Barcelona 3 - Brugge 2

Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Puyol, De Boer, Fernando Navarro; Mendieta (Rochemback 76'), Xavi, Cocu, Motta; Saviola, Luis Enrique (Riquelme 73'); Kluivert. 3-4-2-1
Brugges: Verlinden; De Cock, Spilar, Maertens, Van der Hayden (Stoica 56'); Serebrennikov (Lesnjak 46'), Englebert, Simons, Martens (Ceh 71'); Verheyen; Mendoza. 4-4-1-1.

Goals:
1-0. 05. Luis Enrique. Shot across keeper after Motta effort blocked by defence.
1-1. 22. Simons (penalty). After Víctor Valdes brought down Englebert.
2-1. 40. Mendieta. Bent free kick from edge of area over defensive wall.
3-1. 44. Saviola. Battled through defence to poke ball past keeper.
3-2. 85. Englebert. Shot from edge of area which took deflection off Puyol.

A full house for Spanish clubs on the first day of the Champions League proper, with victories for all four teams. Barcelona beat Club Brugges 3-2, a game which they should have won by a bigger margin but which they could have throw away in the end. Team captain Luis Enrique gave them an early lead, following up when Motta's shot was blocked, and Saviola missed a golden opportunity to make it two a few minutes later. However the German referee Helmut Fleischer awarded the Belgian side a penalty midway through the half when Víctor Valdés was ruled to have brought down Englebert, and Simons stepped up to square the match.

A Mendieta free kick five minutes from the break restored the lead though, and two minutes later a tremendous volley from Kluivert rattled the bar with the keeper beaten. Barça bore down on Verlinden's goal, and before the referee blew the half time whistle Saviola fought through to jab the ball into the net.

After the restart the Spaniards up their domination, always half a yard quicker than their opponents. With almost three quarters of the possession of the ball, it seemed a matter of time before they increased their lead. Kluivert's bad luck in front of goal continued though, and Xavi brought a good save out of Verlinden. However the visitors grew in confidence towards the end, and De Boer had to clear off the line from Spilar. Then with a five minutes to go a long shot from Englebert span off Puyol's foot past Víctor, setting up a nail-biting last few minutes for the home fans.