side Werder Bremen showed no hangover from the Mesut Ozil transfer saga as they beat ten-man Sampdoria 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.
Ozil completed his protracted move to Spanish giants Real Madrid for a reported 15 million euros just hours before his old club Werder took to the field.
But despite the loss of their playmaker, Thomas Schaaf's side took a firm grip on their tie with Sampdoria, even though they conceded a late goal in injury time.
After a scoreless first half Werder took the lead on 51 minutes after Clemens Fritz's thunderous drive from 25 yards out flew into the top corner.
Werder doubled their advantage 15 minutes later when Sampdoria defender Stefano Lucchini gave away a penalty and picked up his second yellow card. Torsten Frings made no mistake from the spot.
Just two minutes later former Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro finished off a flowing move to extend Werder's advantage further.
The home side attempted to wind down the clock against their ten-man opponents but the move backfired when Giampaolo Pazzini headed in Marius Stankevicius' cross to earn Sampdoria a precious away goal.
Elsewhere, Spanish side Sevilla were consigned to a shock 1-0 defeat at Portuguese outfit Braga.
Matheus grabbed the only goal of the game as he headed home from close range after goalkeeper Andres Palop had parried Paulo Cesar's effort.
Partizan Belgrade and Belgian side Anderlecht drew 2-2 in Serbia after four goals crashed in during a mad 13-minute spell.
Guillaume Gillet opened the scoring for the visitors with a powerful header before Brazilian striker Cleo finished off an intricate passing move to bring Partizan level.
Anderlecht defender Jan Lecjaks then had a moment to forget as he thumped a cross into his own net.
But just a minute later Roland Juhasz spared his Lecjaks blushes by leveling the tie at 2-2.
Israeli champions Hapoel Tel Aviv took control of their match against SV Salzburg by winning 3-2 in Austria.
Hapoel goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot before Nikola Pokrivac equalized.
Former Chelsea forward Ben Sahar headed Hapoel back in front before Itay Shechter finished coolly when clean through on goal to make it 3-1.
Salzburg gave themselves a lifeline through Roman Wallner's 66th minute penalty but Hapoel will be favorites to go through.
In Switzerland, FC Basel beat FC Sheriff of Moldova 1-0 thanks to Valentin Stocker's 54th-minute effort.
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