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PARIS -- Real Madrid started the defence of its Champions League crown with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Basel on Tuesday, while Liverpool celebrated its return to Europes top club competition with a dramatic 2-1 win against Bulgarian side Ludogorets. Madrids win should end talk of crisis following a poor start to the clubs domestic season. Goals by Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Karim Benzema and a Basel own-goal secured the 10-time champions a very comfortable victory in Group B. Five years after its last involvement in the Champions League, Liverpool needed a penalty from Steven Gerrard in the third minute of added time - just two minutes after Ludogorets looked to have snatched a draw - to earn all three points. Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund beat Arsenal 2-0 and last seasons finalist Atletico Madrid lost 3-2 at Olympiakos. Madrids win was much easier as Carlo Ancelottis players silenced their critics with a beautiful display of free-flowing football, turning the page on a poor run of form. Madrid lost to Atletico in the Spanish Super Cup last month before Ancelottis side collapsed 4-2 at Real Sociedad in the league and followed up with a 2-1 loss to Atletico at home on Saturday. "I liked the teams reaction, I think the Bernabeu was happy," Ancelotti said. Against Basel, Madrid played with pace and was spectacular up front, despite the defence looking anything but solid. Madrid opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Jose Fernandezs shot was deflected in by Marek Suchy for an own-goal. Bale then received a clever ball from Luka Modric to double his teams lead and provided Ronaldo with a pass which the Portugal forward -- the competitions top scorer last season with 17 goals -- converted a minute later. Rodriguez added the fourth in the 37th before Derlis Gonzalez pulled one back for Basel in the 38th. Benzema made it five in the 79th after a pass from Ronaldo. Mario Balotelli got his first goal for Liverpool in the 82nd minute before Ludogorets, a side who had not won a game in UEFA competition before last season, equalized through Dani Abalo. Liverpool was then awarded a penalty when goalkeeper Milan Borjan brought down Javier Manquillo and Gerrard slotted home from the spot. "Looking at the game as a whole, we did OK. We didnt do better than OK," Gerrard said. "I thought they caused us quite a few problems on the counterattack, so theres a lot for myself and the lads to learn." In Group A, former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez ended his European goal drought as he scored twice in a 2-0 win over Malmo, for his first goal in the competition since April 2009. The groups other game provided a shock in Athens, where Olympiakos defeated Atletico after Arthur Masuaku -- with a superb strike from outside the area -- and Ibrahim Afellay scored early goals. Mario Mandzukic pulled one back before Kostas Mitroglou extended the hosts lead. Antoine Griezmanns late strike from close range for Atletico did not prevent Olympiakos from earning the three points. Monaco won against the run of the play with a 1-0 victory over Leverkusen in Group C courtesy of Joao Moutinho goal, while Benficas 51-match unbeaten home record in all competition came to an end. Hulk and Axel Witsel scored first-half goals to give Zenit a 2-0 win against 10-man Benfica after goalkeeper Artur was sent off in the 18th for obstructing Danny. In Group D, Borussia Dortmund strikers Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored either side of halftime to give their side victory over Arsenal. Immobile, signed from Torino in the off-season, sprinted almost half the length of the pitch and held off Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny before dispatching a low shot inside the far post just before the break. "Im very happy to score, that we won, because it hasnt been easy for me to settle into the Bundesliga. Im happy that I was able to make my teammates happy," Immobile said. Galatasaray striker Burak Yilmaz scored in stoppage time to snatch a 1-1 draw against Anderlecht in the groups other match. Vernon Maxwell Jersey . Rajne Soderberg, the director of the Stockholm Diamond League event, said in an email Friday that the ban still holds. Euromeetings, the organization representing Europes top track events, "will continue to recommend that members do not invite athletes who we believe cause disrepute to our meetings and our sport. Patrick Beverley Jersey . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany. https://www.cheaprocketsonline.com/337z ... s.html.com) - Novak Djokovic easily took care of Andy Murray to reach the final at the $2. James Harden Jersey . Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out Wednesday. John Lucas II Jersey . - The Mavericks built a 12-point lead with 2:50 to play, gave away all but two points of it, and still managed to hang on.Hard to believe it has been 10 years since the Montreal Expos were getting set to begin their final spring training at Space Coast Stadium at Viera, Florida before relocating in Washington as the Nationals in 2005. There are actually eight - possibly nine - players still active who played on that final Montreal team in 2004. Five of those had ties to the Blue Jays, including lefty reliever Scott Downs, righty reliever Jon Rauch, Tomo Ohka whos trying a comeback this year with the Blue Jays as a knuckleballer, shortstop Alex Gonzalez (the first one) who was a contemporary of Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green and current Jays utility infielder Maicer Izturis. The others include reliever Luis Ayala, infielder Jamey Carroll and outfielder Endy Chavez, and Canadian-born pitcher Shawn Hill who pitched last season and may still be active. The Expos knew they were in trouble going into that final season. Major League Baseball was running the team, and rumours were running rampant they were either going to be relocated or contracted, folded if you will. The Expos played 22 of their games in Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, either to try and make more money for MLB, or expose the game on a more international level, or kill off the Expos even faster. Take your pick. In any event their attendance in 2004 was the worst in the Majors at 748,550. The Expos dropped their final five home games at Stad Olympique and went 2-7 on their final homestand ever. The Expos final home game ever was on September 29 against the Florida Marlins. Before the game they were presented with a banner by MLB, that proclaimed them as the best team in baseball in 1994. That of course was the year of the players strike that stretched into early 2005. The Expos had the best record in the Majors when play was halted in August of 1994 and most pundits felt they would have won the World Series that year. That banner was raised in centre field during that final game in Montreal. But mere hours later, word leaked out that the Expos would be relocating to Washington for the next season as the Nationals. To complete that washout of a day, Florida won the final game played in Montreal, 9-1. Korean-born pitcher Sun-Woo Kim, who finished with an appropriate career record of 13-13 took the loss giving up five runs on five hits in just two innings. Veteran catcher Todd Zeile hit the final home run at Olympic Stadium, a three-run shot off Claudio Vargas in the 6th inning. But it wasnt quite over from the Expos as they had to go to Shea Stadium in New York to play out the season in the very park where they played their first-ever game in 1969.dddddddddddd After dropping the first game, Montreal won its final game under the Expos banner on Saturday, October 2. It had plenty of drama too. Brad Wilkerson, who spent some time with the Blue Jays in 2008, slammed a three-run tie-breaking homer in the top of the 9th off Braden Looper to propel Montreal to a 6-3 victory. On the Sunday, they didnt fare as well. The Mets crushed them 8-1. Jamey Carroll scored the final run in Expos history and Endy Chavez made the final out. Five players who had ties to the Blue Jays were involved in that game: Jose Reyes, Wilkerson, Tony Bautista, Jon Rauch and Maicer Izturis. Not only that, Randy St. Claire, Montreals pitching coach on that day, is now the Blue Jays Triple-A pitching coach at Buffalo. Also of note, the winning pitcher that day for the Mets was Tom Glavine, winding down his Hall of Fame career, who climbed to 11-14 with the victory. Montreal finished that final season at 67-95. A couple of more notes on that final Expos season. They were involved in one of the biggest trades of the year at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. It was a nine-player, four-team swap that involved Montreal, Boston, the Cubs and Minnesota. The Expos sent shortstop Orlando Cabrera to Boston. The Red Sox sent one of their all-time greats, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Cubs as part of the package and Alex Gonzalez was one of the three players that went from the Cubs to Montreal. Strangely enough, Gonzalez, the ex-Jay, was the final Expos player ever dealt. He was sent to San Diego as part of a conditional deal on September 16. The Expos left us with some great memories, and there are many who believe a team will return to Montreal, including a group fronted by former Expos left fielder Warren Cromartie. For that to happen though, a new downtown stadium has to be built, and that is nowhere near happening yet. For now Montreal fans will have to be content with two pre-season games at the Olympic Stadium in late March between the Blue Jays and the New York Mets. Midsummer Plans This years All-Star game is slated for Target Field in Minnesota. In 2015, the Midsummer Classic will be in Cincinnati. Commissioner Bud Selig says Washington is a front-runner for 2017. However 2016 is open and if the rotation is followed would go to an American League team. That would be the perfect fit for the Blue Jays, on the 25th anniversary of the first All-Star Classic they hosted in 1991. Heres hoping. ' ' '