Group C
Udinese 3-0 Panathinaikos

Vincenzo Iaqunita’s hat-trick ensured that Udinese began their inaugural Champions League campaign with an emphatic victory at home to Panathinaikos.

The imposing centre forward – who played up alongside Davide Di Natale as the home side reverted from their nominal 3-4-3 formation to a more conventional 4-4-2 – took 28 minutes to register his first, after squandering two previous chances. After being released by Di Natale, Damiano Zenoni marauded down the left flank, crossing it into Iaqunita who placed a powerful header into the bottom corner.

After Gonzalez’s free kick had clipped the post the visitors, Di Natale forced a fine save from Galinovic, who also repelled Vidigal’s rebound.

After the interval, Panathinaikos arguably emerged the better team, but any chance they had of redressing the balance of the tie was ended when Iaqunita evaded the offside trap to slot in his second after 73rd minute. The Italian international completed his hat-trick two minutes later with a fierce drive from 18 yards out.