European Football

By Mark Meadows

TURIN, Italy, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Juventus returned to European football with a bang on Wednesday, hammering Artmedia Bratislava 4-0 in their Champions League third qualifying round first leg.

Juve, out of Europe for two seasons following their involvement in an Italian match-fixing scandal, looked like they had never been away when Mauro Camoranesi slammed in the opener on eight minutes against a weak Slovakian defence.

The Italy winger had been presented the ball after a barnstorming run by Czech full back Zdenek Grygera, who was soon carried off and taken to hospital after a nasty collision.

Striker Alessandro Del Piero, who played when Juve won the last of their two European Cups in 1996, thundered in a superb first-time effort from the edge of the box midway through the first half to make it 2-0.

The hosts increased the lead before halftime when defender Giorgio Chiellini, one of the few Italy players to come out of Euro 2008 with any credit, easily headed in Camoranesi's free kick while Nicola Legrottaglie added a fourth late on.

Claudio Ranieri's side should have had a hatful more but they will pleased with their first competitive outing of the season ahead of the second leg on Aug. 26.

Slovakian champions Artmedia, who reached the knockout stages in 2005, had a few forays forward but never really threatened home keeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Juve's last Champions League appearance was a quarter-final defeat by Arsenal two years ago after which they were stripped off their 2006 Italian title, banned from Europe and demoted to Serie B in the match-fixing affair.

Immediate promotion and an impressive third-place finish last term put the Turin club back in Europe.

Their resources are now such that new signings Amauri and Olof Mellberg started on the bench while debutant Christian Poulsen made up for the absence of six midfielders including the suspended Pavel Nedved.