For AEK, the simple participation in the Champions League group stage after 12 seasons was a big enough event on its own. However it seems they may have been overwhelmed in their grand re-entry to football’s greatest scene, as they easily submitted to Ajax 3-0 at the Johan Cryuff arena of Amsterdam on Wednesday.

Manager Marinos Ouzounidis laid his team on the pitch having a highly defensive mentality, with the right back Bakakis acting as a winger for support. Ouzounidis was also faced with a series of problems, as his main forward Marko Livaja and left back Helder Lopes were both unavailable.

What kept AEK in the game for the first half, despite Ajax’s ball possession reaching 68 per cent and the visitors barely creating any opportunities, was the great performance of their defenders. Both Oikonomou and Lambropoulos did a great job containing the Dutch champions’ main attacking threat, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who was unable to find any space between the two. However, what AEK had fought so hard to build in the first half, they knocked down with the beginning of the second, when left back Tagliafico snuck behind their defence to put the ball past Barkas.

AEK continued to defend, but to no avail, as Huntelaar’s substitute Van Der Beek took advantage of a Tadic cross to double the lead for his team on the 77th. Tagliafico struck again on the final minute of the game, lifting the ball over Barkas to secure the three points for Ajax, leaving AEK in the dust. In the other game of group E, Bayern Munich had no trouble in Lisbon, overcoming the obstacle of Benfica 0-2 thanks to goals by Lewandowski and former Benfica player Renato Sanches.

RONALDO SENT OFF, LYON SHOCKS CITY

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Juventus managed to claim victory in Valencia despite their star player Cristiano Ronaldo being disciplined for a pull on Murillo, with two goals from midfielder Miralem Pjanic. Elsewhere, cup-holders Real Madrid showed they are still a force to be reckoned after dominating AS Roma 3-0 at Bernabeu and Manchester United had their Frenchmen, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial lead them to victory in Switzerland (1-3).

The shock of the evening came from the other team of Manchester, as City were submitted to a 1-2 home loss at the hands of Olympique Lyonnais, who were already up 0-2 by half time. A big game was held in Plzen, with local Victoria going up by two in the first half but visitors CSKA Moscow managing to find an equaliser at the final moment of the game (2-2).