Trio triumph on their travels

Three UEFA Champions League Group C sides savoured away wins over the weekend, with Werder Bremen's emphatic victory against 1. FC Kaiserslautern sending a clear message to Wednesday's opponents FC Barcelona. Competition debutants Udinese Calcio maintained their 100 per cent start to the season, but the the team they face, Panathinaikos FC, continue to struggle.

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1-5 Werder Bremen

Bremen warmed up for Wednesday’s encounter with Barcelona in thrilling style, hitting five goals past Kaiserslautern to remain hot on the heels of FC Bayern München at the Bundesliga summit. Johan Micoud, Torsten Frings, Jurica Vranješ and Miroslav Klose (2) were all on target as Thomas Schaaf's side maintained their impressive start to the new Bundesliga season that has seen them win three and draw one – against VfL Stuttgart last week.

"I am obviously very happy with our display. We put on an excellent performance and got the goals to show for it. All in all everything went perfectly," Schaaf said after watching Klose, Micoud and Frings all shake off minor knocks to line up and then score against a team that had won two of their opening three fixtures. Indeed, only goalkeeper Tim Wiese was absent with cruciate ligament damage that is likely to rule him out until the New Year.

RCD Mallorca 0-2 FC Barcelona

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o fired two goals past his old club Mallorca as the Spanish champions eased to a 2-0 win at the Son Moix. Eto'o, who suffered a blow to the head in training this week, broke the deadlock with a glancing header on 26 minutes and soon doubled the advantage, reacting first after Ludovic Giuly’s powerful volley had been parried. Mallorca were later reduced to nine men but the score remained locked at 2-0 as striker Santiago Ezquerro made his debut.

Barça were surprisingly held by league newcomers Deportivo Alavés SAD last weekend and coach Frank Rijkaard now believes his team are finding their feet. "It was pleasing to see our defence approach the game with the right mentality and I was happy with Deco's involvement throughout. Little by little we are getting back to our top level. It is tough playing against defensive sides because you end up dropping your rhythm to theirs and it's not always possible to play in an attractive way."

AS Roma 0-1 Udinese Calcio

A solitary first-half strike from Sulley Ali Muntari gave Udinese a creditable one-goal win at Roma to maintain their 100 per cent start to the new Serie A season. The side welcomed back Davide Di Michele after the striker had missed the 1-0 victory against league newcomers Empoli FC in the opening fixture of the new campaign last week, although captain Valerio Bertotto was ruled out. He remains doubtful for Wednesday.

Udinese coach Serse Cosmi said: "I am really satisfied with today's performance. We put pressure on Roma and deserved to win. I think that the gap between Serie A's top clubs such as Juventus [FC], AC Milan or [FC] Internazionale [Milano] and the rest of the teams is getting smaller and smaller."

Ionikos FC 1-1 Panathinaikos FC

Panathinaikos are still seeking their first win of the new Greek season after battling from behind to earn a share of the spoils in a fiery encounter at Ionikos. Looking to bounce back following last week's disappointing 2-0 defeat by Olympiacos CFP, the visitors got off to a bad start when they went a goal behind on seven minutes. Ezequiel González equalised from the penalty spot four minutes after the restart, once goalkeeper Arjan Bekiaj had been dismissed, but Panathinaikos could not capitalise and were reduced to ten men themselves when Anthony Šerić was sent off on 77 minutes.

The side also had two players - defenders Nasief Morris and Ilias Kotsios - sent off against Olympiacos so coach Alberto Malesani handed a debut to Swedish wing-back Mikael Nilsson. Sándor Torghelle, who scored on international duty with Hungary against Malta last week, also made his Panathinaikos bow as a 69th-minute substitute. Another forward, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, missed the game with a knee injury which also rules him out of the encounter with Udinese, while Flavio Conceição and Emmanuel Olisadebe will both be suspended.

Panathinaikos' captain Ioannis Goumas said: "We didn't want to start the season like this. This draw tastes like a defeat. But we have a long way ahead of us and Panathinaikos are a big team – they will find their way. Now we have the Champions League match against Udinese and will give it our best shot."