Cristiano Ronaldo, Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Arjen Robben - just some of the superstars that got on the scoresheet, as the big guns impressed on the opening day of the Champions League.
Real Madrid, desperate for that La Decima, thumped Galatasaray 6-1 with Ronaldo grabbing a hat-trick, while Manchester United gave David Moyes his first Champions League win as manager with a 4-2 result over Bayer Leverkusen - the usual suspects Rooney and Van Persie getting the goals.
There were also wins for Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, while Juventus were surprisingly held by FC Copenhagen.
In Istanbul, Carlo Ancelotti decided to keep Gareth Bale on the bench for this game, with Angel Di Maria getting the nod in the world's most expensive player's place.
Whether Bale would have made a difference or not is debatable as Galatasaray started the much brighter.
Felipe Melo stung the hands of the returning Iker Casillas with a thunderous drive from distance as the Turkish side controlled proceedings.
Casillas, making his first appearance for Real this season, unfortunately had to be taken off a little after ten minutes after injuring his ribs following a clash with teammate Sergio Ramos.
Diego Lopez's first job was to thankfully pick up the ball into his arms after Melo failed to make any real contact from a wickedly swung freekick from Albert Riera.
At the other end, Real nearly broke through on the counter with Cristiano Ronaldo going under the challenge of a Galatasaray defender inside the box with Angel Di Maria then firing high and wide off the rebound. Referee Mark Clattenburg waved play on much to Ronaldo's disgust with replays suggesting Ronaldo had been tripped.
Galatasaray nearly broke through as Wesley Sneijder got on the end of a through pass from Engin Baytar, but his cutback for Burak Yilmaz was well cut off by Sergio Ramos. Off the ensuing corner, Galatasaray thought they had scored when Melo, yet again, powered a header into the bottom corner, only for Diego Lopez to make a stunning save.
Real were now content to soak up the pressure and use their pace on the counter and they got their goal against the run of play from their new golden boy Isco.
The Spanish youngster took down a long ball brilliantly with his left foot before striking a low right-footed drive past Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Real pretty much put the game to bed in the 54th minute with Karim Benzema easing the ball into the net after taking a pass from Di Maria, who took advantage of the Galatasaray's inability to clear a long ball.
Bale came in just past the hour mark, with his arrival sandwiched by two goals, both from Ronaldo who just keeps adding and adding to his Champions League total.
Benzema would then latch onto a pass from Ronaldo to make it five, before Umut Bulut got a late consolation. Ronaldo would have the final word though, completing his hat-trick in stoppage time with a stunning solo effort.
At Old Trafford, it was a rather flat first half even if Marouane Fellaini impressed in the centre of the park for the English Premier League champions.
United, though, did get the only goal of the first 45, with Wayne Rooney making it two out of two. The England international got on the end of Patrice Evra's cross with his volley sneaking its way into the back of the net in the 22nd minute.
Leverkusen responded well after going down and Sidney Sam tested David De Gea for the first time in the game early in the second half, with the Spanish keeper making a nice save after a mistake from Rio Ferdinand allowed the German international to take a strike on goal.
At the other end, United really should have gone 2-0 p as Rooney was given an absolute gift by Omer Toprak, who slipped and gave possession to Rooney inside the penalty box. The United forward rounded the keeper well enough but with an open goal and Robin Van Persie waiting to tap it in, Rooney bypassed both as the ball trickled harmlessly wide.
Rooney and United were made to pay for that humongous miss immediately as Leverkusen equalized in the 54th minute. Heung Min Son twisted and turned inside the box before taking a shot, which deflected back to him off Ferdinand.
The South Korean international then took his time before laying the ball to Simon Rolfes just outside the box. The midfielder curled a wonderful effort, which took a slight deflection off Michael Carrick, into the back of the net with De Gea left with no chance.
United, though, were not going to settle for a point as the home side got back their lead five minutes later thanks to the brilliance of Van Persie.
Antonio Valencia ran down the right before crossing for Van Persie who struck a sweet hook volley which caught Bernd Leno by surprise.
The match was over as a contest 20 minutes from normal time as Rooney took full advantage off a second gift offered by the Leverkusen defence, calmly slotting the ball past Leno for his 200th goal for Manchester United, before Valencia added the icing.
Toprak got a consolation goal two minutes from time to keep the scores a little more respectable at 4-2.
The defending champions Bayern Munich got their campaign to a sound start with David Alaba, Mario Mandzukic scoring against CSKA Moscow.
Alaba kicked things off in just the fourth minute with a well-taken freekick after he himself had initially won the setpiece.
Mandzukic made it 2-0 just before halftime, rising high to head home a cross from Arjen Robben, before the creator notched a goal for himself in the second half.
Results: Group A: Manchester United 4-2 Bayer Leverkusen; Real Sociedad 0-2 Shakhtar Donetsk. Group B: Galatasaray 1-5 Real Madrid; FC Copenhagen 1-1 Juventus. Group C: Benfica 2-0 Anderlecht; Olympiakos 1-4 PSG. Group D: Bayern Munich 3-0 CSKA Moscow; Viktoria Plzen 0-3 Manchester City.
