should have been ahead when substitute Diego Milito wasted two gilt-edged opportunities to score.
Bayern, whose stadium will host the final next May, celebrated their 250th European fixture with a performance that suggested they could be serious contenders this season.
Toni Kroos gave the Bavarians an early lead and Rafinha sealed victory late on. Bayern top the early standings although they face sterner tests from Manchester City and Napoli.
City’s much-hyped entrance into the European big league after being transformed by hundreds of millions of pounds of investment from their Abu Dhabi owners looked like going flat when Edinson Cavani scored for the Italians on the break.
However, Aleksandar Kolarov salvaged a point with a free kick despite finishing the match with a broken nose.
While City rued missing the chance to start with a win, cross-town rivals United were relieved to come away from Lisbon with a point after falling behind to a classy strike by Paraguayan Oscar Cardozo.
United were stretched to breaking point at times and needed several great saves from Anders Lindegaard to keep them in the game but Giggs, already the oldest scorer in the competition, proved his worth again in his 22nd season at the club.
His unstoppable shot just before halftime earned Alex Ferguson’s side a useful point from what should be their toughest match in Group C, while in the group’s other match, Switzerland’s Basel beat Romanian newcomers Otelul Galati 2-1 thanks to a late penalty by Alexander Frei as both sides finished with 10 men.