The group stage of the inaugural Europa League got under way, with pre-tournament favourites Roma, Lazio and Hamburg all succumbing to surprise defeats in their opening matches.

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Roma, with Claudio Ranieri at the helm for his first European assignment at the club, went down 2-0 at Swiss side Basel (pictured) in Group E, while German league leaders Hamburg were stunned 3-0 by Rapid Vienna in Group C.

An injury-time goal from Marc Janko earned Red Bull Salzburg a shock 2-1 comeback win at Roma's city rivals Lazio, enabling Villarreal to steal a march in Group G with a 1-0 home win over Levski Sofia.

European football's governing body UEFA is using the tournament to trial the deployment of extra referee assistants behind each goal-line and the officials were an eye-catching if uncontroversial presence on the night.

The extra officials are the brain-child of UEFA president Michel Platini, and the Frenchman was doubly assured of a place in the headlines after his namesake - a Brazilian striker called Michel whose nickname is Platini - scored the opening goal in CSKA Sofia's 1-1 draw against Fulham.

Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat Werder Bremen in the last ever UEFA Cup final in May, began their defence with a 4-1 win at Club Brugge in Group C, while Everton trounced AEK Athens 4-0 in Group I but had Louis Saha sent off following an injury-time altercation with visiting defender Juanfran.

Genoa's Spanish midfielder Alberto Zapater had the honour of scoring the first ever goal in the tournament's group stage, and his fourth-minute strike set the current Serie A leaders on the way to a 2-0 victory at home to Slavia Prague in Group B.

Elsewhere, Scottish giants Celtic let a 1-0 lead slip in a 2-1 defeat at Hapoel Tel-Aviv, while a late equaliser from Ivorian forward Gervinho earned French side Lille a 1-1 draw at home to 2004 champions Valencia.

Brazil-born Portuguese international Liedson netted a hat-trick as Sporting Lisbon won 3-2 at Dutch side Heerenveen and there were also wins for Benfica, Athletic Bilbao, Turkish giants Galatasaray and Werder Bremen.

The Europa League is a re-named, streamlined version of the UEFA Cup, with 12 groups of four teams facing off in a round-robin format and the top two from each group qualifying for a place in the knockout phase alongside the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.