Barcelona, Dinamo among elite round pacesetters

FC Barcelona, FK EP Chrudim, MFK Dinamo and KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac all posted victories as the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round commenced on Wednesday.

Champions in 2012, Barcelona's quest to wrestle back the trophy started with a comprehensive 6-1 defeat of Lokomotiv Kharkov. The Spanish outfit were wobbling when Mykola Bilotserkivets struck with just over a minute on the clock, before quickfire replies from Torras and Aicardo ensured a swift turnaround. Lin and Fernandão then registered either side of Dmytro Kameko's own goal, with Igor landing the final blow.

Not to be denied a share of the limelight, Group A rivals Chrudim flexed their muscles with an eye-catching 9-1 triumph against City'US Târgu Mureş in Pardubice, forwards Max and Lukáš Rešetár both weighing in with doubles. "We knew they would play with a flying goalkeeper but we managed to cope well," said Tomáš Koudelka, who rounded off the scoring in front of a crowd of 3,500.

In Group B, meanwhile, 2007 winners Dinamo dispatched Slov-Matic Bratislava 7-1 in Lasko, with Brazilian forward Fernandinho plundering an 18-minute treble. As for Serbian side Ekonomac, they came from behind to edge hosts FC Litija 4-2, keeper Miodrag Aksentijević making sure of the result on the stroke of full-time.

All eight elite round entrants are in action on Thursday including Group D hosts Sporting Clube de Portugal and Kairat Almaty, who begin the defence of their title in Group C against MFK VitEn Vitebsk.