Argentine Juan Culio scored twice to give Romania's Cluj a 2-1 win at injury-riddled Roma in a stunning UEFA Champions League debut on Tuesday.

Christian Panucci gave Roma in the 17th minute, but Culio responded with goals 10 minutes later and our minutes after the break.

The comeback victory was engineered by its Italian coach, Maurizio Trombetta, who had only taken over from Ioan Andone earlier this month after a poor start to the Romanian league season.

"This result was unthinkable before the match, but it was absolutely deserved and I think it's right to give recognition to Andone's staff," Trombetta said. "I'm collecting the fruit of their work. This result gives us a big injection of confidence. We're second in the group now. It'll be difficult to stay there, but after this match we'll keep working hard."

Chelsea won the other Group A opener, 4-1.