Ronaldinho scored a hat trick to confirm Barcelona as one of the favorites to win this year's Champions League, beating Italy's Udinese 4-1 on Tuesday.
Other former European champions Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester United also won in the second round of Europe's top club competition.
It was an all-Brazil night at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. Brazilian-born Deco, who holds a Portuguese passport, also scored for the Catalans. Brazilian Felipe scored Udinese's lone goal.
PHOTO: EPA
"I'm pleased, firstly because of the win, and secondly for helping the team with my goals," Ronaldinho said. "It's a good result for the team and we have to keep working."
Ronaldino's spectacular free kick sent Barca on its way, curling in a 20m shot in the 13th minute. Felipe equalized in the 24th, chipping in from a corner kick to take advantage of lax Barcelona defending.
Ronaldinho put Barca ahead again, scoring on a sharp-angled shot in the 32nd after Samuel Eto'o cut the ball back into the area. In the 41st, Deco scored on his own swerving free kick.
Barca cruised through the second half after Luis Vidigal was sent off early on his second yellow card, leaving Udinese with 10 men. Ronaldinho scored his third on a penalty in injury time.
In the other Group C match, Greek team Panathinaikos won 2-1 at home over Werder Bremen on a fifth-minute penalty by Ezequiel Gonzalez and a goal three minute later from Vangelis Mantzios. Miroslav Klose scored in the 41st for the Germans.
Barcelona leads the group with six points in two games.
In other results -- Group A: Juventus 3, Rapid Vienna 0; Bayern Munich 1, Club Brugge 0. Group B: Ajax 1, Arsenal 2; Thun 1, Sparta Prague 0. Group D: Manchester United 2, Benfica 1; Lille 0, Villarreal 0.
Juventus and Bayern Munich moved atop Group A with six points from two games. They face each other in the next two Champions League rounds.
Juventus, which has now won its first seven games of the season, got goals from David Trezeguet (27th), Adrian Mutu (82nd) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (85th). Juve has won five consecutive league games, and two straight in Europe.
"We could have closed out the match in the first half," Juventus coach Fabio Capello said. "At the end when the game did open up, we showed how we are capable of playing."
Martin Demichelis' 32nd-minute goal lifted the German champions 1-0 over Belgian club FC Brugge. Bayern dominated the game but the goal came from a blunder by 'keeper Tomislav Butina. The Croatian charged out on a corner, missed the ball, and Demichelis scored from close range.
"It wasn't a shining moment for us," Bayern coach Felix Magath said of the match.
Added Brugge player Sven Vermant: "If you go into a group with Juventus and Bayern, you don't expect to finish first or second. Our real game is against Rapid Vienna."
In Group B, Arsenal stayed perfect with six points in two matches. Fredrik Ljungberg gave Arsenal the lead after only two minutes and Robert Pires made it 2-0 on a 69th-minute penalty. Ajax's Markus Rosenberg scored in the 71st for the former European champions.
In the other Group B game, tiny Swiss team Thun upset Sparta Prague 1-0 on Selver Hodzik's goal in the 89th. Thun -- playing its first season in the Champions League -- narrowly lost two weeks ago to Arsenal 1-0.
In Group D, Manchester United had to rally to beat Benfica 2-1 on Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal in the 85th. Ryan Giggs gave United a 1-0 lead in the 39th, with Simao Sabrosa leveling in the 59th.
The match stirred memories of the 1968 European championship final, which Manchester United won at Wembley stadium.
The victory eased pressure on Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who was booed off the field in Manchester United's loss over the weekend to Blackburn.
"When you lose a game you have three or fours days to make amends and we did so tonight," he said.
With Villarreal drawing 0-0 at Lille in the other Group D match, Manchester United leads with four points. Benfica has three, followed by Villarreal with two and Lille with one.
Today, it's Fenerbahce versus PSV Eindhoven and Schalke versus AC Milan in Group E; Real Madrid versus Olympiakos and Rosenborg versus Lyon in Group F; Anderlecht versus Betis and Liverpool versus Chelsea in Group G; Porto versus Artmedia Bratislava and Inter Milan versus Rangers in Group H.
Liverpool versus Chelsea is a rematch of last year's all-English Champions League semifinal, in which Liverpool upset Chelsea. Liverpool then won the final, rallying to beat AC Milan on penalty kicks after trailing 3-0 at halftime.
