Falcao flick stirs Porto faithful

FC Porto had Falcao to thank for sending them on their way to a Group D home win against Club Atlético de Madrid and it was the manner of his strike that had the Estádio do Dragão faithful purring, with the Colombia forward's back-heel conjuring memories of club legend Rabah Madjer among seasoned fans.

Crowd favourite
For Falcao to even be mentioned in the same breath as Madjer, the Algerian whose nonchalant flick in the 1987 final helped Porto defeat FC Bayern München and become European champions for the first time, is quite an achievement given that Falcao is only eight games into his career with the Dragons. Yet he has already become a firm crowd favourite and his 75th-minute opener, followed by Rolando's strike soon after, gave the hosts a 2-0 win and put them second in the section with back-to-back games against APOEL FC next on the agenda.

'A dream'
It was Falcao's sixth goal in eight games in all competitions and the summer signing from CA River Plate could not have hoped for a better start to life in Europe. "It has always been a dream for me to play in the Champions League as this is the biggest competition at club level," the 23-year-old told uefa.com. "Now I'm living my dream so it's great. I have to thank all the guys at the club and my team-mates because they make it easy for me."

Instinctive effort
His strike owed everything to quick thinking after fellow forward Hulk squared the ball slightly behind him, cutting down his options as he tried to beat 18-year-old substitute goalkeeper David De Gea. "The way I received the ball, the only thing I could do was flick it," he added. "It was an important goal. It was all down to teamwork and I only have to be in the right place to finish things off. It was a beautiful goal."

Ujfaluši looking forward
In the Atlético camp, Czech Republic defender Tomáš Ujfaluši cut a disappointed figure after his side extended their unwanted run of games without a win to seven in all competitions. It is unlikely to get any easier for the Spanish side, with away-and-home games against group pacesetters Chelsea FC next up. "We have to show concentration and play the full 90 minutes, not just 75 or 80," Ujfaluši told uefa.com. "But we're still in the fight for second and we could beat Chelsea. I would like to win the home game with Chelsea, that's for sure. For the away game, we'll have to see."