Tuesday's Champions League review

Messi and Villa got Barcelona's campaign off to a fine start

Holders Inter Milan were involved in a thriller on their return to Champions League action as Rafael Benitez's side were held 2-2 at Dutch debutants FC Twente. BBC Sport rounds up the action on the first Champions League proper night of the season, including a brace for last term's top scorer Lionel Messi in Barcelona's win over Panathinaikos. 

Gourp A

Under former Liverpool boss Benitez, Inter enjoyed a rollercoaster start to the defence of their title at Michel Preud'homme's FC Twente as the Eredivisie outfit made a great start to life in Europe's premier club competition. After Wesley Sneijder gave Inter an early lead the Dutch hit back and went ahead thanks to a brilliant Theo Janssen free-kick and a headed own goal from Diego Milito. Samuel Eto'o spared Benitez and Inter's blushes by bagging his 20th Champions League goal before the break as it ended 2-2. In the group's other game, Tottenham earned a 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen in their first Champions League group stage fixture. A Petri Pasanen own goal and a Peter Crouch header put Spurs 2-0 ahead, only for Hugo Almeida and Marko Marin goals to earn the German team a point. 

Group B

Portuguese giants Benfica got their campaign off to a flier with a comfortable 2-0 victory against Hapoel Tev-Aviv at the Estadio da Luz.

There was Champions League misery for all-time top scorer Raul

Anderson Luisao put the hosts ahead with the 5,000th goal in the Champions League, before Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo doubled the lead halfway through the second half. Lyon joined Benfica at the top of Group B on three points with a slender 1-0 victory at home against German side Schalke, who saw strike pair Raul and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar draw a blank. Michel Bastos put the French side ahead and Schalke had Benedikt Hoewedes sent off before the break as Lyon held on to triumph.

Group C

Valencia raced to the top of Group C with a thumping win in the Ataturk Stadium in Turkey against Champions League debutants Bursaspor. Tino Costa, Aritz Aduriz, Pablo Hernandez and Roberto Soldado got the goals as Unai Emery's team continued to prove there is life after David Villa and David Silva with a resounding 4-0 victory. Manchester United were forced to settle for a point in their home game against Scottish champions Rangers as they played out a goalless draw at Old Trafford. United, who made 10 changes from their 3-3 draw at Everton on Saturday, could not break down a stubborn Rangers rearguard and they also saw winger Antonio Valencia stretchered off with a serious-looking injury in the second half.

Group D

The 2006 and 2009 champions Barcelona fell behind early on at home to Panathinaikos, but they recovered to record a comprehensive 5-1 win over the Greek side. Sidney Govou fired home from Djibril Cisse's flick to stun the Camp Nou, but Messi slotted in to level, David Villa swept in a second and Messi fired home to make it 3-1. The Argentine blew his chance of a hat-trick when Alexandros Tzorvas saved his penalty, but Barca still added gloss to the scoreline with second-half goals from Pedro and Dani Alves. Danes FC Copenhagen joined them on three points with a surprise 1-0 victory at home against dark horses Rubin Kazan, the Russian outfit that impressed last season. Senegalese striker Dame N'Doye left it late to score the winner, heading home a free-kick with only three minutes left.

PHIL MINSHULL'S BLOG 

The Champions League appears to be fulfilling Michel Platini's ambition for the competition to become just a little more democratic.

Champions League results

14 Sep 2010 23:59 UK

Barcelona 5-1 Panathinaikos FT
Benfica 2-0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FT
Bursaspor 0-4 Valencia FT
FC Copenhagen 1-0 Rubin Kazan FT
FC Twente 2-2 Inter Milan FT
Lyon 1-0 Schalke 04 FT
Man Utd 0-0 Rangers FT 
Werder Bremen 2-2 Tottenham FT