MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - A hat-trick from Brazilian striker Grafite condemned CSKA Moscow to a 3-1 away defeat to VfL Wolfsburg in the first match of the 2009/10 Champions League on Tuesday night.
CSKA, managed by former Real Madrid, Seville and Tottenham Hotspur coach Juande Ramos, fell behind when the Brazilian calmly slotted home past keeper Igor Akinfeev in the 36th minute after a perfect through ball by Bosnian international Zvjezdan Misimovic.
The Russian side went further behind nine minutes later when Deividas Semberas pulled Grafite down in the box, the forward tucking away the resulting spot kick himself.
Hopes of a comeback were briefly raised in the 76th minute when Alan Dzagoyev got on the end of a ball from CSKA's own Brazilian forward, Guilherme, to fire past
However, the former Red Army club were unable to find an equalizer, and Grafite secured the win for the reigning German champions with a clever turn and shot in the 89th minute.
In Group B's other fixture, English champions Manchester United beat Turks Besiktas 1-0 in Istanbul with a 77th minute goal from Paul Scoles.
CSKA's next Champions League fixture is at home to Besiktas on September 30.
Russian champions Rubin kick off their Champions League campaign with an away match against Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev this evening.
