At Eastlands though, Juventus were unlucky not to take all three points in a 1-1 draw in their Europa League clash with Manchester City.

The Serie A club used their wealth of experience to frustrate Roberto Mancini's men and had the better of the chances after Adam Johnson cancelled out Vincenzo Iaquinta's stunner in the first half.

The result leaves Group A wide open after Lech Poznan beat Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 in the group's other match.

Juventus boss Luigi del Neri left several of his big hitters on the bench with one eye on Sunday's Serie A clash with rivals Inter Milan, but the Italians were still quickest out of the blocks.

Juve went ahead in the 11th minute when a spectacular 25-yard effort from Iaquinta arrowed past goalkeeper Joe Hart from the corner of the box.

City upped their intensity throughout the remainder of the half, equalising in the 37th minute as Yaya Toure's brilliant run and pass beat the Juve defence, allowing Johnson to bury a sidefooted shot, his first goal at the City of Manchester Stadium.

In Group K, Liverpool have extended their winless run in all competitions to four games after being held to a 0-0 draw by FC Utrecht at the Stadion Galgenward.

Without skipper Steven Gerrard, who was rested for this encounter, the Reds appeared to have little creativity and were forced onto the back foot for much of the encounter by a Utrecht side that had won their previous six matches at home.

The Dutchmen enjoyed the better of the chances, however, as Pepe Reina was forced to endure a tough night at the office.

In Group K's other match on Thursday night, Napoli have come from three goals down to secure a dramatic 3-3 draw with Steaua Bucharest.

The Romanians blasted three goals past the Italian defence in the opening 17 minutes.

But when Steaua's last goalscorer Pantelis Kapetanos was dismissed in the 31st minute the Italian club staged an intense fightback that was capped off by Edison Cavani firing in the equaliser during the eighth minute of added time.

To Group B, and Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen have fought out a 1-1 draw as Norwegian club Rosenborg proved too good in a 2-1 victory over Aris Salonika.

In Group C, Sporting Lisbon smashed Levski Sofia 5-0 as KAA gent drew 1-1 with Lille.

Villareal defeated 10-man Club Bruge 2-1 in Group D as PAOK Salonika edged out Dinamo Zagreb 1-0.

To Group E and BATE Borizov smashed Dutch side AZ Alkmaar 4-1 as Sheriff Tiraspol had a solid 2-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev.

In Group F, CSKA Moscow beat Sparta Prague 3-0 as Palermo edged out Lausanne Sports in a 1-0 result.

A late goal from Martin Harnik allowed VfB Stuttgart to claim their Group G encounter 2-1 at Odense BK as David Degen's double saw Young Boys beat Getafe 2-0.

PSV Eindhoven enjoyed a 2-0 away win over Metalist Kharkiv in Group I as Giampaolo Passini scored the only goal in Sampdoria's 1-0 victory over Debrecen.

In Group J, Borussia Dortmund proved too good for Sevilla in a 1-0 result as PSG beat Karpaty Lviv 2-0.

Finally, in Group L, Porto enjoyed a 1-0 away win over CSKA Sofia as Besiktas came from behind to beat Rapid Vienna 2-1.