Valencia thrashes Bursaspor in Europe

Published Sep. 14, 2010 10:48 p.m. ET

foxsports

Valencia made a convincing return to Champions League football with a 4-0 thrashing of Turkish newcomer Bursaspor on Tuesday.

Tino Costa opened scoring for the visitors in the 16th minute when his 35-meter shot sailed into the top corner of the net.

Costa was in the spotlight again in the 41st when his free kick rebounded from the post and striker Aritz Aduriz dived to head it in.

Pablo Hernandez almost tripled the score in the last minute of the first half, but his lob came off the bottom of the crossbar.

Bursaspor coach Ertugrul Saglam looked to mix things up by fielding striker Sercan Yildirim and Turgay Bahadir. The two got into the action but Turgay failed to connect with a throughball from Sercan.

The missed chances proved costly as Valencia tripled its lead in the 68th. Pablo Hernandez slipped the ball into the bottom corner of the net after the Bursa defense failed to clear an air ball out of the penalty box.

Hernandez was pulling the strings again when he put substitute striker Roberto Soldado through in a one-on-one with keeper Dimitar Ivankov in the 76th and Soldado made no mistake.

Bursaspor was making its first appearance in the Champions League, after beating Istanbul giant Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas in the Turkish league.

Valencia was missing playmaker Ever Banega through injury while coach Unai Emery had to watch the game from the stands after receiving a ban.

Bursaspor will look to make up for the defeat when it travels to Scotland to face Rangers, while Valencia will host Group C favorite Manchester United on Sept. 29.