Eduardo took advantage of his reprieve from a two-match ban to score Arsenal's winner in an extraordinary fightback as the Londoners came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium's Standard Liege 3-2 in their opening Champions League match on Wednesday.

Indeed Arsenal's fightback along with Liverpool's scratchy 1-0 win at home to Hungarians Debrecen ensured that English clubs enjoyed their best start to a Champions League campaign - Chelsea and Manchester United won on Tuesday - since the 1998/99 season.

Arsenal also became the first club to come back twice from 2-0 deficits in Champions League history, having trailed Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in September 2000 before prevailing 3-2.

Arsenal may have given their fans a rollercoaster ride of a performance but it was not the case in the most eagerly anticipated match of the night as holders Barcelona came away with a 0-0 draw against Inter Milan.

The clash of the star strikers, who switched sides in the summer, was a damp squib as neither former Barcelona now Inter forward Samuel Eto'o nor former Inter marksman Zlatan Ibrahimovic sparkled.

Inter's fellow Italian side Fiorentina lost 1-0 away to Lyon. The 'Viola' were reduced to 10 men in the first-half when World Cup winning striker Alberto Gilardino was redcarded for elbowing Jeremy Toulalan.

A second-half goal by Bosnian Miralem Pjanic was sufficient for the hosts to take the three points.

Eduardo makes most of reprieve

Eduardo - who had seen UEFA rescind his two-match ban for diving in an earlier round against Celtic on Monday - also redeemed himself as he had inadvertently set up Standard's first goal with an ill-advised backheel on the edge of Arsenal's penalty area.

However, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for the Brazilian-born Croatian.

"Eduardo is a great player and he can always turn up with something," Wenger said.

Liverpool looked off colour as they relied on a Dirk Kuyt goal for the win over an understandably cautious Debrecen side.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez - taking charge of Liverpool for the 300th time - said that the scoreline could have been more convincing.

"We had three or four good chances and if we take our chances it would be easier," he said. "But it's 1-0, and the most important thing is to get the three points.

"People didn't know what to expect because they didn't know the other team, but they showed they're not bad."

A wonderful game

Inter coach Jose Mourinho insisted his team's goalless stalemate with Barcelona had plenty to savour.

"I think this was a wonderful game of football and people who say 0-0 is not interesting are just wrong," said Mourinho.

"It was the first game, which is always the hardest, in a very tough group. Others are extremely easy. For example, there are some with no champions in them at all."

Ibrahimovic, who faced few jeers or boos on his return to the San Siro, believed that Barcelona had been the better side.

"In my view we played better than Inter, but they have toughened up a lot at the back, all they need to do is to be more adventurous going forward," said the Swede.

The other British side in action on Wednesday Rangers also came away without losing as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with German outfit Stuttgart, coached by former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel.

Babbel, who has made a remarkable recovery after nearly dying from a brain disease a few years ago, cursed the fact that they had let their lead slip.

"In the second half, we threw away the plan and were chasing the game," said a disappointed Babbel. "The first half was good and we must go back to that."