Barcelona's world footballer Lionel Messi netted a hat-trick for a dream start into this year's Champions League season (flickr)

The first week of play is over in the UEFA Champions League and most top favorites seem to be in shape right on time. The biggest surprise happened in London, while incoming runners-up Dortmund fall short in Italy. Here a quick review of all the action. 

Group A

Manchester United - Bayer Leverkusen 4-2

Leverkusen proved to be a difficult obstacle to overcome for a ManU squad led by head coach David Moyes in his first Champions League match with his new club. Only Sir Matt Busby and Moye's legendary predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson managed to win their debuting European game with ManU. It looks like harmony may be possible to achieve after all in Manchester, as Wayne Rooney, who had been rumored to be considering a departure from the club, saved the day with his two goals. Meanwhile Leverkusen never collapsed and over a long time was an evenly matched opponent. They can remain confident for the group rematch at home.

Real Sociedad - Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2

Real had their fair share of chances, but Alex Teixeira ended all their hopes while his teammates withstood all of Sociedad's pressure. The Brazilian scored twice in the second half, while Shakhtar keeper Pyatov had an excellent night. Real should be concerned after dropping the home opener against the presumably easiest opponent in this group, but their offensive efforts leave some hope. Donetsk on the other hand earned some hardly fought for respect and will be a tough nut to crack for United when they visit the Ukraine October 2. 

Group B

Galatasaray - Real Madrid 1-6

Madrid underlined their aspirations to win it all this year. Following Isco's opening goal in the first half, Galatasaray managed to stay in the game and created some of their own chances. However, with time forcing them to slowly open up in defense, world star Christiano Ronaldo,  and Karim Benzema displayed the finest of their skills and punished every mistake the Turkish made. Record transfer Christian Bale had his first Champions League appearance for Real but had to wait until the 66th minute to show some of his talent. 

Copenhagen - Juventus 1-1

The early lead through Jørgensen after only 14 minutes of play gave Copenhagen the advantage they needed in their defensive struggle against the Italian visitors. The Danish spent the vast majority of the game trying to latch on to their lead but even went back on offense for a short period of time after Juve scored the equalizer. Copenhagen successfully resisted the Italian efforts and deservedly gained a point out of this one.

Group C

Benfica - Anderlecht 2-0 

Filip Djuričić set things straight from very early on and team captain Luisão almost sealed the game already after only 30 minutes to play. Anderlecht increased their pressure and played a better second half, but it was in vain. For Benfica this start is promising in a group where they now will see a legitimate opportunity to advance as this victory gave them confidence for their visit to Paris October 2. 

Olympiacos - PSG 1-4

It took until the second half for Paris to really find a means to prevail in this one. For a long time Piraeus seemed to find an answer to everything, including Cavani's opening score for Paris, which was equalized by Weiss only six minutes later. The Parisian firework started not until Motta netted two quick goals halfway through the second half, which then led to a collapse of the sacrificially fighting Greeks. Marquinhos capped the game with four minutes left to underline Paris' expectations to go far in this year's competition.

Group D

Bayern Munich - CSKA Moscow 3-0 

Munich showed why they are the reigning champions of Europe. David Alaba scored a tremendous free-kick goal to set the Bavarians on their way. When Mandžukić scored Munich's second with just a few minutes to play in the first half, the momentum pendulum seemed glued to the German side.  Bayern maintained control of the game throughout and Robben capped yet another impressive Bayern performance with the hosting side's third goal. 

Plzen - Manchester City 0-3

Star players Džeko, Agüero and Touré were crucial in Manchester's win. Their Czech opponents played a great first half but the shockingly fast three goals that followed in the second half were too much to handle for them. Manchester now sit atop the table together with Bayern, who they will face at home October 2.

Jose Mourinho's second campaign at Chelsea got off to a rough start in UEFA. (apascuito/Flickr)

Schalke - Steaua 3-0

"The Royal Blues" of the Bundesliga played a strong first half, but oddly enough needed their weaker second one to score. Uchida caused a sigh of relief among Schalke supporters when he finally netted the 1-0 lead for the German side, 67 minutes into the game. Following half-time, Steaua had seemed to actually gain the momentum for a while, but after Uchida's goal, the band was lifted for Schalke and Boateng and Draxler scored two more. 

Chelsea - Basel 1-2

This year's Champions League has its first big surprise. With two goals reverse Chelsea's lead, Basel stunned Chelsea in what was expected to be a clear win at home. The English side's lead came at a psychologically ideal time, as Oscar scored right before half-time. However, the Swiss visitors came back with goals from Salah and Streller to steal the first game from Chelsea. A group that seemed to have two clear favorites in Schalke and Chelsea now seems to become one of the more interesting ones to watch, especially as Chelsea cannot afford to face elimination in a second consecutive Champions League group stage. 

Group F

Marseille - Arsenal 1-2

While more offensive power came from the French hosts, Arsenal was the more clever team that day. During the most intensive pressure that Marseille was able to mount, Arsenal delivered two psychological stingers when Walcott and Ramsey scored. Ayew's goal came too late for the hard-fighting French side, whose main mistake was not to cap a great performance with goals themselves.

Napoli - Dortmund 2-1 

Napoli's new star striker Higuaín had a terrific start into the UEFA Champions League season as he set his team on the way to victory against previous finalists Borussia Dortmund. The sending off of Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller at half-time broke the German visitors' neck, as they were not able to recover from the shock quickly enough. Insigne made it a two-goal lead for the French side and Zúñiga's own goal following Dortmund's last offensive strides came too late.

Group G

Austria Wien - Porto 0-1 

Austria had some good chances, but could not convert any of them into goals. Lucho González was the match winner as he scored the only goal of the night to send Porto on a promising path in this year's group stage. With 65 percent ball possession, the Portuguese took away the hosting side's means to control the game and were thus able to hang on to the victory. 

Atlético de Madrid- Zenit 3-1

Madrid only lost control of this game briefly, when Zenit managed to increase pressure following Atlético's lead at half-time, which paid off with Hulk's equalizer. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Spanish side recovered quickly and regained control. Only minutes later, Turan brought Atlético back in front and with ten minutes left, Baptistão capped the game at 3-1, just one minute after being substituted in by Madrid's coach Simeone.

Group H

Milan - Celtic 2-0 

Emilio Izaguirre was the tragic figure of the night as his 82nd minute own goal paved the way to Milan's victory. Celtic played a phenomenal game and rose up to a great challenge for just a little bit too short of time. The visitors had been unfortunate before, when Stokes hit the cross bar at 0-0. Muntari scored the second goal for Milan to seal the deal.

Barcelona - Ajax 4-0

As if he thought he'd have to proof himself, following Ronaldo's hat-trick the previous night, Europe's super star Lionel Messi netted his own. Barcelona showed no moment of downtime in this match and underlined once again, why they always aspire to be among Europe's greatest. Ajax was a good competitor, especially in the first half, but - like so many others before - couldn't find a way to prevent the Messi gala. 

Reach Staff Writer Alex Wowra here.