European round-up - Valencia score three and send out strong message to Liverpool

SPANISH champions Valencia, who face Liverpool in the Champions League this week maintained their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 win over Recreativo Huelva, while title rivals Barcelona and Deportivo Coruna notched their first victories of the campaign.

Real Madrid’s hopes of a second straight league win were dashed, though, as their match at Real Betis was called off a minute before half time because of repeated floodlight failures, with Betis leading 1-0 thanks to Capi's long-range strike.

Valencia clinched a comfortable win over first division new boys Recreativo thanks to an early goal from Vicente and two late John Carew strikes.