3 things from Wednesday's Champions League action: Real Madrid runs wild

The final day of Matchday 3 equaled Tuesday's goal-filled action with drama as upsets and come-from-behind victories whetted the appetite of supporters who may have grown tired of the colossal scorelines witnessed the day before.

TheScore's Gordon Brunt, Carlo Campo and Gianluca Nesci run down three things you need to know from Wednesday's Champions League action.

Real Madrid exert superiority against Liverpool

Carlo Campo: Even before kickoff, it seemed that Liverpool themselves were aware of what was in store for them versus Real Madrid.

Not only did Steven Gerrard admit that Carlo Ancelotti's side were capable of embarrassing his squad ahead of time, but the pre-match festivities at Anfield featured some relatively self-loathing music.

Liverpool emerged as the more threatening side in the opening moments, unafraid to fire shots at Iker Casillas from outside the box and launching balls deep into Real Madrid's half.

But of course, it was only a matter of time before the planet's most in-form footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, silenced the crowd at Anfield with a breathtaking goal that saw him play a flawless give-and-go with James Rodriguez.

Ronaldo now needs a single goal to draw level with former Real Madrid superstar Raul as the Champions League's all-time leading scorer.

Moving on, Karim Benzema subsequently notched a brace in the span of 11 minutes to give Real Madrid a 3-0 lead entering the interval, at which point a bizarre moment occurred as Mario Balotelli proceeded to swap shirts with Pepe.

Such a move wouldn't normally come under scrutiny, but given Balotelli's recent form in front of goal - as well as his struggles through the opening 45 minutes on Wednesday - the Italian striker will surely be persecuted by Liverpool supporters who will demand to know whether or not he had been notified about his impending half-time substitution.

Once the half-time scoreline held for the remainder for the match, Iker Casillas booked his place in the Champions League record books ...

... while Brendan Rodgers was left to further contemplate how to get Balotelli back to peak form.

Olympiacos claims another scalp at home

Gianluca Nesci: Attacking midfielder Alejandro Dominguez warned everyone on Tuesday: Olympiacos is a force to be reckoned with at home, regardless of the opponent.

We should have listened.

The Greek side, already having defeated last season's finalists Atletico Madrid in Group A action this year, followed that up with another impressive victory on Wednesday, holding off a late onslaught to claim a 1-0 win over Juventus.

A well-taken goal in the opening half from Pajtim Kasami was all Olympiacos needed to collect all three points, thanks mainly to an otherworldly second-half performance from goalkeeper Roberto.

The Spanish shot-stopper made six saves on the day, including point-blank denials of Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez, before his most spectacular offering of the contest denied Morata in the waning minutes.

Juventus supporters will decry the club's unfortunate trend of running into incomprehensible goalkeeping performances, but to do so would ignore the fact that for 60 minutes, Olympiacos was by far the better side - and could have been up by more than a single goal.

Sleep-walking through the first hour may serve the Bianconeri just fine in Serie A, but the Champions League is a different animal. If Massimiliano Allegri isn't capable of rectifying the issues that his predecessor Antonio Conte struggled with, the Italian champions will once again be watching the knockout stages from Turin.

Arsenal steal 3 points away from Anderlecht

Gordon Brunt: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had to wait the entire 90 minutes before his team finally delivered the only birthday present he desired.

It was a match that looked as though would end in bitter disappointment for the 65-year-old manager, yet Arsenal's perseverance saw them capture an important three points away from Anderlecht when goals in the dying minutes from Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski propelled the Premier League side to a 2-1 victory.

Optimism, however, was hard to find in the early stages of the match as Arsenal struggled mightily to breakdown a stubborn Anderlecht defence.

Anderlecht were the first team to breakthrough when Andy Najar leaped above Arsenal defenders and guided a header past Emiliano Martinez, who was making his Champions League debut.

One would think the early deficit would inspire Anderlecht to employ a more defensive strategy, but the Belgian squad continued to surge up the field and almost doubled their lead until the upright denied them a second goal.

Arsenal's desperation was evident as the moments died down. Constant advances against the Anderlecht defence finally paid off when Calum Chambers' cross into the box was met by Kieran Gibbs who calmly converted the volley into the the net. It was pure ecstasy a minute later when Lukas Podolski found himself in front of goal with the ball at his feet following a mad scramble and battered the ball into the net for the win. 

It was a massive three points as Arsenal now find themselves in second place of the group by a comfortable five points after three matches.