With 80 teams still alive in the crowded UEFA Cup, Europe's No. 2 club competition still needs time to sort out.
Three Italian teams are among the favorites and Roma -- the overall tournament favorite of British bookmakers -- is coming off a 5-1 victory in the first leg going into today's second-leg match at Greek side Aris Thessaloniki.
Roma is off to an average start in the Italian league, but defender Christian Chivu believes the team can win a big trophy this season.
"The season is long and we have to play with the thought that we can win something. It can be the league, the UEFA Cup or the Italian Cup," Chivu said.
The two other Italian favorites are also in good shape. Sampdoria is home against Setubal after a 1-1 draw in Portugal two weeks ago. Palermo goes to Greek club Anorthisis with a 2-1 lead.
Sevilla may be one of the favorites with the most problems. The match two weeks ago in Spain ended 0-0 despite Sevilla's total dominance over German team Mainz 05.
Hertha Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Leverkusen head Germany's challenge.
Hertha Berlin comes home with a 1-0 lead over Apoel of Cyprus, and Stuttgart goes to Slovenian side Domzale up 2-0. Hamburg, however, has problems after blowing a 1-0 lead at home to draw 1-1 with Copenhagen. The second leg in Denmark could be tough.
Leverkusen lost its first-leg match 1-0 at home to CSKA Sofia. Caretaker manager Rudi Voeller is hoping for a revival in the second leg in Bulgaria.
CSKA Moscow will be without injured striker Vagner Love in the return game against Danish team Midtjylland. CSKA is up 3-1 going to Denmark. Another Russian favorite, Lokomotiv Moscow, leads 2-1 and is playing at home against Norway's Brann.
Middlesbrough is the English favorite and is ahead 2-0 against Xanthi entering Thursday's game in Greece. Another English club, Bolton, leads Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1 going into the second leg in Bulgaria. Bolton will play without defender Ivan Campo, who has a broken foot.
Everton lost 5-1 at Dynamo Bucharest in the first leg, and has a long way back.
Monaco and Feyenoord are also clubs rated with a chance. Monaco won the first leg at home 2-0 over Willem II, and Dutch side Feyenoord drew 1-1 at home in the first leg against Rapid Bucharest.
David Connolly was named in Ireland's 24-man squad Tuesday for next month's two World Cup qualifiers, two years after the Wigan striker last represented his national team.
The last of Connolly's 40 appearances for Ireland came in a 2-0 European Championship qualifying defeat to Switzerland in October 2003.
Ireland failed to qualify for the finals in Portugal in 2004.
But the 28-year-old has scored five goals in six matches this season and made a ?2-million (2.9 million euros) move from second-tier club Leicester to promoted Wigan in August.
"He has always been in our thoughts because he is an experienced international player," Ireland manager Brian Kerr said. "He had a decent season last year with Leicester, and I have seen him in action for both Leicester and Wigan this season.
"I have good reports on him because he has made a bright start and he looks like his old self."
Ireland is fourth in Group 4 with 13 points, three behind co-leaders Switzerland and France and two behind Israel, which has played an extra game. Ireland plays at Cyprus on Oct. 8 and hosts Switzerland four days later.
Forward Clinton Morrison and midfielder Andy Reid are suspended for the match against Cyprus and midfielder Roy Keane will miss both games after breaking a bone in his left foot.
Reading forward Kevin Doyle was named in his first Ireland squad, with Tottenham's Robbie Keane and Sunderland's Stephen Elliott short of match-time this season.
"We don't have too many center forwards in the squad, and as to whether he plays, I will see how he does in the next couple of matches for Reading," Kerr said.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich and two other Bundesliga clubs demanded more money Tuesday for releasing their players to the German national team.
Bayern, Schalke and Werder Bremen want the German football federation (DFB) to increase the 6,000 euros it pays for each player because salaries and financial losses when players are injured are increasing.
The three teams provided a total 10 players for Germany's most recent match, one of 15 scheduled for this year.
"We release the players for several weeks, but have to pay them," Schalke manager Rudi Assauer said.
"The DFB earns a substantial amount of money during that time."
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said world soccer's governing body should rule on the issue. He said FIFA would earn more than 1.4 billion euros from the 2006 World Cup, but that only a fraction will go to clubs for releasing players.
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