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On Tuesday, the new UEFA Champions League season started with eight matches.
A stubborn resistance awaited defending champions Inter Milan, who played a 2-2 draw away from home against Dutch champions Twente.
The hosts took the lead when W. Sneijder scored a powerful strike at the beginning of the match, but shortly after T. Janssen impressively converted a penalty kick.
To make matters worse, after half an hour, Inter's striker D. Milito scored an own goal from a corner kick, but his teammate S. Eto'o saved a point for the Italians with a great and deceptive shot from afar.
Tournament favorite Barcelona, although trailing, effortlessly defeated Panathinaikos from Athens 5-1.
The Greeks scored first with S. Govou's goal in the 20th minute, but almost on the following attack, L. Messi restored the balance after a pass from Xavi.
It was a long evening for Panathinaikos, as Messi, B. Krkic, D. Villa, and D. Alves sealed the thrashing with their goals. The result could have been even more painful for the visitors, but Messi uncharacteristically missed a penalty kick.
Results:
Group A:
Twente 2 - 2 Inter Milan
Werder Bremen 2 - 2 Tottenham
Group B:
Benfica 2 - 0 Hapoel Tel Aviv
Lyon 1 - 0 Schalke
Group C:
Bursaspor 0 - 4 Valencia
Manchester United 0 - 0 Glasgow Rangers
Group D:
Barcelona 5 - 1 Panathinaikos
Kobenhavn 1 - 0 Rubin Kazan
Images from the matches:
Werder - Tottenham:
Twente - Inter:
Barcelona - Panathinaikos:
Bursaspor - Valencia:
Manchester United - Rangers:
Lyon - Schalke:
Kobenhavn - Rubin:
Benfica - Hapoel:
