VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) - Valencia, returning after a two-year absence from Europe's premier club competition, beat Anderlecht 2-0 in their Mestalla stadium to herald their comeback.
The 2000 and 2001 Champions League runners-up thanked goalscorers Vicente Rodriguez and Ruben Baraja for their Group G victory set up, as is often the case, by solid defending.
Italian coach Claudio Ranieri, who reached the semi-finals with Chelsea last season, got the reigning UEFA Cup champions off to a great start.
Ranieri made five changes with Francisco Rufete, Ruben Baraja, Vicente Rodriguez, Pablo Aimar and Miguel Angulo all coming into the starting 11 after being rested for the 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Ranieri's Italian pre-season purchases Stefano Fiore, Bernardo Corradi, Marco Di Vaio and Emiliano Moretti were all named among the substitutes.
Anderlecht coach Hugo Broos, whose side have won only one of their last 18 away matches in Europe, brought in Christian Wilhelmsson, rested for the 3-1 victory at Ostend on Saturday, on the right side of midfield.
Broos also chose an attacking line-up with three front men in Anthony Vanden Borre, Mbo Mpenza and Aruna Dindane.
The Spaniards were commanding from the start with Pablo Aimar in particular creating problems for the Anderlecht defence.
Aimar was involved in the move which put Valencia into the lead after 16 minutes. He found Rufete on the edge of the box whose chip was not held by Daniel Zitka and Vicente was perfectly-placed to shoot home.
Valencia's Baraja, Vicente, Rufete and David Albelda were taking the initiative in the middle of the park with Anderlecht continually conceding ground.
Anderlecht came back into the game towards the end of the first period though did not really have a clear-cut chance because of good work by Valencia central defenders Navarro and Carlos Marchena.
The defensive solidity paid off handsomely just before the break when Baraja scored against the run of play to give Ranieri's side a two-goal cushion.
Baraja's low shot, aided by a deflection off Anthony Vanden Borre, found the left-hand side of Zitka's goal in a move started by Vicente who cut inside from the right.
Ten minutes after the interval, striker Aruna Dindane had Anderlecht's best chance up till then when the Cote d'Ivoire striker beat keeper Santiago Canizares with a shot but Curro Torres cleared the danger.
From then on, Valencia were happy to sit on their lead, look for counter attacks, and rely on their superbly-organised defence to preserve the scoreline till the final whistle.
Valencia also got revenge for the only other European meeting between the sides in the quarter-finals of the 1982/83 UEFA Cup.